Dragon Lee challenged Penta El Zero M to a match on Informa, following their incident on the PCW Ultra show Friday. It’s hard to know how seriously to take it. It’s a lot like Dragon Lee challenging Desperado to a mask match in his last NJPW interview. CMLL guys promos frequently challenge for matches or set up teams that they wish could happen. They usually have no idea if they’ll actually happen when they say them. Groups like NJPW seem to give the wrestlers a direction they’re heading (if they have one) for all their interviews. For CMLL, the only interviews that really seem to count are the in-ring ones to build up that month’s feud.
In this case, we know Penta is coming to CMLL at some point. Penta’s not booked anywhere tomorrow, so there’s even the slight possibility he makes a shock appearance in the Caristico/Dragon Lee match. Those are the two guys he’s had words with of late. It also could be something for later or something even outside CMLL. I think CMLL wouldn’t have had Dragon Lee bring it up on Informa if they didn’t have some plan. (Edit: A fan asked the question.) It just doesn’t feel like a guarantee we’ll see it.
Lucha Underground Season 4 season is available on iTunes for $40 or Amazon for $58. Those are US links only. I have no idea. I have no idea why the free trailer for Season 4 is being sold for $3 on Amazon. After last night, I’d hold off on ordering them anyway.
Lucha Libre Xalapena has an interview with local wrestler El Demasiado.
Lineups
CMLL (MON) 06/18/2018Arena Puebla
1) Black Tiger & Meyer vs Guerrero Espacial & Policeman
2) Acero, Astro, Asturiano, Stigma vs Joker, Pequeño Universo 2000, Pierrothito, Saurón
3) Estrellita & Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola & La Seductora
4) Esfinge, Fuego, Stigma vs Máscara Año 2000, Okumura, Universo 2000 Jr.
5) Rush vs Kráneo
6) Flyer, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Titán, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
Rush gets another chance to see if he can get past Kraneo. Titan and Soberano still seem on track to a singles match. The atomicos match could create an apuesta match just in time for the Arena Puebla show. I’m not sure why Sauron is around if it’s not to lose his mask.
Felino, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. beat Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Titánin a relevos increíbles match
(11:00 [3:55, 1:54, 5:11], 2/3, ok, via VideosOficialesCMLL)
What happened:
I don’t even know
Team Titan worked as the rudos in the main event, with Niebla & Cavernario making sure to rough up Felino.
The semimain was scheduled to be a national trios titles match. However, Mephisto could not return from a match Guatemala in time for the match due to a volcanic eruption. The title match was pushed back to next week and Hechicero filled in this week.
This was Zeuxis’ final match for CMLL for the time being, having given notice a while back. It wasn’t played up in the match. She appeared to say goodbye on Informa.
Thoughts:
The main event was interesting for the novelty of people working different sides and really for no other reason. It was a trip to see Titan as a rudo and a partner of Cavernario, and the crowd enjoyed Felino standing up to his usual teammates. It disguised that the work wasn’t all that special, with Volador having one of his vacation days and Soberano/Titan never being as in-depth as you might hope. That felt like the match they were building until Soberano just pinned Titan to send everyone home happy. Maybe it should and will be the match they end up with, but this match didn’t come off as the first part of a plan.
Puma on target
It’s really too bad Hechicero was the substitute guy in the trios title feud, because he was obviously better than the two guys on his team who will be in the title match next week. Hechicero taking a big quebradora and Luciferno struggling to take the same move from the same man 10 seconds later was not great. This was a weird feeling matches because the NDS were técnicos and never had long control of the match, just brief moments of hope to break up the domination. It did get the crowd behind the intended team, though that team would’ve really struggled to take that much of the match without Hechicero.
The crowd was way into the fourth match. The work didn’t seem that special, just a generic toned down match. They did play to the crowd a lot. Perhaps that why it worked for them. Kawato is seemingly acting a little bit more wild and rudo-ish of late, though the rest of his wrestling is not anything pleasant. He remains an interesting person because he’s evolving in a promotion where most people are locked in the form they’ll be until their skills decline. I’m just not sure he’s evolving into anything good.
Estrellita was brutal at the end of the first fall, her work so bad that everyone else looked as if they messed up as well. There was a Marcela/Zeuxis dropkick spot that looked not good, and everyone generally felt a beat slow in reacting and moving. Marcela seemed angry throughout the whole match and it showed in her performance. I don’t know that it’s going to be a sure thing that Zeuxis will do great on the indies; this CMLL division being so underwhelming has taken her down from where she was even a year ago. Still, it’s a lot better chance for her improving than hanging around here.
