Jeff Jarrett and Vampiro both appeared at Triplemania XXX tonight in Monterrey, and eventually ended up brawling against one another.
The segment started with Latin Lover coming out to thank fans. This brought out Jarrett and Rey Escorpion, along with Karen Jarrett. Jeff continually attacked the crowd and Latin Lover with derogatory statements. This led to an altercation, but Escorpion joined Jarrett in taking out Lover. This brought out Vampiro, who evened the odds and forcibly kissed Karen. The segment ended with Latin Lover and Vampiro posing with Marisela Pena, who was at ringside.
Jarrett recently made his return to the promotion AAA’s Wrestlecon event during WrestleMania weekend, where he revealed that he has been funding the rudo stable La Empresa, which consists of Puma King, Sam Adonis, DMT Azul, and Gringo Loco. He said that he was here to stay in AAA.
Vampiro has made sporadic appearances in AAA in recent years, most recently serving as a Director of Talent for the promotion.
Satoshi Kojima successfully defended his MLW World title against Vampiro in the night’s main event and found out his next challenger will be Mike Awesome after his victory over Jerry Lynn.
Fuego Guerrero (aka Amazing Red) defeated Super Crazy and Christopher Daniels in a triple threat match.
Show Recap:
Raven opened the show to let us know there is only one week to go until he and Vampiro will meet and be on the same show. Quote the Raven nevermore.
Joey Styles welcomed us to the War Memorial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for this week’s MLW Underground before running down the card.
The cameras caught up with Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels backstage. Daniels was in his Fallen Angel character and was trying to “cleanse Lynn’s troubled soul”. He said MLW stabbed him in the back time and time again and wanted Lynn to trust him instead. Lynn said he made some good points, but he had work to do.
Fuego Guerrero defeated Christopher Daniels and Super Crazy in a triple threat match (9:51)
This started slow but built to a fast-paced finish. Everyone took their time feeling out their opponents in the early going. Super Crazy disrespected Guerrero by sitting him in the corner while he and Daniels locked up, but he was quick to join the action as all three took turns with dropkicks, leading to an early stalemate. Daniels took the mic and told the fans to shut up while he tried to wrestle. Guerrero took out Crazy with a nice tilt-a-whirl bodyscissors as we went to a break.
Back from break, Guerrero was laying in kicks to Crazy in a style similar to Tajiri (as pointed out by Styles on commentary). He then took Daniels off the top rope with a headscissors and sent Crazy to the outside by reversing a side slam into an arm drag.
Crazy took out both men with a springboard moonsault and hit Guerrero with a big flapjack for a two count. Daniels came in and hit a ura nage and a triple jump moonsault for a two count of his own. The match started to break down as Guerrero got planted with a strong powerbomb from Crazy but Daniels broke up the count.
Guerrero finally hit a dive to the outside to take out Daniels. Crazy then joined in with a crossbody off the top rope. Back inside, Guerrero picked up the win over Crazy with a finishing sequence of an enzuigiri and standing leg sweep followed by a standing shooting star press.
After the match, Crazy tried to rip Guerrero’s mask off but he was saved by Jose and Joel, Los Maximos.
Mike Awesome cut a promo on Lynn and took some shots at the then-WWF in the meantime. He said he just got out of the “sports entertainment detox center” last week, will no longer be politically hijacked, and his career won’t be driven into the ground anymore. He is starting his road to the top tonight with Lynn and will finish with Kojima or Vampiro.
Mike Awesome defeated Jerry Lynn to become the no. 1 contender for the MLW World title (8:41)
After Awesome’s promo, we jumped right into the start of his match. Styles continued the WWE bashing by emphasizing they were wrestlers who found they was no place for them in sports entertainment, Awesome was not “that 70s guy”, “the fat chick thriller” or an “Alliance puppet” while he knocked down Lynn with a clothesline. Awesome continued to use his strength in the early going with Lynn only getting in a springboard crossbody in the opening exchanges.
Awesome found himself on the outside and Lynn wiped him out with another crossbody, this time to the floor. But the story of the match continued on the outside as Awesome powerfully reversed a whip and sent Lynn into the guardrail. Awesome got sent into the crowd but he quickly turned around, ran, and jumped back over the rail, taking Lynn out with him.
Back inside, Awesome took out Lynn with a slingshot shoulder block. Lynn reversed a pop-up powerbomb into a hurricanrana and then drove Awesome to the mat with a tornado DDT. Daniels then made his way out to the ring as Awesome backdropped his way out of a piledriver and then took Lynn’s head off with a big boot. He hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb for a two count.
A second Awesome Bomb was reversed into another DDT by Lynn, but Awesome suplexed him moments later to get his momentum back. He then squashed Lynn with a huge big splash off the top for another two count. Lynn slipped out the back of a running Awesome Bomb and got a school boy out of it, but Awesome popped up, knocked Lynn down, and hit his running Awesome Bomb to pick up the win and an MLW title shot.
