Hello there and welcome back, fellow Believers! It’s been a while since we last met and I couldn’t help but notice that another Wednesday has come and gone and you know what that means, right? It’s time to journey back into the Ice Temple and see what offerings we have in store as it’s time to recap the latest episode for Lucha Underground Season 4!

Everything has been coming along quite nicely for this season and things are building up for each superstar en route to their ultimate goal this season. What’s that, you say? You missed a moment that you think might be crucial for the story? You think you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and need to refresh yourself? First off, I need you to take a deep breath (seriously, you’re starting to look a bit green there). Next, I want you to know that I’ve taken the liberty of compiling all the episodes for this season in a neat little list for you that will expand with each episode! If you ever feel that you need a quick brush-up with an ongoing story (or if you want to support me, because you all love me…right?), all you have to do is click on any of the episodes below and you’ll find yourself in that episode, ready to assist you!

Episode 1: El Jefe

Episode 2: Darkness and the Monster

Episode 3: Rest in Pieces

Episode 4: Pain, Love and Sacrifice to the Gods

Episode 5: Sacrificio

Episode 6: Break the Machine

With the recaps fresh in your mind, let’s take a look at what Antonio Cueto has in store for us in this latest offering from the Ice Temple!

We kick off the show with our cold-open recap of everything that has happened so far in Season 4, starting with Dario Cueto’s lifeless body in a casket while Antonio Cueto, his father, takes Matanza Cueto’s key from Dario. The recap also replays Matanza’s destruction of that same key, which contained the remains of his human soul, transforming him into a god and leading into a path of destruction and carnage as Antonio Cueto sacrifices the bodies to the Aztec Gods. We also get a recap of Jake Strong’s debut and attack on Famous B’s clients, the Gift of the Gods Championship’s reactivation and the removal of Mil Muertes from contention. It’s standard stuff that we’ve seen before from these openings but it’s a nice reminder about the current events in the Ice Temple (although, there are some links right up there that will give you an even more detailed experience than those cold-opens, just saying *ahem*).

We’re then brought over to the Ice Temple, as we’ve got a new band serenading the Believers tonight: Metalachi! This band has been present throughout a handful of episodes in earlier seasons and their style and tempo has been a little more in-your-face than Mariachi el Bronx, which fits the overall atmosphere of the Ice Temple, in my opinion. Personally, I don’t have much of a preference for either as they both are pretty good at hyping the crowd, but in terms of ambiance, I feel Mariachi el Bronx plays more to the ‘beautiful’ side of violence while Metalachi plays to the ‘someone’s going to take a piledriver’ side, but I digress.

We’re welcomed by our wonderful announcers Matt Striker and Vampiro and, this time, Vampiro is the one that first greets us. It’s nice to hear Vampiro sometimes as he tends to lend a bit of a ‘lax yet excited’ characteristic to the commentating. I always found it a bit odd that Vampiro barely did much this season when it came to greeting the audience at home or even showing much personality. Striker, as much flak as I’ve given him in these recaps, actually is a really good commentator, as he adds analytical notes and discusses nuances that actually explain the logistics behind wrestling maneuvers and tactics without ‘exposing the magic’, so to speak. Sometimes, he can be a bit much when he starts to reach the ‘wrestling fan’ side of his commentating but having him as a commentator is a great addition and Vampiro’s personality (whenever he actually displays it) meshes well with Striker’s straight-man commentating.

Nevertheless, the duo run down the Gift of the Gods Championship match tonight, especially the importance of the title in the Ice Temple. For those of you not aware, the Gift of the Gods Championship is a variation of WWE’s Money in the Bank Briefcase or Impact Wrestling’s Option C with their X-Division Championship. The championship allows it’s title holder to exchange the title for a chance against the current Lucha Underground Champion (currently, at this time, Pentagon Dark), as long as they give Antonio Cueto one week’s notice to promote the match. You can see why this would be an important title to obtain for any of the competitors but, before we can get there, Vampiro notes that Sammy Guevara, one of Famous B’s clients, is currently in the ring and, as an update since Episode 4, doctors were able to save Famous B’s leg! Our famous hypeman doesn’t have to have his leg amputated after all! If you want to congratulate him on his successful recovery, feel free to send him all the love and well-wishes at 1-423-GET-FAME (Side-note: I’m still not sponsored by Famous B Productions. I’m still waiting on that call though so there’s no worry, guys! Any day now…). There seems to be no sight of the #Believer signs this time around, which is a shame but I bet it pops back up in the future. Striker kicks it off to the stunningly-amazing Melissa Santos and it’s time to get things started!