Pentagon Dark won Aztec Warfare 4 to retain the Lucha Underground championship (31:13, good)
* first defense
00:00 Killshot starts [1]
00:00 Willie Mack starts [2]
00:00 Son of Havoc starts [3]
00:41 Joey Ryan enters [4]
01:40 Mr. Pectacular enters [5]
02:45 Killshot inside cradles Mack {1}
02:55 Pentagon Dark enters [6]
----
03:56 Pentagon Dark half nelson driver Joey Ryan {2}
04:32 Son of Havoc shooting star press Killshot {3}
04:38 Tommy Dreamer enters [7]
05:19 Penta superkick Mr. Pectactular {4}
05:56 Maripsoa enters [8]
07:19 Son of Havoc handspring cutter Mariposa {5}
08:15 Pentagon Dark double stomp Tommy Dreamer {6}
08:23 Vinnie Massaro enters [9]
09:38 Penta half neslon driver Vinnie Massaro {7}
09:51 Hernandez enters [10]
10:48 Pentagon arm break Hernandez {8}
11:20 Pentagon backcracker Son of Havoc {9}
11:32 Johnny Mundo enters [11]
----
12:13 Angelico does NOT enter
12:41 Ricky Mundo enters [12]
14:07 Johnny Mundo Moonsault Drive Ricky Mundo {10}
14:14 Fenix enters [13]
15:45 Jeremiah Crane enters [14]
16:31 Mil Muertes enters [15]
17:50 Fenix sprigboard double stomp Mil Muertes {11}
18:12 Daga enters [16]
19:13 Chavo Guerrero Jr. enters [17]
19:55 Pentagon Dark half nelson driver Jeremiah Crane {12}
20:20 Chavo vertical suplex Fenix {13}
21:03 Johnny Mudno Fin de Mundo Daga {14}
21:10 King Cuerno enters [18]
22:19 Dragon Azteca Jr. enters [19]
23:47 Marty Martinez enters [20]
24:28 Marty Martinez pins Johnny Mundo {15}
----
25:19 King Cuerno frog splash Dragon Azteca {16}
26:49 Chavo Guerrero Gory Bomb King Cuerno {17}
27:18 Penta sit down cradle Chavo Guerrero Jr. {18}
31:13 Penta package piledriver Marty Martinez {19}
What happened
obligatory pizza driver GIF
Dario Cueto is dead. The opening shot of the season is Dario in a casket. This apparently his funeral, and we see Antonio Cueto and Agent Winter in the room. Antonio touches Dario in taking the Key from him. It immediately establishes that Antonio Cueto is not Dario under makeup and a bad wig, it’s his father. People have come back from the dead on Lucha Underground, and the way they leave open the question of why Dario would call his father as he’s dying (since Antonio claims never to have liked Dario) still gives one opening for an out. But, for now, the show is very insistent Dario Cueto is dead.
It’s also insistent in that Dario Cueto is dead because Antonio Cueto ordered him dead. Last season suggested it was simply about Dario failing to get control of the gauntlet (and the body of the person holding the gauntlet), but here it’s said Antonio made the decision Dario had to go. It would seem like Antonio would be fine with the knowledge that Agent Winter was the one who did the killing, but Agent Winter lies and says it was gangbangers who did it instead for unclear reasons.
Antonio Cueto is now the promoter of Lucha Underground. The old Temple can’t be used because Dario’s death attracted attention to the building. Antonio moves it to an old ice house used to store beer, saying that anywhere Lucha Underground mat (with the Aztec symbol) goes is automatically the Temple.
Antonio disrupts a ten bell salute to his son, throws the framed picture out of the ring, and declares himself a superior promoter and person than Dario. Antonio also claims he was the one who really invented Aztec Warfare and declares it to happen tonight to determine a Lucha Underground new champion, oddly sure Pentagon Dark will be losing. Along the way, Antonio also declares new trios champions: Dante Fox is missing in action, so Killshot and the Mack enter 1 & 2, and Antonio replaces Fox in the team with whoever’s number 3. That turns out to be Son of Havoc. No one’s happy with the turn of events, and less so when Killshot pins Mack and Havoc pins Killshot during the match. (Some dubbed in commentary hinted at Killshot having a personality change.)
Mr. Pectactular & Hernandez were surprises who didn’t last long. Tommy Dreamer lasted a while, to brawl with Penta and take a thumbtack bump. Vinnie Massaro got driven onto a pizza. Daga got his first match since Season 2, and lasted a few minutes.
Kobra Moon was angry about his elimination and later brought out Vibora to attack Johnny Mundo, leading to his elimination.
