Lucha Underground 4×8: The Ranks of the Reptiles

Matches

Daga beat PJ Black (7:28, headscissors + wrist clutch submission, good)

Son of Havoc, Killshot, the Mack (c) defeated Paul London, Saltador, Mala Suerte Lucha Underground Trios Championship (7:20, Killshot pin after The Mack frog splash Mala Suerte, good)

Cage & King Cuerno beat Penta (5:45, Drill Claw, ok)

Status Check

Champion: Pentagon Dark (3 defenses)
Gift of the Gods: Dragon Azteca (0)
Trios Champions: Killshot, the Mack, Son of Havoc (2)
Died This Season (8): Jeremiah Crane (casket), Fenix (casket/lifeforce absorbed), Mr. Pec-tacular (sacrificed), Cortez Castro (sacrificed), Máscarita Sagrada (murdered by Rabbits), Vinnie Massaro (sacrificed), Pizza Guy (sacrificed), Vibora (beheaded)

Happenings

Oh, there were happenings.

Daga beat PJ Black surprisingly clean for this Reptile Tribe/Worldwide Underground feud. The Reptile Tribe made up for it by trying to destroy Black after the match. Johnny Mundo, Taya, and (less helpfully) Ricky Mundo made the save. Kobra Moon used the moment to challenge Mundo to a 4v4 match for the following episode, where Mundo would have to join the Reptile Tribe if they win, and Moon granting Mundo one queen’s wish if WU won. Johnny agreed, perhaps not really realizing he was betting his freedom on Ricky avoiding a pinfall loss next week. Matt Striker was careful to note Moon has been on a run of converting unwilling participants into Tribe members, with Daga & Drago both being added over the last two seasons.

Maybe Johnny realized his mistake later. A show ending vignette showed an Indian Jones styled Johnny Mundo & Taya sneaking into the Reptile Tribe throne room. They explained Daga & Kobra Moon had been tricked into attending a non-existant Serpent Ball. That left a still chained Drago and Vibora, who still caught Mundo & Taya by surprise. The Worldwide Underground couple were barely able to put down the big man with the help of Taya’s baseball bat, and Taya finishes off Vibora with the sword. She really finishes him off, with Vibora becoming the second member of the Reptile Tribe to be beheaded. (There was a coffin in the throne room, presumably with Pindar still inside.) It’s going to be tough for Reptile Tribe to be in a 4v4 match next week when they have only three living members, though people still seem to affect this show from beyond the grave.

Speaking of! Former ghost Catrina decided to haunt the Mack early in the night. The Mack was hoping Mil Muertes attacking him last week would be the end of it, and Catrina assured him Mil wasn’t finished. Catrina left Mack with a vision of death: Big Ryck (the Mack’s cousin)’s skull inside his locker. This definitely disturbed the Mack in the moment, though it did not stop him from retaining the trios titles. Neither did the tension in the trios champions. Killshot tagging himself in and taking the pin before the Mack could (assuming he would’ve) caused more issues with the team. Funnily enough, the Big Ryck video showed at the start of the show had Ryck stating to the Mack that wrestling was only about making money, something the Mack didn’t seem to believe then or now.

It was a tough battle for who made the most foolish decision on the night, though both decisions were keeping with the characters of the people who made them. Dragon Azteca Jr., new Gift of the Gods champion, declared both that he’d defend the title against anyone who challenged him and that he’d wait until Ultima Lucha 4 to cash in it. This is a much smaller season, but I don’t like Dragon Azteca’s chances of ever cashing it in now.

The main event had the other foolish choice. It was a pick your tag partner match with Cage & Pentagon Dark. Cage surprisingly picked King Cuerno. Penta unsurprisingly picked no one at all and decided to fight 1 on 2. This worked for a while, and then it definitely did not work. King Cuerno was a team player, laying out Pentagon with the Thrill of the Kill but backing off (and out of the match) when asked by Cage. Cage then got to win with his own Drill Claw, and is likely headed to a title rematch with Penta.

Thoughts

This show was more enjoyable the less you took the plot seriously. It was also helped by only having three matches, though one match was only barely there.

I liked the bulk of the trios title match. I disliked the finish entirely. I hate the “one teammate ‘steals’ the win from another teammate” trope. They’ve been done to death. They’re usually dumb. Why are you mad that you won? In what way does it matter who gets the pin? If the announcers always harping on how important is to hurry to get a pin, isn’t the person who hurries to get the pin a great teammate instead of a bad one? It was worse in this case. The Rabbit Tribe lost every match, got a cool vignette, continued to lose every match. Why should I care? Why should the White Rabbit just not show up and murder them all? Meanwhile, Killshot was one of my favorite characters at the end of the last season, and I liked Havoc and the Mack too. This story hasn’t been bad enough for me to give up on them, but it hasn’t helped them either and I am desperate for them to get onto whatever comes next. This set up seemed like an easy way to move on to that next thing. It didn’t happen, and they keep running in place. We’re stuck waiting for Mil to find a couple of partners, I guess.

PJ Black/Daga was good, even if feeling outside the usual Lucha Underground style. They’re not usually so submission based. Daga looked good at it. PJ was a little off in ways cameras couldn’t hide – the missed moonsault was missing before Daga even moved – but it worked for me overall. Kobra seemed to be trying to do something different with her voice. I’m not sure it worked. I’m not sure the closing death worked either, but it was amusingly over the top.

Penta not picking a partner is completely consistent with the character and also a sort of problem with having a competitive match. I was waiting for someone to run out and appoint themselves as one until it just turned into a one-sided match, and that was the idea. I’m hoping King Cuerno helping out Cage has some meaning and isn’t just random, but I don’t feel as safe that it’s going somewhere as I once did with this show.\