Match 1: Sammy Guevara vs. “The Savage” Jake Strong

Sammy Guevara looks to be poised for revenge against the man that has taken out his fellow stablemates, Jake Strong. Believers who’ve read my reviews know that I’m a major fan of Sammy Guevara so I already have high hopes for this match as it is. If you mix that with the immense hype that Jake Strong has garnered in such a short amount of time in the Ice Temple, I feel we’re in for an explosive opening match!

The match starts off with both men sizing each other up for a few moments as the Believers begin to chant ‘Strong is gonna kill you’. That size-up ends fairly quickly when Jake slips around to Guevara’s back and lands a brutal German suplex, maintaining waist-control. Jake follows through with another German Suplex, this time flipping Sammy onto his stomach and causing him to clutch his leg, which is a big no-no when facing off against Strong. Strong dominates the opening half, landing the Strong Bomb onto a downed Guevara. Jake readies up a lariat by rebounding the ropes but Guevara ducks the move and catches Strong with a cross-body to drive both men over the top rope to the floor. The momentum doesn’t last long, however, as Jake immediately regains control, tossing Guevara into the the timekeeper’s table and into a nearby warehouse ladder (remember, this Ice Temple was originally used as a warehouse to store beers).

Jake begins to do his ‘Strong’ taunt (which has caught on so quickly with the Believers) but, in the process of turning his back to his opponent, Guevara begins to scale the ladder onto the second-level balcony of the Ice Temple. Strong notices this and begins to chase after him, locking the Strong Lock on the outside, but he gets kicked off by Guevara, who limps his way up the ladder. Once Guevara gets to the top, he goes for broke and launches himself off with a moonsault to the floor onto Strong, which looked amazing with the camera angle they selected. Guevara would follow up with a series of superkicks, including one to the back of Strong’s head, and tosses Strong back in before preparing a springboard maneuver. Strong, however, dodges it and catches Guevara’s leg to lock in the Strong Lock to force Guevara to submit for the submission victory.

Post-match, Strong continues to apply the hold and begins to torque the ankle, forcing the ankle to break (signaled by a loud pop). Strong then acquires Guevara’s entrance jacket and poses to the crowd as the Believers chant for Strong.

Winner: Jake Strong

Analysis: Jake’s momentum continues to increase even higher, as he looks like a juggernaut against his opponents. The Believers are now solely behind him and his ‘Strong’ taunt has given him something to utilize to connect with the crowd moreso. The Strong Lock has now begun to enter ‘Pentagon Dark’s ArmBreaker’-levels of effectiveness and it’s now a surefire move to guarantee that a wrestler will have his ankle broken by the end, which adds to Jake’s sadistic characteristic. At this rate, I honestly will go out on a limb and say I expect him to win the Lucha Underground Championship at some point, although I would prefer Cage to have it first. Sammy Guevara still continues to impress me in his matches and his moonsault off the ladder onto Strong had my jaw drop. Granted, he wasn’t meant to do much here, as he was only utilized to make Strong look strong (no pun intended), but in those brief moments, you saw flashes of his talent and character and I encourage you to check out his work in other promotions if you ever have a chance, as you will be as impressed as I was when I first saw him.

During Strong’s celebration, Striker notes that ‘The Monster’ Matanza Cueto will be next in the Ice Temple. I would’ve honestly preferred that he didn’t mention this tidbit, just because I now know someone’s probably getting sacrificed next, but I understand he’s got a show to promote too so I wouldn’t hold that against him.