Catrina was upset about Mil Muertes going out rather quick, walking out on him.
Angelico was said to be supposed to be #12, did not appear, and was replaced by Ricky Mundo. Mundo was obsessed with a scary doll he brought to the ring. Johnny pinned him quickly.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. return, after losing a loser leaves the Temple forever match last season, was presumed to a peace offering by Antonio to the Guerrero family to stop their feud.
Penta cleanly won cleanly over Marty to keep his title. Antonio Cueto noted Dario would’ve probably sent out another person to face Penta now (as Dario did back in Season 2), but he’d instead announce a match for next week: Penta defending his title against “my only son” Matanza.
Thoughts.
this was about all Dragon Azteca got to do in the match but it was nice
Uh oh.
Lucha Underground gave us Pentagon Dark beating eight different people to remain champion, and it still felt like the least enjoyable Azteca Warfare by the end. Maybe by a fair distance. It was not much good until Fenix came in at 13. Past halfway is a long way to go for a match to get good.
The match had disadvantages: it was 14 past the hour before it started, which made for the shortest and most compressed version of this match ever. People were coming in, doing about two moves, and the next music would hit. There wasn’t the time for the match to settle into any groove, especially with the match having to come to a stop often for bits. Fenix’s run was great, the Penta/Marty stuff was good at the end, Johnny Mundo contributed well, but it was bizarre they found time and eliminations for Chavo Guerrero when others were just eliminated quick. There are parts of this match I liked, and there were parts of the match which confirmed my concerns about this season. I think I’ve landed on calling the match Good while being sure there’s no chance I’ll ever seek it out again.
For a first episode, it was as if a giant reset button came down in between seasons, with only the one thing everyone was sure would eventually be undone (Dario’s death) appearing to be left intact. Penta is still champion, but he’s been switched from Vampiro’s student of evil to a man fighting against the odds to remain champion. Vampiro betraying Prince Puma and revealing himself as with Pentagon was not mentioned on the show. If they made a mention of King Cuerno having the Gauntlet, I definitely missed it. He didn’t bring it to the ring. Catrina blowing a kiss as Catrina walked to the ring was about as much service as that storyline got (and there was nothing with Fenix even though he was out there.) Killshot and Dante Fox was the hottest rivalry at the end of the season, and this season started with one missing and another acting out of character. It’d be really weird to watch Ultima Lucha 3 and this episode back to back on a streaming service because of how much has changed, so I guess it’s a good thing you can’t actually do that. This was both the first episode of the season and an Aztec Warfare match, so they didn’t really have time to touch on every status quo. They just didn’t do much with the ones they had the time for. They found time to set up new issues (Mundo/Reptile Tribe, Ricky/dolls, trios title) but the past was simply the past.
one more bit of Fenix
It would surprise me if the story they told with Angelico – he just didn’t show up – is not far from the real story. But, they already did a “he’s just not here, we’re moving on to the next as quickly as possible” bit with Dante Fox on that episode. Doing it twice in half hour is not a great look, especially in an episode where a fair bit of other regulars – Cage, Taya, Drago, Aerostar, the Rabbit Tribe – gives an impression of something going wrong behind the scenes. A lot of those people should turn up later but “people aren’t here anymore” is not a great running bit.
I did not like Striker on this show in many ways. What was more confusing is they obviously had Striker go back and revoice around the Havoc/Killshot storyline, but they still left in Striker warning new fans about the Penta armbreak of Marty, when we just saw Penta do the same thing to Hernandez. Maybe that’s a reason not to use Hernandez for that if even the people in charge didn’t remember it. Maybe some editor could’ve made Striker seem less foolish than he already is. Vampiro seemed to disappear for large stretches of this show.
I did not leave this show feeling strong about this season. It’s just one episode. I know they can do better than this. But I also know they can do better than this and this is what we got instead. It didn’t work.
Arkangel de la Muerte has passed away. He would’ve been 52 next month. SuperLuchas reports he was found by his wife early this morning and is believed to have passed away from a heart attack. Arkangel was to have wrestled last night in the second match at Arena Mexico. He was replaced by Hijo del Signo, and that was treated like a normal replacement scenario (in that it wasn’t explained or acknowledged.) His last known match was Saturday at Arena Coliseo.