After the match, Daniels got into the ring with a mic and told Lynn he was very disappointed in him. He listed off his recent failures: not winning the title against Kojima, losing all his matches recently, and losing here against Awesome. He said he could join forces with Daniels and rule MLW, but a stern-looking Lynn grabbed the mic out his hands and told him that he was absolutely right. He shook hands with Daniels and they both left together.
Steve Corino then cut a promo for his upcoming match with Terry Funk, saying he is better than Funk, and Funk should be ashamed that his own brother trained Corino, and when they wake up the morning after their fight, it will be just another day at the office for Corino while Funk will be hobbling back to his ranch in Amarillo, Texas.
MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Vampiro to retain the title (8:25)
Vampiro did not have his usual WCW face paint here, keeping in line with the story Styles told us that he was no longer a cartoon character as he was in WCW. But, he did take offense early on and frustratingly threw a chair into the ring after being knocked out it by Kojima.
Vampiro got his act together and took control for the rest of the early going. Kojima was whipped into the guardrail and knocked a poor fan in the front row off his seat, but he recovered, suplexing Vampiro on the concrete floor and chopping him over the barrier into the crowd. They brawled through the crowd to the stage where Vampiro climbed a camera rig and hit a flying clothesline.
After a short break, we were back inside the ring with Vampiro in control. He hit a chokeslam but missed a corkscrew senton and had his hurricanrana attempt reversed into a power bomb. Kojima then hit a neckbreaker for a two count and took Vampiro down with a dragon screw leg whip.
Kojima continued to target the knee with a pair of dropkicks and another dragon screw before locking in an STF. Vampiro dragged himself to the ropes, but Kojima hit an ace crusher and a big lariat to pick up the win, a successful title defense and a ticket for a showdown with Mike Awesome.
Speaking of Awesome, he came to the ring to give the fans a small taste of what to expect in their title match. He and Kojima began chopping each other and Awesome hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb before tossing a table into the ring. He set it up in the corner and landed a running Awesome Bomb on the champion through the table, posing with the title belt as his music played and MLW Underground went off the air.
Let me take you back to pro wrestling in the spring of 2003 for a minute.
WWE was two years removed from winning the Great Wrestling War and buying WCW, a a year removed from changing its name from WWF, ECW was a few months removed from having its assets purchased by WWE in bankruptcy court, Ring of Honor was a year old, while another group — Major League Wrestling — was coming up on its first birthday.
The vision of former WWF writer Court Bauer, MLW was his effort at filling the void with a mix of the familiar, the indie, and the future. (Sound familiar, AEW fans?)
Their first effort at a TV show was MLW Underground, a one hour program that ran on Florida’s Sunshine Network from April 2003 through February 2004, a span of 34 episodes. With the pandemic thwarting efforts at live shows and having run through all of their recently taped content, Bauer and company launched a seven episode Anthology series featuring old footage and now, they have revived Underground for the first time since it originally ran.
Here’s a look at this week’s debut of sorts, a show that proves we are very spoiled in today’s era with how smoothly production is made to look.
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An unexpected bonus: original music. That means viewers get to hear Powerman 5000’s “When Worlds Collide” in the intro every week, a nod to a style of the alternative music of the era. They were pushing themselves of “hybrid wrestling” and that all styles would be represented, hammered home by the lone voice on the show, Joey Styles. He was also sure to mention that this wasn’t sports entertainment, but rather pro wrestling, several times.
Styles and the fact the first taping was done at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia gave this a real ECW feel. Fans of that era like myself will get nostalgic when they see the entrance and especially the familiar camera shots.
Unfortunately, the taping, or at least these matches, were marred by a bad audio track. While you could hear chops and certain moves, the crowd noise was a consistent murmur with no pops for big moves. At first, I thought it was a crowd unfamiliar with the talent but especially in the show’s featured match, fans would pop for highspots and the crowd level never changed which took away from the show.
Jerry Lynn defeated La Parka
La Parka was really playing up his love of chairs pre-match but the LWO-adorned chair he brought to the ring never got involved. For those who never saw Lynn, he was a great wrestler and a standout as a lighter weight wrestler. If he had his prime in this era, I have no doubt he would be one of the most coveted guys in the game. Perhaps he wouldn’t be “the” guy but he’d be in the mix for sure.
Overall, this match was fine with nothing too standout. Fans of the current era used to seeing a ton of highspots and high risk moves in every match will likely think matches like this are a bit boring given the big spots were a Lynn top rope dive to the outside and a Parka running twisting dive over the top. The aforementioned audio didn’t help matters either.
A missed corkscrew dive by Parka led to a Lynn DDT and sudden finish. Also, apparently this was a tournament match of some sort but that was never explained — odd considering this was their kickoff TV show.
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– A hype video for “new MLW World Champion Satoshi Kojima” aired with “the encore heard round the world” that apparently was an in-ring English promo he did after a match at New York’s Manhattan Centre. This finished with “Kojimamania est. 2003 USA”. I’m glad they are running these episodes again, but there’s some out of context stuff like this that make me wonder what someone is thinking stumbling onto the show.
– We had another case of production lapses as we got the first of some quick promos but with no namebars. Our first which I had to look up was Fuego Guerrero (aka The Amazing Red) who was talking about how that once he hit Zero Gravity, it was over…and something about someone needing to watch out on May 9th. The next was Taiyo Kea who said he was coming to kick someone’s ass.