Back from commercial break, Melissa Santos is in the ring, as she introduces our first competitor for the next match: Vinnie Massaro. Vinny is a pretty entertaining character and a nice balance of silly to break from the serious nature of the Ice Temple. During Vinny’s theme, however, we hear two loud thumps, causing Vinny to look around before we hear that familiar gruff voice call out, “Vinny…”

Vinny turns around to see Antonio Cueto from the second-floor balcony. Antonio discusses that, upon taking control of Lucha Underground, he had evaluated the entire roster from top-to-bottom and, when he got to Vinnie’s contract, he thought to himself, “fire that poor excuse of a man, he’s dead weight” (geez, don’t sugarcoat it, Antonio). However, he didn’t fire him only because he assumed, if Dario kept him around, there must’ve been some talent under that ‘filthy shirt and track suit’ (that’s probably a compliment in Cueto-nese). However, after seeing his performance in Aztec Warfare, he felt that he had no choice but to order him a…pizza.

Suddenly, Lucha Underground has pizza-delivery service as a man comes out to deliver Vinnie his large pizza while we’ve got what I can only describe as ‘pizza-music’ blaring out as his entrance theme as the Believers chant ‘Pizza’. Vampiro legitimately seems confused, thinking it was a rib on someone (I feel your pain, Vampiro, I feel your pain). I’ll admit though, I totally burst out in laughter at this one so hats-off to you, Lucha Underground, I expected a sacrifice and you gave me pizza. Vinnie opens up the pizza as Antonio expresses ‘happiness’ that Vinnie is enjoying the pizza. However, Vinnie mentions that the pizza has pineapples on it, which is an absolutely disgusting abomination on the face of this earth and your family should be ashamed for you if you indulge in this combination (*ahem* sorry you had to hear that).

Antonio also notices that while he’s happy for Vinnie, he’s also ordering…a Sacrifice to the Gods! The lights dim to a blood-red color and the Believers are now in a frenzy, as Vinnie puts his pizza down and prepares for the torment that awaits him. With that moment, Matanza storms the ring as both Vinnie and the pizza delivery man are terrified.



Match 2: Vinnie Massaro (w/ Pizza) and Pizza Delivery Man vs. Matanza Cueto

Vinnie immediately shoves Pizza Delivery Man into Matanza, who stomps a mudhole into his poor soul. Vinnie, on the other hand, calmly removes his sweatshirt, exposing sights that no man or woman should ever behold, and readies himself to stand up against Matanza. Vinnie flips off Matanza and actually slaps the godly entity, angering the beast as he attempts to clothesline Vinnie. Vinnie, however, ducks out and delivers a series of forearms (including a discus forearm) to Matanza, actually stunning him slightly. Vinnie then hypes up the crowd and builds up momentum by running the ropes, but immediately gasses out after about two back-and-forths (as Vampiro astutely notes that ‘he’s in pain and he hasn’t even done anything’ for the line of the night). Vinnie tries to catch his breath on the ropes before immediately attempting the discus forearm again, but Matanza is completely recovered and headbutts Vinnie right on cue. Matanza whips Vinnie into the ropes and nails him with Wrath of the Gods right onto the pizza and the Aztec Seal for the pinfall victory.

Post-match, Pizza Delivery Man (who still hasn’t been paid for his pizza, and he shouldn’t be for adding those pineapples on them) attempts to prod a near-lifeless Vinnie Massaro for his money before raiding his pocket for his wallet. However, he soon ends up face-to-face with Matanza, who I’m guessing isn’t a fan of pineapple either. Pizza Delivery Man attempted to bribe Matanza with Vinnie’s wallet (which probably has a dozen receipts and sandwich cards). This works about as well as you’d expect and Matanza chokeslams Pizza Delivery Man before rolling him onto Vinnie and lifting his arms up into the air, as the thunder flashes and the screen blackens temporarily before Vinnie, Pizza Delivery Man and even the pizza are all gone (I guess the Aztec Gods like pineapple pizzas).