Arkangel had been wrestling for CMLL (then EMLL) since 1989, wrestling as Mr. Cid in his early days before putting on the mask. His career highlight was taking the mask of Angel Azteca at the CMLL year-end show in December 2003. He also won the mask of the previous La Sombra in 1995 in Arena Coliseo. Arkangel won both the Mexican & CMLL Welterweight championships around the turn of the century and participated in tours of Japan around that time, but his career seemed to peak with the mask win over Azteca. He slipped to a steady position in the second/third matches as a gatekeeper for the younger wrestlers. His only notable feud in the last decade was the off & on one between his Guerreros Tuareg and rival rudo faction Los Cancerberos del Infierno. Arkangel might have eventually gotten one last big match to lose his mask, but otherwise would’ve seemed like he would just keep wrestling in the same matches as long as he wanted to and as long as his body held up. Arkangel also appeared on Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon Mexico shows, sometimes as his lead antagonist.
Arkangel had become one of the CMLL trainers sometime in the late 2000s and has been called the head trainer more recently. His most famous class of students were the Generacion 2011 group (Bobby Zavala, Dragon Lee I/Mistico II, Enrique Vera, Hombre Bala/Drone, Magnus, Hijo del Signo and Super Halcon) but that’s just a small sampling. Most everyone who’s debuted in CMLL this decade – and many people who never debuted in CMLL but wrestled on the indies instead – trained with Arkangel at one point or another. CMLL held special Arkangel 20th and Arkangel 25th Anniversary shows in Arena Coliseo, something they don’t even do for their biggest stars. Those showed both his importance and the eclectic people who’ve studied under him. Arkangel has specifically been mentioned as recruiting indie luchadoras, both to see if they’d be willing to come to CMLL and as in between for REINA and other Japanese promotions.
Arkangel’s life will likely be talked about today on CMLL Informa. He’ll undoubtedly be honored on Friday’s Arena Mexico show and the week ahead.
CMLL (TUE) 06/12/2018Arena México [Lucha Central]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Cancerbero, Hijo del Signo, Raziel b Magnus, Príncipe Diamante, Robin Hijo del Signo replaced Arkangel. Rudos took 2/3. Raziel and Tirantes had a running argument during the match for unclear reasons.
3) Misterioso Jr., Sagrado, Virus b Fuego, Oro Jr., Stigma Rudos took 2/3.
4) Drone TLDRAW Audaz [lightning] The sixth time limit draw of the year.
5) Hechicero, Shocker, Templario b Blue Panther, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. Rudos took 1/3.
6) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Rey Bucanero b Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, Rush straight falls, setting up a Bucanero/Atlantis title match.
Postmatch promos: Principe Diamante (will be appearing on telenovela “Like, La Leyenda”), Stigma (hyping the Arena Puebla 65th Anniversary show), Audaz (wants a rematch with Drone), Drone (wants a rematch with Audaz), Templario (happy to be in a semifinal), Atlantis (willing to defend his title), and Rey Bucanero (preparing all his career for the title match.)
I honestly didn’t remember Atlantis was still the national light heavyweight champion. Drone/Audaz sounded alright.
CMLL (TUE) 06/12/2018Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [+LuchaTV, CMLL]
1) Luminoso, Magnum, Star Black b Carlo Roggi, El Chakal, Mr. Apolo tecnicos took 1/3
2) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Marcela b Dalys, La Comandante, Reyna Isis Jarochita replaced Sanely. Tecnicas took 1/3.
3) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Esfinge, Titán, Tritón NGD took 1/3.
4) Cavernario, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas b Dragón Lee, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. rudos took 1/3.
5) Niebla Roja b Furia Roja [hair] Niebla took 2/3. First known apuesta win for Niebla Roja. Furia Roja loses his hair for the first time.
6) Carístico b Mistico Mistico took fall 1 with La Mistica, Caristico took 2/3, the last using the ropes. Caristico is now 2-0 versus Mistico in singles matches.
They protected Mistico a little bit with the finish, but he’s booked as the rudo in this feud and keeps losing to send the people home happy. He’d get the same reaction if they do it in Arena Mexico too.
(I really want to record this show but it occurs to me I’ve overbooked myself for Saturday. We’ll see.)
Seemed like a good turnout for a DTU show in this building. In theory, this show will turn up on Powerbomb.TV later on. Shlak is off the DTU shows this weekend due to immigration paperwork issues. Shlak had been on DTU’s shows last September and December. Joe Lider replaced him here and will for the next couple days of the tour.
Lucha Underground Season 4 kicks off tonight on El Rey. It has been 238 days between episodes of this season. You can look at the number and see it as a show with not lot of momentum losing even more of it. Or you could look at the number and be amazed this season exists at all because not many shows return after a hiatus of that length.