– We then transitioned to “Chapter 1: The Rise of the Horsemen” which was footage from a show where the Extreme Horsemen (Steve Corino, Simon Diamond and CW Anderson) attacked Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, and a referee. I’m not sure what the context was or the significance of this.
– We then jumped to the current day for a Richard Holliday ad for Dynastic Coffee coffee cups and a plug for the MLW podcast network.
– Back to action, Styles explained that over the next month, they would crown the first MLW Global Tag Team Champions. Teams involved include the Samoan Island Tribe, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and PJ Friedman (future WWE developmental talent J. Bronson), Nosawa and Masada, The Blue Chippers, Diamond and Anderson and Los Maximos (aka the Spanish Announce Team).
That led into a strange Maximos promo where they were acting like they didn’t know what to say and were having issues with their lines. It ended with them asking, “That good, Court?” to Bauer off camera.
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Taiyo Kea defeated Jerry “Malice” Tuite
Kea spent the majority of his career with All Japan and was with MLW for about a year while Tuite was best known as The Wall in WCW, passing away from a heart attack in December 2003.
In a big difference from today’s wrestling, Tuite flipped off the crowd and there was a giant red X blocking it.
Again, the strange crowd audio hurt this even though you could hear the chops. This was a fairly straightforward face/heel match with Tuite hitting a slew of power moves including a superplex and a second rope leg drop. The end came when Kea hit a northern lights suplex with a bridge to get the pin.
In doing some Wikipedia searching, these singles matches are apparently from the 2002 MLW World title tournament which is odd considering Kojima was featured in a video earlier saying he was the champion. There’s a reason for all this which we’ll get to in later recaps.
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– After an MLW shop ad, we had another promo with two large men that I assume is the aforementioned Samoan Island Tribe because they mentioned Polynesian people and that one of their names is Mana. Again, no namebar so I wasn’t sure who they were.
– We got a Steve Corino promo talking about King of Kings (a past event) and beating both Rhodes and Funk in the same night. He directed the majority of the promo at Funk and challenged him to a match.
– After a very ECW-style cut to Styles, we learned that in two weeks, the tag team tournament would begin with brackets released next week.
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Vampiro defeated Christoper Daniels
The night’s featured match had two WCW alums in Vampiro (with no paint, no dreadlocks, and doing a lot of MMA/”shootfighting” training) and Daniels who Styles said is “a sadistic master of manipulation” was was apparently a very despised heel. That he’s still working at a high level 17 years later in AEW is pretty remarkable.
The crowd noise issue really hurt this match, especially at the end. The first half was a lot of grappling and various body locks with both men including a nice looking roll through into a kneebar attempt by Vampiro. Later, Vampiro would go to the outside, grab the hammer for the ringside bell, and hit Daniels between the legs but didn’t get DQ’d which Style said was due to the ref being lenient.
After the methodical pace, things really picked up after the commercial break and especially at the end. Daniels hit the BME (to no reaction0 and when he went for it again, Vampiro sprung up and hit an overhead throw that saw his opponent sail 3/4 of the way across the ring. After a chop battle, Vampiro hit the rock bottom (called a sambo suplex) for the pin and win.
Styles says he advances in “the tourney” and we transition to a clip of Raven lighting a picture of Vampiro on fire. Unlike in the Anthology series, there was no inclusion of Pulp Fusion.
Final Thoughts:
For someone like me, this was a fun nostalgia watch that was marred by the audio issues and not understanding a lot about the state of MLW in 2003. I’m looking forward to future episodes though because, you know, wrestling.
Two titles are on the line tonight as Cage battles Chavo for the Gift of the Gods Title, and Rey Mysterio Jr, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. defend against the team of Fenix, PJ Black, and Jack Evans. It’s an unlikely team of opponents though, as Fenix is a babyface and thus an odd man out. Joey Ryan also faces Mascarita Sagrada, who is looking for his first win with Famous B by his side.
The show begins with a recap of the cop drama and the Trios Titles being won by Rey, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. Chavo stealing Cage’s medallion is shown, and we see him letting Chavo win so he can get a shot tonight. In Vampiro’s lair, he tells Pentagon Jr. that he’s not ready to face Matanza – while Pentagon says he has zero fear. Vamp welcomes the Voodoo Greyskulls to the show, and he runs down tonight’s card as Cage battles Chavo for the Gift of the Gods Title.
Striker talks about the main event which will see PJ Black, Jack Evans, and Fenix facing Rey, Azteca, and Puma. Joey Ryan is mid-ring while Striker calls him a hit and quit it kinda guy. Famous B comes out and gets a nice Famous B chant. He transitions it into a Mascarita chant and introduces him wonderfully, outside of getting jumped and calling him ‘MASCARITA GODDAMN!”
