Hello there and welcome, fellow Believers! I’m sure you’ve realized by now, but just in case you didn’t notice, we’ve gone past another Wednesday yet again! I don’t know about you, but that can only mean one thing: it’s about time for us to venture 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!

Season 4 has started building its main stories and we’re now starting to build towards the more serious plots in the Ice Temple that are going to carry us towards Ultima Lucha, the mecca of our Lucha Underground journey! Hang on a minute though, because I’m concerned that you may have missed a stop on the way! I mean, chances are you probably didn’t because you are all smart Believers and you’re on top of your game! However, in the case that you may have missed something (it happens, we’re only human, after all), there’s no need to panic! I’ve compiled all of 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 even a Believer has to pay bills, you know?), 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

Episode 7: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

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 open our show with a very different recap than what we’re used to for this season. Instead of the immediate discussion of last week’s moments, we actually opened up with a few flashbacks featuring Big Ryck (remember him? He was featured all the way back in Season 1) and the Mack! Big Ryck delivers some humbling advice to his cousin here: “this business is only about one thing – making money while you can…”which is a stark difference compared to the career path that the Mack took in Lucha Underground. I wonder why he was featured here of all places though, as he was killed off between Seasons 1 and 2 by Catrina’s Disciples of Death and his skull was used to build Mil Muertes‘ Throne of Death by Season 2. You would’ve only had known that little tidbit through the Lucha Underground online comics, however, as it was never explained on-screen, but I digress. From there, we’ve got our recap on the events leading up to the crowning of the new Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Champion, as well as Cage’s feud with Pentagon Dark over the Lucha Underground Championship and the Worldwide Underground’sfeud with The Reptile Tribe. If you’ve been following along so far, then it’s quite literally the same few scenes from the last few recaps (with the addition of last week’s events sprinkled in) and doesn’t really need to be repeated once again.

From there, we’re taken right into the Ice Temple, where we’re straight-up rocked by Metalachi with some kick-ass tunes to hype up the Believers for tonight’s show. We’re welcomed into the Ice Temple by our ever-lovable announcers Matt Striker and Vampiro (who are dressed like college graduates with those awesome Lucha Underground jackets! Where can I get one of those? *ahem* sorry). Striker summarizes the events leading up to tonight’s show and reveals our main-event tonight! Pentagon and Cage will be going against each other one more time in tag-team action, with each men picking their partners (which have yet to be revealed at this time). Vampiro notes that he doesn’t even know who the partners are and proceeds to throw some shade at Striker, calling Striker handsome and himself ‘smarter than Striker’ (that was pretty smooth) before throwing things over to Melissa Santos, just as Metalachi has wrapped up their set!

We then pan over to Melissa, who straight-up leaves me speechless every time, but that’s another story for another day. Melissa introduces us to the King of the Reptile Tribe, Daga, who’s accompanied by Kobra Moon, as he prepares for his match. Daga looks really calm and collected as he prepares for the entrance of his opponent, Worldwide Underground’s “Darewolf” PJ Black.

Match 1: Daga (w/ Kobra Moon) vs. “Darewolf” PJ Black

Black stumbles and swaggers his way to the Battleground, even punking out a Believer by denying a high-five before he faces off against Daga. I assume Black went to the same hairstylist as Tekashi 6ix9ine, as it looks like he ran headfirst into Lucky’s rainbow, enjoyed a bowl of Lucky Charms and had some time to stop by Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake’s School of Many Gimmicks to study The Disciple’s look before heading to the Ice Temple. I get that it’s supposed to be how he expresses himself and all but dial it back, my man, dial it back just a tiny bit.