Lucha Underground’s social media announced they’ll return with Aztec Warfare 4, their 20 man royal rumble style match, as this first episode. Those are usually episode long matches. They’d been hinting at something big the first show, but I’m still a little surprised they announced it ahead of time since it seems like it’s a surprise during the course of the episode. A royal rumble allows for surprise people showing up at regular intervals – expect to see both new people debuting and a few old faces returning. Not everyone is sticking around; there’s one-night cameos to get people talking and no more. The Honkey Tonk Man sly appearance at the start of a previous premiere got the show some buzz and notice from people who weren’t paying attention to the show. There may be some of the same tonight.
I feel like there’s minimal interest for this season of Lucha Underground in the “let’s rate/rank everything and find out the next hot gossip” circles of wrestling fandom I travel thru. At the same time, there’s about the same minimal interest in Impact Wrestling in those same circles, and that show continues to do 2x-3x as many viewers as Lucha Underground ever averaged. We may get rating numbers tomorrow, and we’ll have a better idea of what the latest hiatus and inactivity means after a few weeks of those numbers. Tonight, I expect to get a lot of “wait, Lucha Underground still exists?” tweets, and that’ll be fine too. I do know I got as much reaction to Lucha Underground Season 4 trailer as just about anything I write, so there are fans out there looking forward to the show in ways other than posting about it on Twitter all the time.
I’m personally not all that excited about it. I didn’t put together the usual list of matches and tapings date. Partly it was because the details were harder to track down this time around. Partly it was because the details I tracked down didn’t make feel overly excited to find out more. I have some knowledge of the bigger things to happen on this season and nothing jumped out as a journey I’m excited for. The talent makeup is an obvious problem for a show billing itself as lucha libre. I can be both understanding the issues with getting people in from Mexico were out of the production’s hands, and also be disappointed it had to happen and what we’re left with. It’s just as disappointing that some of my favorites have left and maybe would not have if LU was doing better. The breaking down of walls between Lucha Underground and Impact allowed LU to fill some of their holes with people from there – and from elsewhere – but I also kind of feel like I’d be watching Impact more if I wanted to watch the Impact people. The stasis surrounding Lucha Underground is also a real annoyance. The people most directly working for the show have smartly decided to only promise the TV episodes will air because they know that’s all they can really control. Still, a company once promising grand plans and now showing not only no signs of growth but also signs of retreating (the fewest episodes in a season so far) doesn’t seem like a great investment of time. And I could not be looking less to another session of “will they come back for another season? who will be left?” when this one wraps.
My feelings shouldn’t necessarily be your feelings towards Lucha Underground. I know people who went to these Season 4 tapings, and left really excited about what they saw. I know that know of us have seen the backstage vignettes, which have produced some of the more entertaining moments in past seasons. I know that there was a time when Johnny Mundo and Cage and the Mack and others didn’t exactly feel like they should be part of a Lucha Libre show, and then they won people over into feeling like that’ll belong. Perhaps that’ll happen again with the people I’m not excited about this time. The end of Season 3 was a really long time ago, but it was also really good. It was the best the show has been since the high points of Season 1, delivering both in-ring and with storyline payoffs. If Season 4 can continue at that level, it’ll be worth watching with whoever’s on the screen. Season 4 just seems so disconnected from those last episodes – aired many months ago, taped many years ago – that it feels like Lucha Underground Season 4 is starting from scratch instead of a high point.
I’m missing the show live and will be avoiding social media until I get to watch it. I think there still will be a recap later tonight.
Lucha Underground Season 4 begins tonight. Lucha Underground has become known for its sci-fi storylines, some of which stretch the entire run of the series and involve many of the characters on the show. Lucha Underground has also become known for a minimal support system around the show; they did post a 4 minute season 3 recap, but it’s a lot more about playing off what you remember than explaining what’s going if you forgot. I need to refresh my own mind maybe I can help you do the same.
QEPD Dario Cueto?
The most important character on Lucha Underground the last three seasons has been the owner of the promotion, the violence-addicted boss Dario Cueto. The violence caught up to him in the final moments of Season 3, where he’s shot at and appears to be dying as the season ends.
Cueto has been wrapped up the overarching behind the scenes mythical narrative of the series. On one side are the Order, trying to take over the world, including Councilman Delgado (deceased via Cage super-powered punch) and Agent Winter. They’re working on the behalf of Azteca god-like beings and looking for strong bodies to place the spirit of those gods in. Those gods are responsible for Matanza’s monster-like ways (in something that happened prior to the series start.). A man in a limo has been shown at times during the last two seasons and appears to be another god awaiting Dario Cueto to find him a strong body to put him in. It suggests that the Order will achieve their goals if they can get this done, that they’ve been funding Cueto all along to help this process all along, and the pressure was on him to deliver.