Joey Ryan vs. Mascarita Sagrada
Joey jumps him, but Sagrada recovers, sends him to the floor and dives onto him. Sagrada gets crotched, and then Joey offers up his lollipop to Brenda. Joey can’t lift him over his head, but is overjoyed when he lands a basic slam. Wasteland by Sagrada and a diving headbutt gets 2. Joey gets kicked low, which hurts Sagrada. A small package gets 2 for Sagrada and then Joey gets a very awkward tornado DDT for the win. B and Brenda console Sagrada while the commentators talk about how Sagrada has yet to win with Famous B by his side.
We get a Taya personality profile about how she sees confidence when she looks in the mirror. She also kicks the asses of a bunch of wacky suited ninjas, as you do. Taya says she sees the perfect woman in the mirror, and Mundo agrees. Her red dress and ass-kicking made it seem like they were going for a Ronda Rousey in Expendables 3 vibe – only with more lucha ninjas. King Cuerno talks to Mil Muertes’s body in a coffin in his office. Mil acted like he was king – but he was still in Cuerno’s jungle. Well, that was different and great. Chavo comes down and then Striker adds a billion nicknames for Cage, including the Sentinel.
Chavo Guerrero vs. Cage – Gift of the Gods Title
Chavo gets a “Cage is gonna kill you” chant right away. Cage’s new black and gold singlet looks fantastic. He starts with tons of lariats in the corners while Vamp buries Striker for saying Chavo was once one of the best in the world. Chavo tries to gain an edge with sneaky tactics, but gets caught in an apron tree slam. He rakes the eyes and gets Cage to the floor – but a dive is caught and he eats several slams against the railing. Chavo sends him to the floor with a tilt a whirl headscissors and a dive.
Chavo lands a draping DDT and gets 2. Chavo goes for the legs, but Cage tosses him into the buckle and monkey flips him. Cage catches a dive and lands a Finlay roll before a moonsault misses. Chavo gets 2, and works on the knee. Cage hits an apron kick and lands his power superplex into the ring. European uppercut sends Chavo into the corner, where Chavo tries to kick him – but eats a sitout Alabama slam that gets 2. Cage’s F5 is countered and Chavo hits a running tornado DDT for 2.
Rolling kick hits for Chavo, but a discus lariat only gets 2 for Cage thanks to Chavo getting his feet on the rope. Chavo avoids a superplex and gets a sunset bomb and a frog splash for 2.5! Chavo doe the Eddie shuffle and lands Three Amigos – but only gets two of them and Cage turns into a suplex, then a powerbomb, and then Weapon X for the win and the Gift of the Gods Title. Cage trades in his title for a shot at Matanza next week – where it will be Monster vs. Machine.
Taya takes Jack and PJ to the locker room where Fenix is laid out. Mundo replaces him and then punts Fenix for good measure. Officers Neehan and Reyes search Dario’s office since Dario and “his hot ninja” are gone. They find tons of money before Castro busts them for trying to rob Dario without him – so Reyes arrests Cisco while Neehan points a gun at him. Well, this was different and furthers the cop drama while also ending The Crew. Taya comes out and tells everyone that Fenix won’t be here, but PJ and Jack have a better partner – Mundo!
Johnny Mundo, PJ Black, and Jack Evans vs. Trios Champions Rey Mysterio, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr.
Jack starts with Azteca and lets everyone know he still hates dragons. Jack flips around a bit, but eats a dropkick and some nasty chops in the corner. Azteca hits a double-jump armdrag sending Jack to the corner. A triangle dropkick sends Jack to the floor. PJ comes in to face Puma, and Puma gets tied to a tree of woe before Jack attacks in the corner. Mundo lands a tornado kick while Puma tries to rise up. PJ comes in and gets 2 off of that match. Mundo and PJ land a double backbody drop for 2.
Puma uses Jack and PJ against each other and forces PJ to DDT Jack with a flying lariat. Rey comes in to face Mundo and sends him down with a deja vu headscissors. Puma and Azteca kick away at Mundo. They get 2 off a legdrop while Jack jumps in for a save. Johnny turns Puma and Azteca’s bodies against each other by catching Azteca and sending Azteca into Puma in the corner. PJ gets 2 off a pop-up cutter. Evans comes in and lands a tornado kick before Rey sends Mundo to the floor. Azteca lands a springboard rana to the floor and sends Mundo into the apron.
Evans goes up, but gets crotched. Puma sends him down and that results in Evans hitting a wacky kick before hitting a pop-up rana that sends Puma into PJ where PJ eats a rana. Rey kicks PJ into the ropes for a 619, which hits. Puma’s 630 hits and only gets 2 because Mundo pulls the ref out. Mundo kicks Rey low before Mundo and Taya land a double superkick. PJ kicks Puma in the crotch and Evans kicks Puma low too! PJ goes for a brainbuster, but Jack kicks him low first and then the Wellness Policy hits. Johnny goes for the End of the World, but it only gets 2! Mundo goes for a German superplex, but Puma flips back and tags Azteca. Azteca gets a code red, but Jack chairshots him and Mundo cradles him for the win! PJ Black, Jack Evans, and Johnny Mundo win it – giving us two new champions tonight.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
We get a rundown of the Aztec Medallion matches so far this season, alongside Chavo stealing Cage’s medallion. Pentagon Jr’s demise is shown and we see Vampiro’s torture of him again. In his office, Dario puts stacks of cash in his bag and Cage runs in. Dario calls him the Medallion Machine and Dario tells him it’s his problem – and that if Chavo puts the medallion in the belt, it’s his. Dario and Cage come out of his office, and we get Striker asking what Cage is doing come out of it.