Winner: Matanza Cueto (R.I.P. Vinnie Massaro and Pizza Delivery Man)

Analysis: I’ll admit, the first bit with Antonio ordering Vinnie a pizza was pretty funny, especially his deflated delivery of the line as I expected that to be the ‘Sacrifice’ line. The fact that the entire Ice Temple broke out to ‘Pizza’ chants as Pizza Delivery Man came out was hilarious and a nice change of pace in the show. As I mentioned before, Lucha Underground has a serious nature to it, with the main story focusing on the War of the Gods and every other story is a side story to further each wrestler’s goal. Now while that absolutely necessitates ta serious tone to it (how can you not have it that way, especially with Aztec Gods coming for your head?), sometimes a light-hearted tone is needed to keep the viewer watching, as long as it doesn’t cause a mood whiplash of sorts. Granted, I wouldn’t expect this to be the norm, because there’s no way it would fit with the overall narrative, but it was a fairly welcome change of pace to prevent burnout.

Back from the commercial break, it’s now time for our main-event as Melissa Santos is in the ring to introduce the competitors for the Gift of the Gods Championship match! The competitors, one-by-one, are all introduced into the ring as Vampiro and Striker each pick one person to win this match (both agreeing on King Cuerno, who was previously the Gift of the Gods Champion back in Season 2 before losing the title to Fenix). Before the main-event began, however, Antonio Cueto came out of his office to declare (in typical Cueto fashion) that he felt like doing things a little bit differently for this match. Instead of the Six-Pack Challenge match, he wanted to have a Three-Way Dance. In order to decide which three would be competing for the championship, however, Antonio sets up an impromptu Trios match, with the winning team going on to compete against each other for the Gift of the Gods Championship (basically, another qualifier, despite the fact we just went through a bunch of them to get to this point). Singling out Ivelisse and Son of Havoc (as they were once Trios Champions and a couple back in Season 1, but that last bit wasn’t mentioned), Antonio allows them to pick their third partner, leaving the other three competitors on the opposite side. Naturally, they picked The Mack as both he and SoH are currently Trios Champions, leaving Dezmond X, King Cuerno and El Dragon Azteca Jr. on the opposite side.



Match 3 (Part 1): Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and The Mack vs. El Dragon Azteca Jr., King Cuerno and Dezmond X (Gift of the Gods Championship Qualifier)

Our impromptu match begins after the commercial break, with the Mack kicking things off wth a missed corner splash on King Cuerno, leading to a rope-assisted enzuigiri on the Mack. Azteca follows this up with a springboard cross-body, dropping the Mack temporarily, as Azteca follows up with strikes. While this is going on, the camera pans over to the stairway entrance to show that Killshot is watching the match from the top of the stairs. Azteca follows up with strikes but the Mack turns it around with an arm drag as Dezmond X comes in. The Mack is dominating the match at this point, dismantling both Azteca and Dezmond with a series of corner clotheslines and a double-rebounded clothesline to take the duo out. King Cuerno is next in and the Mack drops him with a Samoan Drop before kipping-up and following with a moonsault for a two-count. Mack, showing team spirit, tags in Son of Havoc, who continues the momentum with a handspring corner splash and a springboard cross-body but only getting a two-count.

The Believers begin to chant for Ivelisse and SoH returns that chant by tagging her in. Ivelisse immediately subdues Cuerno with a step-up hurricanrana, taking him to the outside. In the process, Dezmond manages to sneak in from behind and attempts a German suplex, but Ivelisse counters out with an arm-drag, sending Dezmond to the outside as well. Azteca jumps in next and he also gets caught up in Ivelisse’s offense, taking a scorpion-kick and getting caught in an octopus stretch. However, this leaves Ivelisse vulnerable for a recovered-Cuerno to calmly enter the ring and launch a kick right into Ivelisse’s back, allowing Azteca to land a side-slam for a two-count. Azteca tags in Dezmond and he continues the assault on Ivelisse, twisting her arm and cutting the ring off between Ivelisse and her partners (all of which are heel-ish tactics, as the Believers turn on Dezmond for this match). Dezmond continues to work on Ivelisse with hard palm strikes to the sides and uppercuts to Ivelisse. Ivelisse manages to fight back, however, countering a German suplex into an enzuigiri to stun Dezmond as she tags in the Mack, while Dezmond tags in Azteca.