The match begins with a quick Greco-Roman Knuckle Lock, as the two proceed to trade some quick back-and-forth counters, allowing Daga to lock in a quick headlock. Black manages to shove Daga into the ropes but catches a rebound shoulder-block tackle from the King himself. Instead of rushing into the ropes for the typical leapfrog spot, however, Daga immediately goes for the pin and lands a two-count (I really like that, as it shows Daga’s serious nature). Daga begins to work on Black’s left arm, with a quick headbutt and whips Black into the ropes. Black manages to reverse it, however, and sends Daga into the ropes. Daga uses the momentum and speed from the rebound to catch Black with an impressive tilt-a-whirl headscissors transition into a guillotine submission. Black, in turn, manages to wrap his arm around the back of Daga’s head, allowing him to lift Daga into a vertical suplex and drops him to escape the hold. Black rolls into a chest-to-chest cover but doesn’t hook the leg, getting a two-count as a result. Black follows through and locks in a pendulum hold (reverse Full Boston Crab, grabbing the hands of Daga in the process) and swings Daga’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. Black continues the punishment by stomping Daga’s back and follows up with a back suplex before rolling through into a series of vertical suplexes and an arm submission. Daga tries to power through and manages to turn himself around but Black manages to hook the arms and transition into a backslide for a two-count. Black immediately catches a rising Daga with a forearm to the face and removes his right glove to deliver a brutal chop to Daga’s chest. Daga immediately fires up and retaliates with a chop of his own, as the two men proceed to trade strikes against each other before Black ends the scuffle with a thumb to the eyes. Black whips Daga into the ropes and prepares a backdrop but Daga rolls over Black’s back, forcing Black to run to the ropes instead. Daga tries to catch Black with a backdrop as well but Black rolls through Daga’s back and lands a scintillating Rolling Elbow to drop the King to the mat. Black attempts a springboard Asai Moonsault but completely misses Daga (who tried to cover for it by sliding slightly to the right, but it didn’t really work well so Striker claimed that Black over-calculated, which works). This allows Daga to kip-up quickly and drop Black with a sliding kick.

Black and Daga rise up slowly and Black fires the first few shots with forearms to the face and hard chops to the chest, backing Daga to a corner. Black rushes to the opposite corner to build up some momentum and rushes Daga, but Daga manages to jump over and transitions a School-Boy roll-up, allowing him to catch a standing Black with a jumping DDT to spike Black on his head. Daga maintains head-control and rolls over into a guillotine submission. The Believers are shouting for Black to tap out but Black manages to catch the ropes with his foot, breaking up the hold. Black attempts to catch Daga with another springboard Asai Moonsault but catches Daga instead with a Dragon Sleeper-hold and transitions it into a reverse suplex before rolling right back into the Dragon Sleeper. Daga is in a bad way and manages to begin sliding under but Black manages to change his grip to catch him in a chin-lock. Daga still manages to escape, however, and immediately returns fire with chops to the chest and right hands to a cornered Black. Daga then kicks Black’s legs underneath him, seating Black into the corner and nails the hesitation corner dropkick, going for a pin but doesn’t hook the leg for a two-count. Daga utilizes this, however, to immediately transition into a crossface but Black quickly rolls through and catches a standing Daga with a palm strike. Black and Daga continue to trade blows against each other, ending with Black dropping Daga with a spinning head kick and heading up to the top rope. Daga manages to crotch Black, however, and pursues him up top before landing a Frankensteiner. Black manages to roll through, however, and the two trade pin attempts before Daga halts a pin attempt and locks in a crucifix-armlock submission for the submission victory!

Post-match, Daga doesn’t relinquish the hold as Kobra Moon enters the ring and shrieks (really loudly), which summons Drago and Vibora to the ring as the Reptile Tribe circles Black and proceed to pummel Black. This summons Johnny Mundo and Taya to the ring, as they save Black from further punishment and lay out Drago and Daga. Ricky Mundo stumbles his way into the ring and ends up face-to-face with Vibora, which goes over about as well as you’d expect, as Vibora drops Ricky with a headbutt. Vibora then manages to goozle Mundo but Black manages to catch Vibora in the back with two kendo sticks, as Mundo and Black team up to take Vibora out of the ring. Worldwide Underground (sans Jack Evans) is in the ring and the Reptile Tribe is on the stairway as Kobra Moon has a microphone, declaring the Reptile Tribe is in Mundo’s future and that he should accept or perish. Mundo, calling Moon ‘Medusa’ and daring her to take him into the Tribe by force. Moon lays out a challenge for next week in turn: a eight-man war between the two groups. If the Reptile Tribe wins, Mundo must join the Reptile Tribe and if the Worldwide Underground wins, Moon will grant Mundo any wish he desires. Mundo accepts the challenge, declaring that they will both win something next week: Mundo gets a free wish and the Reptile ‘jamokes’ (whatever Mundo called them…how do you even spell that? what even is a ‘jamoke’?) get a one-way ticket to Slamtown!