Dario stands next to the medallion-less Gift of the Gods Title and announces a seven man match to determine the Gift of the Gods. Dario tells everyone who has a medallion to come out – so Chavo will have to go through Cage to actually get into the match. Texano comes out first and puts the medallion in – resulting in an amusing “well done!” by Dario. Joey comes down while Dario says he has a sixth sense for fashion. Sinestro comes down without Catrtina, but with a new cape and hood – “spooky!” according to Dario.
It’s “THE RETURN OF THE MACK! BIG MACK BABY MACK BABY MACK BABY!” and then “Sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy Star!” Dario is amazing, and a “strong star woman” according to him. Chavo comes down to a “chickenshit” chant. Cage kicks his ass, but only grabs a washer – and Chavo hits him with the chair to put the medallion in the belt. Dario puts Chavo in the match, resulting in “a sorry man” and Cage doing his goofy catchphrase and even goofier finisher to Chavo. Dario has to win best non-performer of the year just for this segment.
Mascarita Sagrada vs. Argenis vs. Daga vs. Kobra Moon
Famous B does Sagrada’s intro in his new 423-GET-FAME tie – which needs to be on ProWrestlingTees ASAP, and the phone number alone gets a chant. Striker talks about watching midget porn in high school talking about Brenda and Sagrada. Kobra snaps his neck on the rope and gets 2. Kobra Moon hits a Michonoku Driver, resulting in Vamp marking out since it was his WCW finisher. A tumbling exchange between Daga and Argenis is won by Argenis with a kick. Dada hits a dropkick on the apron, but a baseball slide misses and sends Daga to the floor where he eats an Asai moonsault.
Sagrada gets a victory roll on Kobra for 2. Sagarada goes for an armbar on Argenis, but Argenis Backlund lifts him into a One Winged Angel for 2. Corner running uppercut to Argenis by Daga, and a huge German gets 2. Daga gets a Gory special on Kobra and a Billy Goat’s Curse to Argenis. Argenis tosses Sagrada violently against the ropes. Crazy Fosbury Flop dive by Daga to the floor! Kobra Moon hits a fire thunder driver to Sagrada and lets Daga win. Famous B and Brenda console Sagrada while the fans chant “GET FAME 423!”
Backstage, Killshot suits up before Marty the Moth creeps up behind him and says he’s reporting for duty. He says they have a match and mocks him with gun sounds before a wacky kung fu movie fight breaks out between them. Killshot wins and give him a finger-gun bang while Marty cackles. Robert Rodriguez’s band plays Marty to the ring. Marty and Joey should be a creeper tag team in season three.
Marty the Moth vs. Killshot
Vamp talks about the importance of dogtags in the military, while Striker talks about Col. DeBeers, Private Daniels, and Vamp talks about Major Gunns. Marty bumrushes him with corner strikes and tosses him to the floor – where he lands on the floor. Marty teases a dive and leans over the rope – but then eats a high kick. Marty catches him off a flip dive and eats a powerslam. Vamp talks about being silent now because of his mental suffering and then Striker mocks him a bit. Release German by Marty and then a turnbuckle exploder gets 2.
Vamp says that Marty spends a lot of time in dark corners, while Striker says it was more than likely dark booths. Killshot lands a corner elbow and then lands a basement hook kick. A somersault cutter gets 2 for Killshot. Corner running hook kick lands, but they wind up on the apron. Marty teases an apron German, but avoids that and lands an apron death valley driver. Vamp credits it to his military training, where I guess they had extensive viewing parties of Perry Saturn in WCW. They exchange punches and Marty lands a huge lariat. Back stomp gets 2 for Marty. Marty goes for a corner ass splash, but Killshot catches him for the modified One Winged Angel for the win – this was a lot of fun.
Marty jumps him after the match, while Striker says that wins and losses still matter – but this impresses Dario as well. So it’s kind of like Dana White wanting you to be an exciting fighter more than just being a winning fighter. Marty grabs the dogtags and then lands a top rope curbstomp before giving him a finger-gun bang to the head just like Killshot did to him in their backstage deal. I dug this – they have good chemistry together and they’re doing something new with each guy.
Chavo Guerrero vs. Texano vs. Joey Ryan vs. The Mack (Baby) vs. Sinestro vs. Aerostar vs. Sexy Star
Chavo cheapshots Texano. Joey and Sexy go at it and she gets 2 off a backslide. Joey tries to kiss her, but Chavo stops it so he can get 2 off a schoolboy. Mack sends Joey outside with a dropkick and the faces stand proudly. Mack and Sexy have a tumbling exchange and then Texano and Mack go at it with Mack going for a sunset flip. Texano takes the top off of Aerostar and traps him in the corner with chops.S
Aerostar lands a springboard tornado DDT for 2. Superkick by Texano, but he gets sent to the floor. Sinestro goes after Aerostar, but Aerostar lands a flying sunset flip for 2. A wacky exchange leads to Sinestro crotching himself and eating a kick to the face. Sinestro flip dives onto the pile on the floor. Sexy sells a leg injury, and then goes up top for a crossbody off the top to the floor onto the pile. Joey lands a pumphandle slam for 2. Backstabber to Joey gets 2 for Sinestro.