The Mack immediately resumes where he left off last, dominating his three opponents with clotheslines, spinning heel kicks and even a Mack Press (Lou Thesz Press, for the record) onto Cuerno. However, inexplicably, Mack tags in SoH instead of continuing the momentum while Ivelisse takes out Cuerno on the outside with a flipping senton. Azteca is back up and attempts to land a springboard Asai Moonsault onto a reeling Ivelisse. However, Mack catches Azteca mid-jump with a superkick, dropping him to the floor, as Mack follows up with a running corkscrew plancha, eliminating both Cuerno and Azteca on the floor. SoH and Dezmond are in the ring and SoH kicks Dezmond, sending him outside and follows up with an impressive Sasuke Special, taking out all three of his opponents as the Believers are in a frenzy. SoH rolls Cuerno into the ring Inside the ring, Son of Havoc rolls Cuerno in and attempts the Shooting Star Press, but Cuerno rolls out of the way, forcing SoH to land on his feet and rolling through. Catching SoH during the recoil, Cuerno manages to drop SoH with Thrill of the Hunt for the pinfall victory.

Post-match, Mil Muertes runs out to attack the losing team, dropping Mack neck-first with a brutal-looking apron powerbomb, as Killshot continues to watch on. SoH attempted to save his partner but gets caught in a goozle by Mil Muertes. Seeing that happen, Killshot rushes down to assist but seemingly misses an attack and lands a knee-strike onto SoH instead. I say ‘seemingly’ because the attack looked as though it was meant for SoH but played off as an attempted attack on Muertes. Muertes retaliates instead with a strike to drop Killshot, as Muertes leaves the Trios Champions laying.

Winners: King Cuerno, El Dragon Azteca Jr. and Dezmond X

Analysis: Honestly, this match was alright with every competitor getting their chance to shine. In the first half, the Mack was clearly the superstar here, as he dominated the match for his team and looked to be unstoppable. I did find it a bit weird, however, that he tagged out to Son of Havoc during all the moments that he was at a clear advantage and it was because of these moments that his team lost their momentum. I think the story they were trying to go for here is that Mack was trying to build some synergy with his new partner in lieu of Dante Fox, who’s been missing in action between seasons but it came off as clunky at some points. Ivelisse looked really good when she had her moments and she clearly had the crowd on her side, which is always a plus on her behalf. Honestly, however, this match overall was unnecessary and over-complicated the Gift of the Gods Championship match more than normal. The story between Mack and SoH could’ve been done during the initial Six-Pack Challenge (which, despite my feelings of tag-team champions fighting each other, would’ve worked out a bit better).



Match 3 (Part 2): Dezmond X vs. King Cuerno vs. El Dragon Azteca Jr. (Gift of the Gods Championship)

After a brief commercial break, we’re now in the second half of this match but, this time, the match is actually for the Gift of the Gods Championship, with no tricks in sight. The winning team in the first half now face-off against each other and the match begins with Cuerno immediately going on the offensive, dropping both Dezmond X and Azteca with a series of attacks before Cuerno covers Azteca for a two-count. Dezmond X attempts to gain some momentum by attacking Cuerno but he’s muscled into the corner by Cuerno and gets a nasty front chop to the chest before Cuerno sets Dezmond on the top rope. Cuerno lands a top-rope Frankensteiner onto Dezmond, who uses the momentum to catch a recovering-Azteca with a flipping senton for a pinfall attempt but Cuerno breaks it up with a kick. Cuerno goes after Azteca next and drops him with a rebound dropkick. Cuerno pins Azteca but, uncharacteristically, he doesn’t hook the leg, allowing Azteca to escape for a two-count. Dezmond, in the process, recovers and goes back on the offense against Cuerno, rocking him with palm strikes and a Shotei-esque palm strike to the face. Dezmond whips Cuerno into the ropes and Cuerno catapults himself over Dezmond as he runs in, but Dezmond slides out and catches Azteca with more strikes before superkicking a prone Cuerno.