Winner: Daga

Analysis: This was a pretty neat opener for this week’s show actually. It wasn’t a match that would get you out of your seat or anything but it was pretty solid for what it was worth. Daga is still as smooth as ever as he always looks so calm and collected whenever he wrestles in the ring and, ironically, it meshes well with PJ Black’s faster-paced style. Granted, there were a few moments that could’ve been handled a bit better (Black’s botched Asai Moonsault comes to mind) but, overall, I wouldn’t really ding it too much. I’m really surprised, however, that there weren’t any outside antics from either side! There was no interference from Kobra Moon or any other member from either side and I love that because, not only did it make both wrestlers stand out more as tougher for not needing their teammates, but Daga benefited the most as he shouldn’t need his Tribe’s help, since he’s the ‘King of the Tribe’. Overall, this was an alright set-up for next week’s big showdown between the two factions!

Matt Striker notes that the Lucha Underground Trios Champions are in action , as Killshot, Son of Havoc and the Mack will be defending their titles on this show! This should be an interesting match-up, if not to further the ongoing dissent between the three men.

Back from commercial break, we see the Mack in the locker room, as he prepares for his match-up later on in the show. As he closes his locker, however, Catrina suddenly appears, spooking the Mack as he declares that someone needs to ‘put a bell on her’ (silly Mack, she’d just teleport out of the bell). Catrina notes that she only came to deliver a warning to the Mack for crossing Mil Muertes and eliminating him from the Gift of the Gods Championship Match two weeks ago. Mack, in turn, declares that if Mil crosses him, he wouldn’t hesitate to drop Muertes and not even give it a second thought (even though, according to the Mack himself, Mil Muertes scares the poop out of him, and yes I paraphrased). With a sinister smirk, Catrina notes that death swirls and surrounds the Mack and to breathe it in before she begins to leave. Just before she leaves, however, she retorted to ask his cousin before she taps on Mack’s locker to open the door. This reveals the skull of Mack’s cousin, Big Ryck (complete with an eye-patch and cigar) which completely shocks the Mack as he finally learns the fate of his cousin. This would be why they showed Big Ryck in the opening recap, but I feel it would’ve been so much more powerful if they didn’t mention it at all. On the same accord, I can understand why they would refresh us on Big Ryck because we haven’t seen him since Season 1, which was back in 2014-2015, and so much has happened since then that Big Ryck had pretty much been an afterthought for the Mack’s Lucha Underground career (let’s be honest, how many people even remembered that moment in the recap between Big Ryck and the Mack or that they were even related in the story?). Also, as a personal side-note, I found it funny that Mack just assumed that was Big Ryck’s skull in the locker. The only thing that separated it from any other skull was the eye-patch and the cigar. What if Catrina just grabbed some random person’s skull and dressed it up, just to prank Mack in some sort of Lucha Underground-style Punk’d special as Big Ryck pops out with a birthday cake? Anyone?

We’re taken back into the ring, where the new Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Champion El Dragon Azteca, Jr. is in the ring, as the Believers chant and cheer his name in adulation. Azteca proceeds to speak to the Believers, noting that last week’s fight may have been the most difficult fight of his career but it led to the proudest moment of his career: winning the championship. He also recounts that the Eagle Tribe (his own tribe) was the most legendary of all the Aztec Tribes, as he declares that he will be utilizing his title shot at Ultima Lucha Cuatro. Noting that the event is still a long way off, however, he also declares that he will be defending the championship until then, as he believes this is the only way to honor his tribe and cement his legacy in the Ice Temple.

Analysis: I’m going to give this particular promo an analysis for a special reason actually. I’m all for it if they really want to continue to build Azteca’s momentum and further delve into his story before his inevitable crowning moment but I have a sinking feeling that he’s going to end up losing the championship before that happens, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it’s done well. You have to remember that Lucha Underground’s entire story is really centered on two elements: 1) The Aztec War that the story has built up to since the start and 2) El Dragon Azteca, Jr.’s growth ever since he inherited his mask from the original El Dragon Azteca, who started this entire overarching story. With that in mind, Azteca has to be presented and featured very carefully and his backstory has to be built very strongly to match the momentous payoff for his entire arc or the entire concept is shot. He can afford to lose the title if it means more development but the challenge is to do so without damaging his momentum. He’s now a champion, meaning that his ‘underdog’ status doesn’t hold as much weight as it did before and it won’t be until his Lucha Underground Championship chase that Azteca reaches that level again.

