We almost had a live burning on Lucha Underground last week. Read that as many times as you would like to convince yourself. But yes, Mr. Pentagon “went there” last week: Sneak attacking Vampiro while the closing credits rolled, pouring gasoline all over him, and holding a lighter over Vampiro has he threatened his livelihood and family if he didn’t accept his challenge. This story has become the focal point of Lucha Underground on the road to Ultima Lucha, even more so than Mil Muertes and his title match with Prince Puma. The producers made the right choice as this storyline has me completely hooked and is absolutely killer television. It keeps making you tune in to see how Pentagon raises the bar of evil for the next show just to get what he wants. Tonight we get the big face to face confrontation between Mil Muertes and Prince Puma. History shows that these and contract signings never end cleanly.

This week’s show starts with Dario talking about his seven medallions again; three of which have gone to Fenix, Jack Evans and Aerostar. He wanted Pentagon to compete for one, but he refuses. Dario wants to just give him one anyway, just because he’s raised so much hell yet Pentagon still turns him down and even tells Dario that he and the master couldn’t care less about those medallions. He would have broken Dario’s arm and taken them all if interested (How can you not love this guy?). He just wants Vampiro, as he’s made it abundantly clear. Pentagon uses Vamp’s shoot name again during this. Dario asks when he can meet the Master; Pentagon says he will reveal himself when Pentagon is ready. A great segment between the great Dario Cueto and the twisted Pentagon. You could feel the character Dario relates heavily with Pentagon the character. Anyway, Dario will be giving away some of the medallions tonight anyway and this first match will be for one of them.

Bengala vs. Daivari

Daivari is someone that I am not crazy about. He’s never really done much for me throughout his whole career and not much has changed even in the larger than life feel of the characters in Lucha Underground. Daivari is the same spoiled, pampered rich heel we’ve seen over the years in wrestling with a big bodyguard. It doesn’t feel original. Anyway, we finally get to see Bengala back, an accomplished wrestler who has been all over the world masked and unmasked. He’s an absolutely welcome addition to LU with his style. A quick opener here which breezed by seamlessly due to Bengala just being amazing. He’s always a treat to watch in the ring and it’s great to see him on such a big televised stage like this. Honestly, I hate to use this phrase but it’s true, he completely carried Daivari to a watchable match here with his unmatched offense. Bengala picked up the 4th medallion when Ryck tried to interfere but hit Daivari instead leading to a Bengala rollup. Good start. ***

So while Striker and Vampiro talk after the match, they’re about to go to commercial when Vampiro gets up and says he needs to do something. Back from the break, Vampiro gets on the mic. Vampiro goes on about explaining what happened, and how he’s happy about just being a broadcaster now, etc. etc. until Pentagon Jr. comes out to interrupt him. Pentagon talks some of the nastiest junk to Vamp I’ve heard. Everything about this is incredible. Pentagon asks in a smarmy manner if IAN would be man enough to accept his challenge. Ian Hodgkinson responds that Ian won’t be the one facing Pentagon at Ultima Lucha, but Vampiro will be. Vamp then gives Pentagon a killer chokeslam and celebrates in the crowd. What a great segment that I’m not doing enough justice, you need to see this in complete form.

A quick scene backstage shows Sexy Star going through her things and finding Superfly’s old mask she took, trggering a flashback to the events that happened with her, Pentagon and Superfly. But next, we have another singles match for the 5th medallion!

King Cuerno vs. Killshot

What an intriguing matchup. This ended up being a very solid match. They kicked the crap out of each other, literally. Killshot hit Cuerno with a ton of kicks throughout the match, including one to counter Cuerno’s Arrow from the Depths of Hell dive to the outside early on. Killshot even pulled out this insane attempt at a somersault over the ropes into a rana to Cuerno on the outside. I say attempt because the end result wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty, but points for creativity and athleticism for sure. This was a fine wrestling match for sure, but it didn’t really tell a story other than this was the first time these two faced off. I did enjoy seeing Cuerno pull out more of his offense to match the amount of moves Killshot was pulling out, including a reverse ‘rana that was perfectly executed. Cold calculating Cuerno is good, but it was nice to see more varied offense from him in this. And attesting to that, he ends up getting Killshot to submit to this new submission he used which was like a combo of a bow and arrow hold and a dragon sleeper, absolutely vicious and fits his personality perfectly. The 5th medallion goes to Cuerno. ***1/4

Sexy Star vs. Superfly

The rubber match between these two, and it’s for the 6th medallion. Superfly came out on top in their last match which I found a bit underwhelming, but with the stakes higher here we may get something better. Actually, I’ll shut my mouth because this lasted around 35 seconds at the most. What? They started off just stiffing each other, and then all of a sudden Sexy Star pulled out the tilt a whirl armbar on Superfly’s arm that was previously broken and he tapped. Okay then. I guess they wanted to save more time for this Mil/Puma confrontation or whatnot. This sure made Superfly look like a absolute chump in the process though, yikes. NR

Oh god. Marty the Moth comes out here and grabs a mic. He asks Sexy Star if he can call her Sexy in the creepiest way possible. He has this character down too well. He asks to see this Aztec medallion and says it’s from HIS tribe, and wants the chance to fight for it and bring it back for his ancestors. This guy. Sexy Star accepts by kicking and punching the crap out of him and the bell is rung.

Sexy Star vs. Marty The Moth

 This is hilarious, purely for the fact that Marty is screaming at Sexy in a figure four leg lock to give him his damn medallion back. Besides that, this was basically a whole lot of nothing too, meant to make Sexy Star look like a world beater once again. She quickly made Marty tap to the tilt a whirl armbar. Marty always makes the most out of his limited TV time and never fails to make some sort of impression on the audience. It’s great to see guys get immersed in a character like this. NR

Before the Mil Muertes/Puma confrontation, Striker and Vampiro run down the Ultima Lucha card for Auguest 5:

  • Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo
  • Texano Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr.
  • Disciples of Death vs. Ivelisse/Son of Havoc/Angelico (Trios Championship)
  • Drago vs. Hernandez
  • Vampiro vs. Pentagon Jr.
  • Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes (Lucha Underground Championship)

That August 5 show is going to be something. Loved the way they presented these matches production wise as well.

Dario introduces this Puma/Muertes confrontation in the ring. It quickly breaks down as Catrina appears at the top of the stairs; Dario only wanted it to be the two men competing. The Disciples appeared with a casket and attacked Puma; Konnan came in with his cane to fend them off. Konnan was quickly dispatched, and Muertes hit Puma with the cane. Catrina nailed Konnan with the rock and Mil made Puma watch as Catrina and the Disciples rolled Konnan into a casket! Finally Mil hit the Flatliner on Puma to end the show. Some symbolism for things to come perhaps? The producers are doing a good job of making it seem like Puma’s title run is finally in doubt after overcoming all of these other challenges. Mil Muertes may just be the obstacle too horrifying and unnatural to overcome. Good ending note for this show.

Final Thoughts: Nothing that really would blow you away in the ring on this episode; a couple of solid matches for the medallions and making Sexy Star look strong by winning two matches quickly in a row. The great stuff in this episode was contained in segments and everything with Pentagon was fantastic. If Pentagon Jr. is not one of your most captivating characters on wrestling TV right now, I don’t know what to tell ya. Mil Muertes and Puma’s confrontation put over just how dark and powerful Mil and his band of Disciples are and give the viewer legitimate reason to believe Prince Puma may just lose this title finally at Ultima Lucha.