Dezmond then turns up the pace by whipping Azteca into Cuerno in the same corner and slide-rushes into the opposite corner to maintain momentum before rushing in with a European uppercut to strike down Azteca. Dezmond sets up once more to continue the offense against Cuerno but Cuerno gets the boot up to halt Dezmond. This doesn’t stop him from catching Cuerno’s leg, however, as Dezmond drops Cuerno with a snapmare transitioned into a high-angle dropkick to the back of Cuerno and hooks a deep pinfall cover for a two-count. Dezmond continues the momentum by going after Azteca next but Azteca manages to counter out of an attempted corner splash and catches Azteca with a springboard arm-drag. Azteca, however, covers Dezmond by putting more weight onto the stomach of Dezmond instead of the chest, allowing Dezmond to get the shoulders up for a two-count. Dezmond counters an attack by Azteca into a full-nelson hold as Cuerno comes in for a boot to the face, catching Dezmond as Azteca escapes the hold.

Cuerno, however, has his back to Azteca as he leans between the ropes to catch his breath. Azteca, instead of attacking Cuerno, rebounds the ropes to catch Dezmond on the outside with a topé con giro, jumping over Cuerno in the process. Cuerno catches Dragon as he comes back into the ring, however, with a kick to the mouth, stunning him enough for Cuerno to launch himself to the outside with the Arrow from Hell dive, subduing Azteca and diving all the way to the entrance ramp. King Cuerno manages to bring Azteca back in immediately but gets a two-count. Azteca manages to counter out of a powerbomb attempt by Cuerno and catches him in a sunset-flip roll but Dezmond breaks up the pinfall. Dezmond subdues Azteca with a series of palm strikes before slide-rushing to the opposite corner and building up momentum for a corner strike. Azteca manages to lift Dezmond over onto the apron to avoid the strike but he ends up catching Azteca with a rope-assisted enzuigiri. Dezmond follows through by jumping over the top and delivers his back-handspring Pelé kick to subdue Azteca (to which Striker comments he’s never seen that move before, despite seeing it last week?) but only gets a two-count. Oddly enough, the camera pans up to an angled view for this pinfall, showing King Cuerno just standing and watching this pinfall from the outside but not doing anything to prevent it, which was a bit weird.

Suddenly, Cuerno, remembering he’s fighting for a championship, climbs back in and levels Dezmond with a penalty kick to the face, reassuming control. Cuerno sets up for a Muta Lock on Azteca and Dezmond attempts to roll Cuerno into a victory roll but he’s caught in a full nelson by Cuerno while Cuerno has Azteca in a Muta Lock grip. Eventually, Dezmond rolls out and the three men are back at a standstill. Azteca rushes Dezmond but he lifts him over as Azteca dropkicks Cuerno into the corner. Dezmond takes over with an European Uppercut onto Cuerno and avoids an attack by Azteca, setting up Cuerno on the top-rope for a hurricanrana. Cuerno gets sent outside and Azteca drops Cuerno to the outside with a springboard dropkick. Azteca attempts a dive to the outside but Cuerno avoids, sending Azteca to the steps. Dezmond catches Cuerno with a strike to the face and Azteca subdues him with a hurricanrana while Dezmond drops Cuerno with a ringpost-assisted 619. Dezmond looks to set up an attack but Azteca cuts him off and brawls with Azteca as the two clothesline each other. Cuerno breaks it up by dropping both men with a double-clothesline and slamming Azteca into the announcers’ table. Cuerno then drags Dezmond into a nearby railing, scattering the Believers, and hot-shotting Dezmond throat-first onto the rail. He then follows up by tossing Azteca a couple of rows into the crowd, scattering more Believers in the process.