Sinestro lariats Texano, but Texano lands one on him when he runs into the opposite corner. Pop-up rana gets 2 for Aerostar. Sexy lands a running dropkick to Joey and stomps on the stomach. Mack and Sexy team up to chop the hair off of Joey’s chest. Double team legdrop/kneedrop thing from the combo. Chavo gets another “chickenshit” splash, but 2 off a frog splash to Joey.
Everyone gangs up on Chavo. Stunner. Codebreaker. Texano bomb. Springboard legdrop, and a springboard dive hit him. Then Cage comes in. Hey no fair – you already hit your finish on him earlier. He kicks everyone else’s ass – I guess to ensure that Chavo wins so then he can beat Chavo and get the shot he feels is his. Steiner screwdriver to Joey Ryan gives Chavo the win and the Gift of the Gods. Cage congratulates Chavo on being champion and says that Dario told him that Chavo already agreed to face him for the title next week. I like that – they gave you a reason to explain things without words, and then gave you some as well to fully explain it.
In Vampiro’s temple, we see Pentagon tied up while Vampiro torments him and says he must break him to make him strong. Vamp promises to torment him until he refuses to show signs of suffering. Vamp canes his own head and talks about Ian trying to suppress him with pills and tells Pentagon that the beating he’s getting here is nothing compared to what Matanza did. As he prepares to swing a barb wire bat at his spine, the screen goes black.
This was an outstanding episode of the show – easily one of the best of the season. They built up Killshot’s character well, gave Marty something to do, re-established Cage as a top act, showcased Dario in his best talking segment yet, furthered the Vampiro-Pentagon issue, and made a perfect use of their limited time to get things done.
To see all of the screenshots for it, just click here.
Cage battles Johnny Mundo inside a steel cage, while the trios tag title tournament concludes as well. Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. face off against the current champions of Ivelisse and Son of Havoc, Joey Ryan and The Crew, and the trio of Jack Evans, PJ Black, and the former Gift of the Gods and Lucha Underground Champion Fenix – who aims to claim the first-ever Lucha Underground triple crown.
Show Recap:
The show begins with a recap of the trios tournament, Dario putting the current champions in a four way, and the Mundo-Cage feud is rundown briefly. Bang Data plays us in to this week’s show, with a cage already constructed around the ring. Striker says that Matanza and Mil Muertes will return to action soon after going through Dario’s ceiling. Vamp says that the trios title tourney concludes tonight. Melissa Santos introduces Cage – who is in fact still a machine. Striker says that more experience in a cage benefits Mundo here, who won the only other cage match in the Temple.
Mundo vs. Cage – Steel Cage Match for an Aztec Medallion
Vamp talks about the history of aztec medallions being a bit murky due to the history being tracked by people who were busy making human sacrifices. Cage pummels away in the corner on Mundo and lands 10 strikes and a pair of short-arm lariats. Mundo does a Spider-Man wall crawl up the cage, but gets pulled down and thrown across the ring. Cage tosses him into the steel twice. Striker talks about the history of great cage matches – like Snuka vs. Muraco and Tommy Rich vs. Buzz Sawyer. Vamp adds himself versus Sting and himself versus his ex-wife.
Vamp talks about training in BJJ and being surprised that Cage isn’t going for a Kimura during a cover. Cage locks in a Boston crab on Mundo while he is locked into the middle rope – akin to missing a shoulder charge and then getting locked in a crab from there. Cage walks on the rope, but gets crotched by Mundo, who lands a cage-assisted shining wizard and a basement dropkick. Cage and Mundo fight up top, but Taya whips Cage’s hand with her boot and Mundo hits a C4 off the top for 2.
Mundo whips him with Taya’s belt and he rushes in before eating a Samoa Joe-style STO out of the corner. Cage and Mundo fight on top of the cage, and man are the veins in Cage’s forearms crazy. Moonlight Drive off the top gets 2. Taya tries to give Mundo a kendo stick, but Cage nixes that and Mundo goes for a Flying Chuck from the blindside, but gets countered into a deadlift German. Buckle bomb leads to a steel cage powerbomb! Cage goes up, but Taya kinda bonks him a bit to take him down. Mundo grabs it and then lays some sick shots in for 2.
Cage goes to attack with the stick, but Mundo uses parkour to avoid it. Cage canes him and snaps it over his knee before getting 2. Mundo avoids a shot and gets a superkick and a Pele for 2. Mundo sunset flips out of a Weapon X. Taya gives Mundo a chair and he hits him in the head for 2. Mundo goes up and poses before teasing an End of the World off the top and missing. Taya climbs up top and dives into Cage. Magic killer onto Cage gets 2. Taya pulls handcuffs out of her boot, but she gets them put on her against the ropes. Spinebuster to Mundo leads to a Steiner Screwdriver on a chair for the win. This was outstanding – outside of the unprotected chairshot to the head and Taya’s weak cane shots. Trios Title tournament match is next, leading to some nice shots of the title belt.