Back from commercial break, we’re back in the Ice Temple as Melissa Santos introduces us to the first half of our competitors for the Lucha Underground Trios Championship match: The Rabbit Tribe, consisting of Paul London, Saltador and Mala Suerte, who are all huddled in one corner.

Match 2: Killshot, Son of Havoc, The Mack (c) vs. The Rabbit Tribe (Paul London, Saltador and Mala Suerte) (Lucha Underground Trios Championship)

Even from their entrance, you can see that there’s a severe disconnect between the champions as the body languages of the men register as hostile. More specifically, the hostility is apparent with Killshot, who’s disconnected himself from his two partners (likely out of spite following their Three-Way for the Ancient Aztec Medallions). While Mack and SoH enter the ring, Killshot slides in last while eyeballing his partners. Neither men also riled up the Believers either and it’s unclear how much of the Mack’s psyche has been thrown off after his interaction with Catrina. Mix that with the hostility between SoH and Killshot and it seems that this is the perfect recipe for disaster. Can the champions put their differences aside and defeat their dangerous foes or will the Rabbit Tribe take advantage of this ‘powder-keg’ situation and hop away with the Lucha Underground Trios Championships?

Killshot and Paul London start the match off and London immediately goes on the offensive with a kick to the gut and immediately pulls Killshot towards his corner, allowing Saltador to tag in as both Saltador and Mala Suerte enter the ring. Killshot immediately reels back to his corner in retaliation as both Mack and SoH enter the ring, forcing the teams into a stand-off and a rare sign of unity between the champions. Saltador breaks the stalemate by taunting the Mack and a brawl breaks out, with SoH being sent to the outside by Mala Suerte and Mack being sent out by London. Killshot and Mala Suerte are in the ring as the legal men (as Saltador rolled to the outside, per Trios rules, any man can take over as the legal entrant to keep the action going). Killshot takes control with a wrist-lock on Mala Suerte but he manages to step onto the bottom rope to flip over with an arm-drag on Killshot. Killshot, using his height and athleticism, manages to roll through the arm-drag and dodge an incoming lariat from Mala Suerte to throw a leg-sweep. Mala Suerte dodges the sweep but ends up hooked in a headscissors by Killshot, sending him to the outside. Killshot allows Mala Suerte to roll back into the ring but, before any action can take place, SoH tags himself in, drawing a death stare from Killshot in the process.

SoH enters the ring to cheers from the Believers as he immediately takes control, whipping Mala Suerte into the ropes and setting up for an arm-drag. Mala Suerte, however, rolls through and cradles SoH for a one-count. SoH ducks a clothesline and leaps over Mala Suerte for a sunset-flip pin but eats a basement dropkick when Mala Suerte rolls back and away from the pin. Mala Suerte pulls SoH into his corner, where Paul London tags in and continues the offense with a headbutt and repeated kicks, backing SoH into the corner. London backs away, however, and readies a corner splash but SoH manages to sidestep and lands a rope-assisted enzuigiri to stun London. SoH continues the momentum with a back elbow to drop London, followed by a hesitation dropping elbow for a two-count. SoH rushes a cornered London but eats a kick in the process, allowing London to rush in but he’s caught and dropped with a backbreaker, sending London scurrying to tag Saltador into the ring. Saltador immediately gets dropped with a drop toe-hold and SoH tags in the Mack.

SoH and the Mack work together for a bit but Saltador manages to halt the offense enough to send SoH to the outside. However, he’s unable to stop the Mack, who comes rushing in with a flying shoulder-tackle and follows up with a Samoan Drop and a standing moonsault for a two-count. Saltador rolls out of the ring as all three members of the Rabbit Tribe are huddled outside of the ring. Mack readies for a dive to the outside but the grizzled veteran London and Mala Suerte manage to grab Mack’s legs as he rebounded the ropes near them. London holds Mack on the outside as Mala Suerte readies himself for a dive to the outside. However, Killshot manages to intercept and tosses Mala Suerte to the outside (dangerously close to the Mack, which Striker picked up on astutely). Killshot bounces to the outside and readies himself to dive onto Mala Suerte but he’s tripped up by London on the apron, sending him crashing to the floor. At this point, SoH climbs up to the top rope to dive onto the group of bodies on the outside but he’s shoved to the outside by Saltador, who springboards himself onto the top rope and levels everyone on the outside with a senton (and he got some serious airtime on it as well)!