Cueto spent much of season 3 working towards this goal before it all went wrong. Cage & Texano had a best of five series. They believed it was for something like a title shot when Cueto just wanted to see which one would be the better host body. Cage was given the Gauntlet as a prize. The gauntlet increased Cage’s strength while addicting him to the power and preparing him for the god take over. There much less explained people trying to stop this God takeover, and – in something to explained another section – they convinced Catrina to get Mil Muertes to take gauntlet. Jeremiah Crane also got involved, wanting Catrina for himself and deciding to go after the gauntlet as a way of getting to her. Cueto’s plan was to do the God takeover of the person with the Gauntlet at Ultima Lucha 3, and thought it would work with any of Cage, Muertes, or Crane wearing it. Muertes did win the Gauntlet but was attacked after the match by the returning King Cuerno. Muertes had destroyed Cuerno at the end of Season 2 and had not been seen since. Cuerno took the gauntlet for himself, messing up Cueto’s plan.
Dario assured Agent Winter he’d still find a way to get a host body for the god. It wasn’t good enough. Winter shot Dario twice. Dario’s last act was to call his father. The third season ended with Dario dying. The teasers for the fourth season show a funeral for Dario. The footage they have shown so far has shown a casket, though not Dario inside it. Dario’s father Antonio Cueto is introduced. Antonio Cueto is the same actor as Dario under a wig and makeup, and we’ve been left to wonder if it really is “Antonio Cueto” or if Dario has faked his death.
The trailer to this season points on the Order storyline playing a big role. The trailer is also focused on the outside of the ring vignettes, where the vast majority of this storyline has taken place, so we have gotten a distorted view. The opposition to the Order is meant to be the Seven Tribes uniting. The trailer instead seems to feature a lot of lone actors working against the Order.
I’m struggling to remember which tribe is which. Here’s what I can come up with some googling. I am sure I am misrembering something. This is the section most likely to get a correction or five in the comments.
??Deer???: King Cuerno
Rabbit: Paul London, Mala Suerte, Saltador
Moth: Mariposa & Marty
Reptile: Kobra Moon, Daga, Drago, Vibora, Pindar
Dragon: Dragon Azteca Jr. (& Rey Mysterio)
Jaguar: Prince Puma & Night Claw
??Death??: Mil Muertes, Catrina
Only the Rabbit, Moth and Reptile Tribe have been focused on. The Dragon & Jaguar ones have been quickly mentioned but have never really been billed under that name as an important group. And the Deer & Death ones are just looking at images and guessing. I guess Death could just as easily be Penta and Vampiro.
If the big goal of the series is to unite all seven tribes, we ought to be getting a new Jaguar tribe member so they can be united with. It’d be nice to see Night Claw again, but I don’t think we’re getting that in Season 4.
Matanza
With no brother to keep him, the monster Matanza Cueto‘s whereabouts are unknown. It was an otherwise successful season for the scariest wrestler in Lucha Underground. The only person who’s pinned him so far was Rey Mysterio. Matanza later destroyed Mysterio, and the last shot of Rey we saw was him being trapped in a cell-like Matanza. Dragon Azteca Jr. believed Matanza killed his father. Matanza did not and beat Azteca all the same. Black Lotus first believed the Azteca had killed her parents, then figured it was Dario Cueto. She was right the second time and got taken out by Matanza all the same.
Matanza without Dario Cueto is probably someone getting into a lot of trouble and not surviving, but Matanza’s father taking over might help keep the monster in control. Or it might not be so great for him. Dario’s said that Matanza actually killed their mother, and we don’t know how Antonio feels about that.
The wrestler playing Matanza is widely expected to be leaving Lucha Underground following this season, so this year might not go as well for the character.
Pentagon Dark, champion
The only singles champion going into Season 4 is first-time champ Pentagon. He defeated Prince Puma in the culmination of a season-long swerve with Vampiro. Pentagon & Vampiro appeared to break up at the end of Season 2, something that now appears to be a planned violent separation so Puma would trust Vampiro to mentor him. Puma still didn’t seem to like the idea, though Vampiro was able to persuade Puma to face his old rival Mil Muertes in a casket match. The loser of a casket match is dead in Lucha Underground canon, but apparently, death was not enough for Vampiro. Vampiro brought back Puma from the dead as a now more willing student, though he tried to keep his role quiet in front of the fans. A new darker Puma defeated Muertes, won the Cueto Cup and defeated original rival Johnny Mundo to win the Lucha Underground championship in a career versus title match.
