Matches
Prince Puma beat Siniestro de la Muerte (4:50, flatliner, good)
Pentagon Jr. defeated Cortez Castro (1:05, package piledriver, NR)
Johnny Mundo, Taya, PJ Black, Jack Evans beat Aerostar, Drago, Fenix, Sexy Star (8:52, Jack Evans backslide Sexy Star, good)
Dragon Azteca beat Chavo Guerrero (7:41, huracanrana, OK)
Developments
This week was another episode of building storylines. The biggest match coming is clearly Mil Muertes versus Prince Puma, and it got a little closer tonight. Prince Puma defeated Siniestro de la Muerte in a mostly one sided opener, using Mil’s own move to win, then dived onto Mil in the post match (after Mil had tried and completely failed to interfere.) This turned out to be Siniestro’s “retirement” match, as Catrina snapped the Disciple’s neck later in the show, sucked his (and maybe the others) life force out of him, and passed it on to an even stronger and even more angry Mil Muertes.
We didn’t see Catrina’s amulet, but other parts of that story moved on. Cortez Castro returned to the temple, when he was met with a hug from Dario Cueto. Dario vowed to Cueto that they’d avenge Mr. Cisco and find his real killer. Dario also insisted the show go on, sending Castro directly to the ring to be mauled by Pentagon. Pentagon looking at Vampiro didn’t hold him back this week, and he even broke Cortez’s arm at the end. Cortez really should know his cover is blown at this point, but we don’t know how he’ll respond. Pentagon declared he’d destroy whoever won the chance to face him next
Dario was not as busy as last week, but still got around a bit. He ran into Sexy Star in the (female?) locker room, wondering outloud while Sexy Star hasn’t cashed in her opportunity yet. Sexy Star said she wasn’t scared, but Dario advised her to stick to defending the Gift of the Gods belt and not get in the ring with Matanza. Speaking of defending that title, Mundo happened upon Sexy and made it clear he’s coming for the belt. However, it was Jack Evans who got the pin over Sexy Star in the atomicos match, thanks to an unseen Mundo superkick. Taya was injured at the end of the match, and carried off after it.
The main event went straight to form. Rey Mysterio was a fair ref until Chavo made the mistake of attacking him, Rey punched Chavo into a Dragon Azteca huracanrana for the win, then hit Chavo with a 619 after the match. Dragon Azteca earned a shot against Pentagon Jr., but Pentagon has more people to worry about. A closing vignette revealed Black Lotus was coming back to the Temple, with the Black Lotus Triad, to gain revenge for Pentagon also breaking her arm at Ultima Lucha 2.
Thoughts
Just a regular show. The atomicos match was fun, much better than the trios match last week. Jack still was fooling around (or trying to limit his exposure while he dealt with his jaw injury), but it didn’t feel like it over powered the match. The match could’ve easily gone for a lot longer and it had a lot of Sexy Star, but it was enjoyable.
The opener too, though it wasn’t a typical Puma match. It was very one sided, and aimed at focusing on his darker side. The Mil/Puma feud seems a bit generic – it’s not much more than random feuding and one Vampiro promo – but the match itself should be pretty great when it happens again. Siniestro looked good here, and LU gave up on the character much quicker than they usually do – he never really got a feud, just was a set up guy for Mil’s feuds with Cuerno and Puma and an extra man to round out the Gift of the Gods match. The Disciples seem like they’ll go down as a failed concept (though the guy behind this one turns up again later in a different role.)
The Pentagon/Cortez match at least advances that story, and Pentagon “Dark” got a win. (Though the crowd was a lot less into seeing him – maybe because it was his second match of the taping, or maybe because they lost some momentum.) Striker’s done a 180 on Pentagon, viewing him breaking Cortez’s arm as a delightful post match activity and not an evil act. That was weird.
The main event didn’t really work for me; it felt built around Chavo’s strengths and setting up more a Rey/Chavo match than the Azteca/Pentagon match which was actually on the line. The dive catch spot was cool, but also required Azteca to do a simple pescado he’d never otherwise try. Toning down Dragon Azteca and giving him a less than credible win doesn’t do much for his chances against Pentagon.
I really loved Dario hugging Cortez. The Black Lotus Triad vignette at the end was well done, though it’s tough to make much of it if you don’t know what’s coming. Catrina sucking the life out of Siniestro and passing it to Mil was classic LU supernatural wackiness – they stayed true to what they are in this episode.