London orders the Rabbit Tribe to send a prone Mack back into the ring as he ascends to the top rope for the 450 Splash. Killshot manages to intercept, however. and heads up top. The Mack follows suit as both men look to set London up for a double superplex. However, the Rabbit Tribe manage to come back in and they position themselves beside Mack and Killshot for a back superplex. Lastly, SoH gets under all the men and brings them all down with the ‘Tower of Doom’ spot, leaving all the men down on the mat as the Believers are rabid. SoH manages to get up first and heads up top to catch both Saltador and London in a ‘Super Mario’-like double stomp, transitioning into a standing moonsault on London in the process. Mala Suerte manages to toss SoH to the outside in the process, leaving Killshot and Mala Suerte as the only two men standing in the ring. Mala counters Killshot’s lariat with a rolling elbow and does the same to the Mack, dropping both men for a bit before Killshot retaliates with a jumping knee strike to drop Mala Suerte. Killshot begins to fire up but he’s grabbed by London. Mala Suerte tries to rush in with an attack but Killshot gets the boot up to stop him and kicks London’s legs out underneath him before dropping him with a basement superkick.

Killshot immediately follows up with a Tiger Feint Kick onto Mala Suerte and counters a sunset flip attempt to incapacitate Mala Suerte with a standing double stomp before immediately rushing to the apron to deliver another stomp onto a prone London to the floor. Killshot, with a surge of momentum, heads back to the top rope but he’s cut off by Saltador. This barely halts Killshot’s momentum, as he stuns Saltador with a top rope-assisted enzuigiri to leave him in a ‘Tree of Woe’ position. Killshot immediately follows up with another double-stomp, driving Saltador into the apron as Killshot rushes right back up and readies to strike Mala Suerte but he’s caught in Mala Suerte’s cutter, halting Killshot completely. As Mala Suerte’s celebrating, however, Mack catches him with a Stunner, as SoH dives to the outside to take out the remaining members of the Rabbit Tribe. Mack climbs up to the top rope, as Killshot blind-tags himself in, and Mack lands a brutal frog-splash onto Mala Suerte. As Mack recoils from the splash, Killshot immediately rushes in and pins Mala Suerte for the pinfall victory, while staring a hole into the Mack as Mack turned around to make the pin himself.

Post-Match, Killshot grabs the championship titles from the referee and aggressively passes one to the Mack while tossing one nonchalantly to SoH, as he walks out on his own. The dissension is still extremely present between the three men but it’s slowly shifting into a schism between Killshot and his partners.

Winners: Killshot, Son of Havoc and The Mack (Titles Retained)

Analysis: I’ll be honest, I fully expected the champions to lose their titles here and kick-start the Rabbit Tribe’s ascension and the feud between Killshot, Son of Havoc and the Mack. However, it appears that both stories are taking the ‘slow-burn’ route and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Clearly, the Rabbit Tribe’s story is going to be a big focus for the later episodes and they’ve just started their guidance under ‘the White Rabbit’ so it’s understandably going to take some time for them to re-adjust. I expect something big to happen at some point with the Rabbit Tribe so I’m alright with them middling the road for now but they need to capitalize on this new change soon or else they risk losing momentum fast. Meanwhile, Killshot is clearly positioning himself to be the ‘loner’ heel of his group and the schism between himself and the team is in an extremely fragile state at this point. They’re definitely making it a point, however, to display some form of solidarity between Mack and Son of Havoc (albeit it’s also very fragile), which fuels Killshot’s anger further as he and the Mack had been a duo in the earlier seasons of Lucha Underground. We also still don’t know about the whereabouts of Killshot’s partner, Dante Fox, which leads me to believe that he’s going to play a factor in this storyline at some point (assuming AR Fox is still working with Lucha Underground). As for the match itself, it was a pretty fast-paced battle and each men got some really good moments for themselves here. I loved Killshot’s body language and aggressiveness here and Mack and SoH are such solid workers. It’s a little weird that the Mack didn’t really do much with that prior reveal of Big Ryck’s death to him but it’s not the end of the world (he’s probably used to crazy stuff in the Temples at this point). As mentioned before, I would’ve preferred the Rabbit Tribe to win here (only because of my bias for Tag Team/Trios titles meaning something for tag teams) but it’s clear there’s going to be some underlying story to push these teams along so it can’t be helped.