Pentagon, with special permission from Dario Cueto, immediately cashed in the Gift of the Gods title for a Lucha Underground championship match. Cueto also made it a career versus career match. Puma fought valiantly despite his arm being broken in the opening minute and lost only after Vampiro betrayed him. Puma left the Temple forever, dropping his mask on the ground on the way out, while Pentagon reigned as champion. Matt Striker strongly condemned Vampiro for his actions on commentary, in such a fashion where it seemed unlikely Vampiro would remain his partner on the broadcast. However, the indication seems to be they’re back calling matches together at the start of the season.
A post-match vignette revealed evil mentor Vampiro had his own mystery evil mentor. The person in that role in that scene was Bestia 666. The character is expected to be a part of Season 4, but Bestia himself has left the series. It’s unclear if/how this loops back into the Order storyline.
This sequence of events means the Gift of the Gods championship is vacant. That means the promoter- Antonio now – can start handing out coins once to determine a new champion as soon as the first episode.
New Trios Champions
The Lucha Underground Trios champions seem to swing between factions of rudos and unlikely tecnico partners. They ended the season back on the latter. Dante Fox and Killshot spent most of the season in an intense feud. Both had been taken prisoner while in the military, Killshot escaped, Fox was left behind until others rescued him. Fox believed Killshot left him behind, while Killshot has said he never even know Fox was there. Fox was billed as the rudo, but they seemed to regain a respect for each other after an enormously brutal Hell of War match.
The Mack, Killshot’s friend from Season 1, had earned a trios title shot by winning a battle royal. He picked Killshot & Fox as partners. Fox didn’t seem comfortable in that corner at first, but the team gelled enough to win the trios titles to close out their season.
They defeated the Reptile Tribe to win the championships. That cost that team more than the belt. Kobra Moon is leading the tribe as Queen during the season, with Vibora, Pindar and an unwilling turned mind controlled Drago as her soldiers. Pindar was responsible for the loss. The last scene of the group saw a returning Daga (hadn’t been seen since Season 2, where he had a strange relationship with Moon) beheading Pindar with a sword in a bit of loyalty to Moon.
Moth Tribe Split
The Moth Tribe is having its own issues.
Marty Martinez‘s creepy behavior towards Melissa Santos blew up into full-bore stalking and jealousy towards Fenix, who was actually a couple with Melissa. Marty’s sister Mariposa got involved, not always successfully. Fenix, with help a little help from Marty, was able to save his mask and take Marty’s hair in a big apuesta match at Ultima Lucha. Mariposa also betrayed Marty in the match, but those two seem to break up and get back together enough that it’s unclear if this is a new permanent status quo.
Catrina has a lot going on
Everyone’s favorite ghost Catrina is over 200 years old, but also functionally immortal. That comes from the half of an amulet she wears around her neck that stops her from aging, though she complains it leaves her “halfway between life and death” (like a ghost!) She’d like to have the other half of that amulet to be fully alive and knows who has it. That’s where the problems start.
Detective Vazquez, a character previously seen primarily in bits involving undercover police offers Cortez Castro & Joey Ryan, was revealed to be wearing the other half of the amulet. She’s apparently the same person as a girl briefly seen a thousand years ago wearing the full version of it. She’s on a mission to stop the Order at all costs. And, Detective Vazquez is Catrina’s mother. They have a strained relationship.
The circumstances of how the amulet got split and how Catrina got half of it are unrevealed. What we do know is Vazquez was willing to give up her half (which might also cost her life) if Catrina and Mil Muertes were able to retrieve the Gauntlet to stop the Gods from coming. Catrina is unconcerned about the Gods, but wants the amulet – even though they didn’t get the Gauntlet on the first try, it gives her plenty of reason to keep trying.
Jeremiah Crane was introduced to the series as Ivelisse‘s girlfriend. His actual motivation seemed to be using Ivelisse to get access to the Temple, and to find Catrina there. Crane has known Catrina since they were both children, which means Crane is also near 200 years old. (His source of immortality hasn’t been explained.) Catrina is not interested in Crane romantically, to Crane’s increasing frustration.
Catrina and Ivelisse had a match at Ultima Lucha, based on Catrina costing Ivelisse’s her match at Ultima Lucha 2 and a war of words earlier. Ivelisse suffered an injury early on and disappeared for about 30 episodes, so the feud never developed. Ivelisse finds out about Crane’s feelings for Catrina before the match and violently dumps him, then beats Catrina. Crane attacks Ivelisse after the match, either because of the breakup or to impress the uninterested Catrina.