Dario comes out and interrupts Melissa, getting a “jefe!” chant and then a “we want lucha!” chant. He says he has news – Angelico has had an accident, and he’ll get to the bottom of it. However, the title match will go on and Havoc and Ivie will defend the titles for their team. He wishes them luck and says they’ll need it. Evans walks down the steps on his hands, which seems like a very bad idea for many reasons.
Ivelisee and Son of Havoc vs. Fenix, Jack Evans, and PJ Black vs. Joey Ryan and The Crew vs. Prince Puma, Dragon Azteca Jr., and Rey Mysterio Jr.
Rey debuts new slick silver and red gear here while Striker runs down Rey’s history as a tag champion. Vamp says that the current champs are at a disadvantage in theory, but can use their long-term partnership to turn everyone else against each other. Fenix and Cisco miss dropkicks, and Rey and Ivie each get 2. It’s one person from each team in the ring at all times – so it’s going to be nuts. Superkick to the gut of Ivie and Cisco lands a powerslam and gets a “Cisco” chant. Striker says that he’s now becoming a fan favorite, and that people change.
PJ is in Joker-esque neon green and purple gear. Do-si-doi spot in the corner by Havoc and Puma. Havoc lands some forearms to Castro, but Cisco gets a blind tag. Vamp asks what happened to Bael and Striker says he has no idea – people come and go in the Temple all the time. Dragon misses a kick to Castro, but spins into one on Cisco. Joey grabs Ivie and takes her to the floor. Fenix hits a corkscrew dive onto Cisco. PJ with a dive, and Puma goes for one, but hoists Dragon up for a top rope corkscrew to the pile on the floor.
PJ uses Puma as a launching pad for a flip dive, and then Rey hits his missile dive onto the pile. Havoc hits a space flying tiger drop as well. This is essentially a crazy video game match with everyone doing a dive on the floor. Joey stops Ivie’s dive by trying to impress her with his crotch, but she kicks his chest in and then German suplexes him. Castro comes in and eats forearms Big brainbuster to her leads to Joey wanting the tag, Castro being distracted and being small packaged to eliminate them from the equation.
Jack, Puma, and Havoc go for a three-way tieup before a double dropkick sends Jack to the floor. Havoc hits a high kick and a double stomp followed by a standing moonsault for 2. Striker talks about the illuminati for a bit while Jack says that he is the baddest bitch in the building – not Ivie. Ivie chops him and boots his face off. Sunset powerbomb hits, but PJ superkicks her and Jack pins her – so it’s down to two teams and new champions will be crowned here. A Weapon X highlight reel airs during a break.
Dragon and Fenix square off, leading to Dragon going for a backwards roll and then eating a mushroom stomp to the back of the head for 2. Dragon lands a corkscrew DDT while Vamp asks Striker to give him another quarter to keep the video game going. Puma comes in and hits the Northern Lights into the brainbuster before landing the one-man alarm clock! PJ eats a 630, but Evans kicks him in the nuts. Jack comes in and hits a running double sledge. Jack has his partners hold Puma, but he goes for a wacky kick that kicks Fenix.
Rey sends PJ over the top with a headscissors and lands a springboard crossbody to Jack. Outside-in headscissors puts Jack into the 619 position. It hits and then Jack just kinda stands there while Puma and Azteca set up a double team corkscrew DDT.Rey hits a split-legged moonsault to beat him and win his first title in Lucha Underground. The faces celebrate and we go to Pentagon Jr’s lair.
Vampiro tells him to come, and we see Pentagon wheel himself in on a motorized wheelchair after Matanza broke his back. Vampiro tells him to get up – he doesn’t, so Vamp burns him with the wax of a black candle. Pentagon tries to rise, but falls to the floor. Vamp grabs him and says he’s weak before leaving him in a pool of blood and smoke. Well, this was different and weird. Excellent show overall – with only two matches, and each of them were very good. To see all the screenshots for the show, click here.
We see a recap of the cops trying to come after Dario, while The Mack tries to help Sexy Star overcome her issues with Mariposa. We see Dario tell Matanza to break Pentagon Jr’s back, and a recap of the match where he ate a million moves to the back. In the bathroom, Vampiro looks at his medication while Dario tempts him to assault him – but he respects Vamp as the voice of LU. He doesn’t want him to make Pentagon’s mistake, and Vamp takes his medication.
At the precinct, Reyes and Detective Reehan talk to Captain Vasquez about getting evidence on Dario. She wants them to be a team, and Cueto has put them in the Trios Title tournament tonight with Mr. Cisco. At the Temple, a band plays while Striker says that Fenix faces Matanza later. Ivelisse faces Kobra Moon in the opener.