Striker reminds us that our main-event is coming up: Cage/??? vs. Pentagon/???, and the partners will be revealed in the match!

Back from commercial break, Metalachi is hyping our viewers up with one last song for the night and Melissa Santos introduces us to the first competitor in our main-event, from the 559, they call him Cage (she says it so energetically too, makes me wonder a bit…), and the Machine is in the ring at this time. Cage acquires Melissa’s microphone and notes that when Antonio told him that he could pick his partner, he knew that his partner had to be a cold-blooded killer. With that in mind, he introduces his partner: King Cuerno! With that in mind, Lucha Underground’s hunter makes his way down to the ring, as calm and collected as ever. With that in mind, Melissa introduces Pentagon Dark next, as the Believers rabidly chant ‘Cero Miedo’ for their Lucha Underground Champion. Pentagon reminds Cuerno that he’s in Pentagon’s temple and that Pentagon doesn’t need anyone as his sacred Temple will bear witness to how he will break them both in half (for crying out loud, Pentagon, why?!) because he is Pentagon Dark.

Match 3: Cage & King Cuerno vs. Pentagon Dark

Someone needs to get Pentagon some apple juice because he turned what could’ve been a manageable match with two of the most dangerous competitors in the Ice Temple into an effective ‘catch-22’ for himself. I digress, however, as the Lucha Underground Champion has turned this tag-match into a handicap match, with the intent of showcasing his domination and using Cage and Cuerno as examples. Pentagon Dark is at his peak of domination right now, slaying all contenders for his throne, but he now finds himself in a dangerous situation, with a very slim chance of victory. Can the champion satiate his Believers and deliver on his threat or will he be felled by the Machine and the Hunter?

The three men start the match with a stand-off, as Cage and Cuerno stare down the champion. Pentagon immediately goes on the offensive, ducking a double-clothesline and delivering chops and kicks to both men (even dropping King Cuerno with a kick to the hamstring in the process). Pentagon, however, poses for the crowd with his back turned to his opponents, which results in him eating boots to the face from both Cage and Cuerno. Pentagon, however, manages to dodge an incoming Cage with a kick to the face and flips Cuerno onto the apron. Pentagon ducks the clothesline, resulting in Cage dropping Cuerno instead. Pentagon immediately follows up with dual sling-blades to drop Cage and send him to the outside. Pentagon immediately rebounds the ropes and follows up with a topé to drop both men on the outside.

Pentagon is standing tall, as he whips Cuerno into a nearby row of chairs, scattering the Believers in the process. He then immediately follows up with Cage and does the same to another nearby row of chairs. The Believers are firmly behind their champion, who greets them at the stairway with his ‘Cero Miedo’ taunt. However, he makes the critical mistake of turning his back on a hunter, something that Cuerno made Pentagon pay dearly for, as he tackles Pentagon on the stairway. Meanwhile, Cage gets back into the ring, as Cuerno leads Pentagon onto the apron, where Cage brings him back in with the dead-lift superplex. The duo immediately follow up with a frog-splash/elbow drop combination for a two-count. Cage tags Cuerno in officially and Cuerno goes to work on his prey, landing a running splash for a two count. Cuerno immediately follows up with a rebounded dropkick and whips Pentagon back into the ropes, but Cuerno ducks and Pentagon follows up with a kick to the face and removes his glove for a chop. However, as he runs the ropes, Cage catches his leg from below, tripping Pentagon up and allowing Cuerno to stun him with a penalty kick to the face. Cuerno tags in Cage and the double-team offense continues, with a groin shot by Cuerno onto Pentagon. Cuerno whips Pentagon to the corner, but Pentagon manages to leap over Cuerno and catches him with a Backstabber to subdue him.

Cage uses the distraction to enter in and attack but he gets caught in a series of superkicks. Pentagon immediately catches a rising Cuerno with a superkick and rushes over to the top rope to nail Cage with a Mexican Destroyer but he doesn’t hook the leg during his pinfall, leading to a two-count. Pentagon continues to fire forearms into Cage’s head and taunts him with the ‘Cero Miedo’ taunt before rushing the ropes. Unfortunately, Pentagon gets caught by Cage, who lifts and drops Pentagon into a rising knee strike by Cuerno. Cuerno immediately follows this up by drilling Pentagon with Thrill of the Kill, but before he could go for the pinfall, Cage waves off Cuerno. Mentioning that he can handle it from here, Cuerno calmly walks out of the match with his deer-head. Cage finishes off Pentagon instead with Drill Claw for the unsurprising pinfall victory.