Cuerno continues the attack by picking up Azteca in a fireman’s carry position and was about to drop him with what looked to be Thrill of the Hunt but catches a glimpse of Dezmond all the way up by the stand where Metalachi was at the start. Azteca manages to escape as Dezmond hits a running senton, launching himself all the way down onto Cuerno for a jaw-dropping moment that looked epic, as the Believers lost their minds. Dezmond immediately follows up by sending Azteca back inside the ring and heading up to the top rope, but he misses Final Flash and crashes to the mat. Azteca immediately heads up to the top rope but Dezmond rises up and catches Azteca with a Shotei-palm strike to subdue Azteca. Desmond heads up and has Azteca in a fireman’s carry but he counters out of the move and catches him with a top-rope victory roll for the pinfall victory and the championship!

Winner: El Dragon Azteca Jr. (NEW Gift of the Gods Champion)

Analysis: Cuerno, Azteca and Dezmond went full-tilt for this half of the match and the match stood out because of it. Cuerno came off so well as a tactical expert in picking his spots and striking when the moments were prime for him. Dezmond X came off as an absolute superstar here and the moments here he established control made him seem like he was in the Ice Temple since the start. That dive from the stand onto Cuerno was absolutely jaw-dropping and, for a moment, I was concerned for both men but I was so lost in that moment because of how smooth it looked. Azteca does extremely well in displaying himself as the protegé that is getting even better with each match and we got a slight payoff here as he became the new Gift of the Gods Champion. Obviously the big payoff is when he becomes the Lucha Underground Champion as Azteca is integral to the main story already but this is the best way to build his story at this point.

Also, I just wanted to mention that the announcers here did an amazing job of hyping all three-men as well while calling spots that gave much more insight into certain aspects. I love commentating like this because it treats the viewer as intelligent and allows them to understand why certain things work while others do not, like the pinfall moments. I love how Striker and Vampiro mentioned that not hooking the legs and just going body-to-body on a pinfall allows for an easier escape and I adore when Striker explains why it didn’t work.

After the show, we’re shown a sleeping Marty ‘The Moth’ Martinez, as he’s being dragged somewhere, with wraps on his right arm, courtesy of when Pentagon broke his arm back in Episode 1. We suddenly see the legs of someone in heels, as they walk over to Marty’s head and dumps the water from a nearby vase onto Marty, waking him up. The person is revealed to be Marty’s sister, Mariposa, who wakes up Marty from a dream he was having with Melissa Santos as he was presenting her with Pentagon Dark’s teeth (okay then?). Mariposa explains that she did what she did back at Ultima Lucha Trés (she attacked Marty and left him alone) because he lacked focus. Marty reaffirms that he wants Pentagon’s teeth because of what he did to Marty’s arm. Mariposa corrects him in saying that his focus should not be on Pentagon’s teeth, but rather on Pentagon’s title, the Lucha Underground Championship. Marty then corrects his focus on the title, breaking out into a maniacal laughter as the show fades out with the echoes of the creepy bastard’s laugh.

Full Show Analysis: This show was off-the-wall in terms of action and story. We’ve furthered Jake Strong’s violent drive as he’s now taken out all of the active members of Famous B’s clientele (minus Texano and Dr. Wagner Jr., but we don’t talk about them for now). Matanza and Antonio have now offered two new bodies to the Aztec Gods as Matanza is still in a rage due to his godly possession, with nobody able to stop him now. We now also have the next challenger for Pentagon Dark’s championship as a re-focused Marty ‘The Moth’ Martinez looks to unseat the champion (a focused Marty is an extremely dangerous Marty and that promises to be must-watch). Finally, we’ve got a new Gift of the Gods Champion and El Dragon Azteca Jr.’s story has now reached a new level as he’s now positioned himself on the radar for a future Lucha Underground Championship shot. I honestly believe splitting the main-event up into two matches was convoluted for what it was and it should’ve remained as one match, but it is what it is overall. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode and what’s in store for us at the Ice Temple!

That’ll do it for this episode, fellow Believers! Let me know what you thought of this show, your favorite standout moments and if you thought anything should have been handled better in the comments section and leave feedback with what you all think of these reviews so far. As I said, these reviews are for you, my fellow Believers, and I want them to be styled to your liking as well. I hope to see you all next week for the next offering from the Ice Temple. Take care and keep believing!

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Image Credit: Lucha Underground