Besides all this, Catrina is spotted watching Fenix & Melissa leave after Ultima Lucha. She seems to still have feelings for Fenix after the season 1 affair. Crane is watching all three of them.
More Minor Storylines/Placekeeping
the Rabbit Tribe spent the season convinced Mascarita Sagrada was their mystical White Rabbit. He insisted he was not. Sagrada did tell London, Mala Suerte and Saltador he’d lead them to the real Rabbit at the end of the season.
Ricky Mandel changed his name to Ricky Mundo to suck up to Johnny. It worked, only in the sense that he was designated screw up for Worldwide Underground. A weirder Ricky plotline involved Dario getting photos of some mysterious evil dolls, which kept reappearing on his desk when he tried to throw them away. Ricky was suckered into taking the photos instead. It was never mentioned again in Season 3, but those dolls show up a lot in the trailer.
Aerostar‘s attempts at freeing Drago from Kobra Moon’s control have only led to Aerostar getting his arm broken. Aerostar’s time-traveling powers still come up, and we know he’s in Lucha Underground to counter the order, but he hasn’t acted on it much to this point.
Danging Plotlines Involving People Who Aren’t Around But Are Still Supposedly Going To Be Resolved
someone kept sending Sexy Star spiders. She didn’t like spiders. She thought it was various people. It was not any of those people. The season ended with Sexy Star getting another spider but no real movement. Lucha Underground writers have said multiple times that this will be wrapped up in some fashion.
Rey Mysterio was locked in a cell at the end of the season. He got out in time to appear in multiple Royal Rumbles but we may be missing something in between.
Texano Jr. got a boring storyline where he was told he was boring and lost a match to Dr. Wagner Jr. to end up as a Famous B client. I’m not really sure if either the Mexicans made it back for Season 4.
People Who Were Around But Don’t Have Much At The Moment
Johnny Mundo was a big part of Season 3, but there’s not a lot going on with him as they come into Season 3 because his feuds aren’t around. Mundo won the title from Sexy Star, who wasn’t around. Mundo lost the title to Prince Puma, who’s gone. Mundo lost the title in part due to a returning Angelico, who is gone from the series. He also feuded with Rey Mysterio, who’s not expected back. Jack Evans and PJ Black are still his henchmen and similarly unencumbered by any storyline.
Taya made a documentary celebrating Mundo. It was great. I assume her Season 4 storyline involves acceptance speeches for various Oscars. She also lost to Sexy Star, but Sexy Star no longer exists so we are moving right along.
Son of Havoc feuded with a doppelganger named Son of Madness in a bit that didn’t work. Madness doesn’t seem to be returning, or at least there’s no sign of that character.
Undercover cop Joey Ryan exposed Cortez Castro as another undercover cop spying on Dario Cueto and his connection to the Order. Dario teased revealing the Castro as police in public. Also, Castro & Ryan did have a police-themed blowoff match that only really made sense if you knew they were police. I guess technically Castro’s cover was never blown and now Dario’s now around to expose him. Castro eventually found out he was sent there by Vazquez more to stop the Order than Cueto, so there might be a motive for him to stick around in some fashion. There’s no obvious one for Ryan at the moment.
Argenis and Vinnie Massaro were also around Season 3 at times, usually just to lose painfully. Massaro found his way into more skits. Argenis had his arm broken by Pentagon and his head sliced open by Marty the last couple of times we saw him. Like all of the lower level Mexican talent, it’s unclear if he was back in season 4. Massaro is definitely part of Season 4, though I fear it will not go any better for him.
Pimpinela Escarlata returned at the end of season 3 for a single battle royal but wasn’t used in a segment. We know it was a long process to get Daga cleared to return to the US. I suspect it was the same for Pimpi, and so the match was more a payoff for that, and maybe even hope they’d be taping again soon enough that the work visa would still be valid. That didn’t work out.
Everyone seemed to like the AAA opener (Dragon Bane and friends) even more than I did, so that might be worth a look beyond the title match. There’s not a lot of CMLL showing up beyond the old MarcaClaro show.
I’ve stop doing timestamps for Twitch shows. They don’t stay working for more than a couple months, they’ll be up on YouTube eventually with a link that will be stable, and I’m not sure that many people are using the Twitch service. Let me know if I’m wrong.
Recommended Matches
rating
matches
TV Show
taped
great
Cuatrero vs Ángel de Orofor the CMLL World Middleweight Championship
CMLL on ClaroSports.com: 2018-06-01
2018-06-01
good
Dragón Bane, Freelance, Iron Kid (Estado de México) vs Draztick Boy, Impulso, Low Rider