Post-match, Cage heads to the outside and pulls out two chairs. He props one under Pentagon’s head and delivers a one-main con-chair-to onto Pentagon twice before posing with Pentagon’s title, indicating that he’s still on the hunt for the Lucha Underground Championship.

Winner: Cage and King Cuerno

Analysis: If I were to say I was even remotely surprised at this outcome, would you believe me? You probably wouldn’t because you’re incredibly smart and I would never take you for granted! Pentagon clearly bit off more than he could chew here and this was a classic example of ‘pride goeth before the fall.’ There’s absolutely no denying that Pentagon Dark is at the height of his power right now and he has become a juggernaut at this stage in his reign. However, he’s still only one man at the end of the day. Cage, however, is not a man, but a machine! Combine that with a hunter who remains relentless en-route to his prize and you have a dangerous combination that only a fool would face alone. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely understand that it’s not in Pentagon’s nature to accept help from any man, woman or whatever Mascarita Sagrada was. However, bravado and power should never come before intelligence and that’s what Pentagon did not take into account for this match, whereas Cage took full advantage of the stipulations and the assist of King Cuerno to dispatch Pentagon easily. Match-wise, Pentagon looked like a hero as he took on his opponents, rallying up at certain points and looking dominant in other aspects. Cage and Cuerno did very well for their parts and the body languages of all three men played to their roles here so well. It was clear that Cuerno was going to be a ‘hired-gun’ of sorts and it was clear that Pentagon was going to go down swinging while Cage looked like an intelligent planner ahead of time. The fact that Cage posed with the Lucha Underground Championship means that Cage is definitely not done with Pentagon Dark and the pinfall all but establishes that we will be seeing these two in another championship match down the line.

As the main-event concludes, we’re taken away to an undisclosed location in a desert, miles and miles away from the Ice Temple. Suddenly, we see two bodies descend from the ceiling. It’s revealed to be ‘Indiana’ Johnny Mundo and his sidekick, Taya, who have apparently found their way into the Reptile Tribe’s Throne Room (claiming that Kobra Moon went to a ‘Serpent’s Ball’, because those exist). The two manage to sneak into the throne room but find themselves face-to-face with a chained-up Drago, who roars furiously as the camera pans to reveal Vibora is also present as he superkicks Taya out cold. Mundo proceeds to throw strike after strike at Vibora to no effect as Vibora headbutts Mundo and attempts to choke him unconscious. Taya, slowly waking up, manages to grab her ‘Wera Loca’ bat and clips Vibora from behind, knocking him out cold. Mundo and Taya grab a sword, with Mundo intending on cutting off Vibora’s legs. However, Taya intends to cut the head of Vibora off, as she was unwilling to lose Mundo to the Reptile Tribe. After the two share a kiss and Mundo reassures her, Taya decapitates Vibora with a single slice, leaving his head in the throne room, as the two leave, but not before Johnny notes to Drago that they were never there, leaving Drago to roar furiously.

Analysis: Well, darn! Just as Vibora was beginning to establish himself as a dominant force in the Reptile Tribe, he goes and loses his head! Clearly, this was intended for the Worldwide Underground to gain an advantage going into next week’s Eight-Man Atomicos match with Johnny’s freedom on the line, but poor Vibora! Nonetheless, this severely cripples the Reptile Tribe’s power, leaving Daga, Drago and Kobra Moon as the only three competitors remaining. I expect some sort of shenanigans to occur to allow Vibora to either return or, perhaps, this could be the debut of another member of the Reptile Tribe for the big match? However this plays out, this promises to be extremely volatile and I expect repercussions to come for Johnny and Taya’s actions.

Full Show Analysis: I’ll admit, while this show was solid in match quality, it was a bit “odd” with the way this episode was handled. I can’t exactly quite put my finger on it or put it accurately into words but this episode was missing a certain ‘something’ here that kind of made it an average episode. It wasn’t a bad episode, by any means, as we got some story progression for a couple of the Temple’s stories, but something was lacking here that made this episode feel special. The matches were still pretty good and still worth watching and I can see that the blowoff matches for all of these feuds promise to be great but the show itself seems to be starting a decline in quality here. I do hope something picks up soon, otherwise Lucha Underground risks losing its magic and its appeal.

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