Ivelisse vs. Kobra Moon
Kobra slithers and goes for takedowns, while Vamp commends Ivie for her gear making her look like a walking knife. Ivie kicks away and armdrags her into an armbar. Kobra Moon gets a triangle choke, but eats a powerbomb for 2. Dragon sleeper by Kobra, but Ivie escapes and hits a wonky armdrag. Corner rana is turned into a rope-hanging choke by Kobra. Vamp wonders if she slithers around like a snake because her name is Kobra Moon.
Liver shot results in a Bas shoutout by Vamp, and a tarantula with a neck crank. Butterfly suplex into a butterfly lock. Striker talks about the Gable grip while Vamp asks if that’s due to Dan Gable and Striker confirms it. Weird overhead angle makes it hard to see Ivie’s setup into a Russian legsweep. Big Yakuza kick leads to an exploder by Ivie for 2. Running code red by Ivie gets the win!
We get an interview with Killshot. He served in the military and had 37 confirmed kills – all bad guys, or so he was told. He was good with his hands too, so he was in the elite squad and he was the enemy’s prisoner for 13 months before escaping by kicking the asses of many lucha terrorist ninjas – who are totally different than the usual lucha ninjas. He isn’t sure if his partners survived, and he fights in LU to forget. Well, this was different and pretty good. Famous B gives Mascarita Sagrada his business card and wants him to call 423-GET-FAME.
He walks around and bumps into The Mack and Sexy working out. He wants her out for moral support tonight, but she can’t – until he motivates her saying he wants them to pay for what they did. We see the question mark being spray-painted above the Temple again. Joey Ryan jumps in front of the Crew and steals their thunder.
Joey Ryan & The Crew vs. The Mack/Mariposa/Marty the Moth
Joey Ryan teases a start before having Cisco start it off. Cisco and The Mack slap hands and Mack drops him with a tackle for 2. Cisco gets a wonky blind-diving armdrag, but Mack does a corner headstand and an armdrag. Slingblade armdrag by Mack before Mack flips up to his feet from his head. Joey tags himself in and wants “the girl”. He tries to give her his bodyoil lollipop, but she slaps him, so he pie-faces her. Rana gets 2 for Mariposa. Dropkick tot he knee sets up an axe kick, while Vamp hypes Andy Hug as the master of that.
High kick by Reyes leads to the drive by sliding kick by Cisco for 2. Mariposa knocks him off the ropes and Marty gets a 2 count. Double team wheelbarrow splash gets 2 for Mariposa. Cicso misses a basement dropkick, but Mariposa hits one. Marty comes in and hits a corner exploder for 2. Cortez comes in with a pop-in tornado DDT for 2 before Mariposa saves. Joey tags himself in to steal Cortez’s thunder, but Mack comes in and attacks with punches and a big slam before getting 2 off a legdrop.
Samoan drop into a standing moonsault gets 2. Mariposa prevents a Mack dive, so he knocks her down and he flip dives onto the pile. Marty and Mack chop each other before Marty eats a stunner and a shatter machine by The Crew for the win! Mariposa jumps The Mack before Sexy Star comes in to make the save in a very short skirt. Sexy Star is pissed off and chops the daylights out of her before snapmaring and kicking her. Mack says that “SHE GOT DAT ASS, B*TCH! SHE GOT DAT ASS!” Mack is great.
We go to the top of the Temple and we see Dragon Azteca Jr. and Rey – so I guess the question mark is the Rey Signal. Rey tells him that going for revenge isn’t good – fighting for honor is better, and revenge will come in time. Rey and Azteca have a match next week in the trios tournament and will team with Prince Puma. We close to a cool shot of all of them in their respective hoodies before going back to the ring for the main event.
Striker talks about Fenix and Matanza fighting before, but Fenix was 1 while Matanza was 21 in Aztec Warfare. Striker calls Matanza the eater of worlds while Vamp talks about how we don’t know what Dario has done to make Matanza like this.
Lucha Underground Champion Matanza Cueto vs. Fenix
Dario tells Matanza to kill Fenix. Fenix avoids a shortarm clothesline before Matanza bowls him over and chokes him in the corner. Fenix hops over a Matanza charge, and hits a few superkicks to the knees, gut, and head – but gets caught and hit with a German INTO THE BUCKLE. Fenix knocks him into the ropes into a 619 position for a kick, but a dive is met with a rewind poweslam that Fenix escapes. Big German by Matanza! Fenix hits a missile dropkick and an apron elbow before Matanza punches him to the floor.
Fenix hits two apron superkicks and goes for a suicide dive, but is met with a World’s Strongest Slam on the floor leading to multiple “holy shit!”s by Vamp. Rewind powerslam hits for the win. Matanza climbs on top of Fenix and slugs away while the referee is threatened with firing. Catrina tells him to stop before Mil Muertes returns and attacks Matanza and sends him packing.
Striker wonders if he is showing mercy to Fenix, or if he just wants the title. Fenix and Muertes have been enemies for the last year and a half, but now find themselves as uneasy allies. This was a really good episode of the show and gave Matanza a very small chink in the armor to at least make him seem like a monster that could one day be beaten.
To see every screengrab for the show, just click here.
