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Lucha Underground Midseason Finale, "Gods Among Men"
Previously on Lucha Underground...
Vignette: Mr. Delgado (Lorenzo Lamas) is in Dario Cueto's office, and they discuss Cage, and how the gauntlet of power is making him stronger and stronger by the day, and how this will usher in a new era of gods among men (hence the episode's title). Dario says that these gods will be indebted to Dario and Delgado, and they should be rewarded. El Dragon Azteca Jr. bursts into the office, and (like everyone else does) demands a match. He wants Dario's brother Mantanza in a death match. Dario makes it the main event of the show.
After we hear a tune from the killer band Metalachi, Striker begins his usual show opening spiel, but Vampiro cuts him off when he mentions Mil Muertes, who attacked Vampiro recently. Vampiro, in a serious and murderous tone, told Mil he was coming for him -- it might not be today, tomorrow, or next...but he's coming. Striker nervously throws to Melissa Santos.
Match #1: Texano vs. Joey Ryan
While both men were over with the crowd, this was one of the first times they seemed to be strongly behind Texano since he debuted on the series. The writing is definitely on the wall for him to turn heel, and ally himself with Famous B and the Beautiful Brenda, and his stark black and white trimmed attire really hinted at that. Texano is really a hoss in the ring and he really commanded the match extremely well. His moves had more impact behind them than normal, and the crowd was eating out of his hand. The Best of 5 series with Cage really did get him over. Joey Ryan, as per usual, was cocky, cowardly, and comedic throughout the match, sprinkling in some crisp suplexes, and a dynamite super kick.
The match took a turn (not for the worse luckily) when Famous B and Brenda came out decked out in absurd Country Western outfits. B was on fire with his horrible Texas accent, screaming "TAY-HANO" as often as possible. The climax of the match came when B distracted Ryan, allow Brenda to hand Texano a golden horseshoe, which he cracked Joey in the mouth with, and scored the win.
Winner: Texano
Post-Match: Texano shoves Famous B away from him, and nearly makes out with Brenda.
Thoughts: In regards to the match, it was a fun match with a fairly predictable, but necessary outcome. Joey Ryan is bulletproof in California, so the loss doesn't hurt him. Texano needed a convincing win, and something to do in the series. Outside of his run with Cage he hasn't done too much. Now, he's got some intrigue to his character, and honestly a heel run for him wouldn't be bad. He did it effectively in AAA, so history could repeat itself. Also, Famous B needs someone to manage as Dr. Wagner really hasn't been on the show too often since his debut. If Wagner does return with B, the thought of a Texano/Wagner team is extremely interesting.
Interview: Johnny Mundo is in the ring to cut a promo. He does his usual, "I'm the mayor of Slam Town" routine, and thanks his two buddies PJ Black and Jack Evans for being awesome. He sends his crew to the back, so he could get serious. He runs down The Mack, and says he's the guy who always beats who's put in front of him. Now of course this prompts The Mack to come out and charge Mundo. Evans and Black return to the ring to jump The Mack, and security quickly swarms the ring. Like a man possessed The Mack stands up from his beat down, and takes out every single person the ring with Stunners, punches, kicks, and tosses over the top rope.
Thoughts: Mundo's promo was decent, but this segment was all about building up The Mack as an absolute beast who could in fact wrestle the title away from Mundo.
Cage vs. El Veneo
The debuting luchador is obviously Cortez Castro aka Ricky Reyes. His new gimmick is a quasi black Spider-man gimmick. The focus of the match was Cage's newfound aggression thanks to his gauntlet, and the debut of this "mysterious" luchador. There seemed to be a bit of a chemistry here between the two as this match, while still entertaining, never really clicked as well as it could. Cage wins the match by absolutely destroying Veneo with his version of The Steiner Screwdriver.
Winner: Cage
Post-Match: Sexy Star comes out and starts yelling at a fallen Veneo. She says something to the effect of "no, not you" and "never again." She hits a running mafia kick to Veneo's grill to put the exclamation on her thoughts.
Thoughts: This match was more about the build of character than actual wrestling which is perfectly fine for a series like Lucha Underground. The involvement of Sexy Star, who I really am tired of this point, was a bit overkill. I know she had this whole thing with spiders and Mariposa over the past few weeks, but this is ridiculous.
Vignette: Prince Puma is working the heavy bag, and is confronted by Catrina. They both say they have had visions of blood being spilled - Puma has seen Mil's while Catrina has seen Puma's.
Main Event: El Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Mantanza Cueto - Death Match
About 50% of this was extremely predictable -- Mantanza catches Dragon mid-air and hits his ungodly vicious looking suplexes, and Dragon hits a few big surprise moves include one where he seemingly bounces off his opponent and hits a move.
Then things got really, really interesting. At one point Mantanza lays out Dragon, puts him on his shoulder like a literal sack of potatoes and carries him up the stairs of the temple. When writing this it sounds so simple and unimpressive, but to see the site of this beast carrying one of the bigger luchadors like he was a sleeping child over his should up a very long flight of stairs is an amazing visual.
Once they get to the upper deck landing Dragon wakes up and the commence in a brawl that reminded me in many ways of a scaffold match. The deck area, like a scaffold, isn't that big and if you go the wrong way you're either going through some windows (and plummeting a few stories), or crashing through various set pieces strewn about. Well, unfortunately for Dragon, he found out the hard way about the set of Lucha Underground. Mantanza hits a chokeslam that sends Dragon onto the wooden bleachers. Now this move along would've have been a great visual, but the show upped the ante by having Dragon GO THROUGH THE BLEACHERS. The wood explodes, add some smoke machine effects, and you've got one hell of a visual.
After a minute or so goes by REY MYSTERIO returns to The Temple to check on his protege, and fight The Monster. When Mantanza sees Rey he rips through the crowd, literally punching fans as he made his way to the top. Obviously these were plants, but in the moment it seemed real and absolutely blew my mind. Rey engaged the Monster and they fought to the deck. Mantanza at one point has Rey up for a power bomb and slam Mysterio head first into what looks like a HVAC system. The resounding thud of Mysterio's body hitting the metal was cringe worthy. However Rey battled through, and as Mantanza charged him, Rey backdropped him over the railing, sending the former LU champion through the rough a massive storage area -- his brother Dario freaked and cleared the building.
Winner: Mantanza Cueto
Thoughts: Only in Lucha Underground. This match typified the greatness of this show -- great performers, insane visuals, big production value. Go out of your way to find this one.
Vignette: Melissa Santos is leaving The Temple and fans are getting photos with her. Under a light we see the menacing face of Marty The Moth. Suddenly a bag is thrown over his head and we cut to black. When we return Marty is bound in rope and his sister Mariposa (who he leveled last week after her loss to Sexy Star) stands over him. She says something to the fact that "he's learning." She does her patented twist of her pigtails and leaves. Marty laughs, and then tries to free himself. We fade to black.
Overall Thoughts: The final vignette was a little much, but this was a solid midseason finale that ended with a lot of big moments. The evolution of Texano as a heel is very intriguing, as is Cage's ascension to "god-like" heel. The build of the Mundo/Mack feud was great, and while it won't happen it'd be great to see Mack come out with the belt. However, if we could get a nice long feud, that'd be awesome. The Veneo/Sexy Star thing was stupid, and they really need to abandon it. The series returns in the summer -- see you then!
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