The show opens with Prince Puma in the locker room still feeling the effects of Vampiro’s trials. Rey Mysterio warns him that Vampiro is using him and isn’t his master. Prince Puma blows Mysterio off and walks away. Then, Vampiro steps in and warns Mysterio to stay out of his way. Mysterio punches a hole in the mirror glass. Curious to see where this goes from here. A rematch between Puma and Mysterio from Ultima Lucha Dos seems to be a no-brainer. After all, a match like that is always best for business. However, just the tease that Puma might go into the rematch as a heel is insanely intriguing.
Right off the bat, we get exactly what we were promised in wake of last week’s main event draw. In Sudden Death overtime, Johnny Mundo defends his Lucha Underground Championship against The Mack. But not before Dario Cueto comes out and orders another stipulation, making this a Falls Count Anywhere match. This match picks up exactly where we left off last week. That includes the interference from Ricky Mandel, PJ Black, and Sexy Star. We also get some hard shots and slams on chairs and trash cans. The main difference from last week’s match is that tonight, Mundo’s girl, Taya, gets in on the action. She prevents The Mack from powerbombing Mundo into a pile of chairs on the outside, which allows Mundo to hit The Mack with a sunset flip powerbomb on the outside to the chairs for the win and retain.
This match had some brutal spots, but for how much this match has been hyped up, it feels underwhelming. Maybe its because all of the high energy from last week has cooled down in a week’s time or maybe because the finish was just flat. Either way, based on the months worth of build with this feud and the week long build to this tie-breaker after last week’s incredible Iron Man match, we deserved a better match, or at least a better finish. Still, that doesn’t take anything away from the work that The Mack and Mundo put in tonight. Both displayed some impressive athletic ability, as well as the necessary hostility to match their intense rivalry.
Right after, Cueto hits the ring to make a major announcement. That announcement being a new concept match for Ultima Lucha Tres. The concept, he calls, is The Cueto Cup, which is unveiled for the audience. Starting next week, 32 luchadors will compete in a single elimination tournament for the Cup, which will also earn the winner a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship at Ultima Lucha Tres. However, Cueto also announces that before Ultima Lucha Tres, Mundo will defend his title against the man who embarrassed (as Cueto himself put it) Cueto’s brother, Matanza. That man would be none other than Rey Mysterio. Big news from Cueto and plenty of big reasons to get excited for Ultima Lucha Tres this year!
Dario Cueto also announces that the Trios Champions (Aerostar, Fenix, and Drago) will defend their titles and when we’re back from commercial break, we find out that their opponents are Cobra Moon, Vibora, and Pindar. The faces showcase some tremendous high flying action while the heels highlight their own dominating strength. Turned out to not be a bad match actually. Not great, but admittedly, I failed to get into it because I expected an easy retain from the champions. Boy, was I wrong! All hell breaks loose at the finish where Fenix gets laid out on the outside with a Tombstone Piledriver from Vibora. Then, we see Aerostar reach to his brother for the tag, but Drago spits mist in his face instead. His alliance with Cobra Moon has finally come to light. Pinstar hits an insane Yokosuka Cutter before Drago leaves his corner and enters Moon’s corner. Pinstar tags in Drago (?), cradles up Aerostar with Vibora, and Drago lands on his brother with a frog splash for the title change.
Before anyone starts to question if that’s even legal, apparently, Cobra Moon wasn’t in the match to begin with according to commentary. Which opens up another hoop of questions (Why was she on the apron? Why was her name announced?), but let’s not forget, this is far from the wackiest thing to happen in LU or wrestling altogether so let’s let it slide. In any case, the match didn’t “wow” me, but not every match on the card does. The main thing about this was the finish and the intriguing storylines it opens up between Aerostar and Drago.
Later, in the showers, Johnny Mundo walks out to find his number #1 fan, Ricky Mandel, waiting for him. No, this isn’t the set-up to a pornographic film. This is Lucha Underground, which depending on who you ask, has just as much hamfisted acting as a pornographic film. Taya enters the scene to let Mundo know about Cueto’s announcement regarding Mundo’s title defense against Mysterio. Mundo sends Mandel off, not wanting “the kid” to see him crack. He tells Taya he’s nervous and that he’s going to have to train like he’s never trained before to prepare for Mysterio. This is such a serious situation that Mundo walks out without any pants. It’s segments like this that remind you how equally funny and captivating LU can be.
Right after that, we get the main event of the evening. Longtime rivals Mil Muertes and Prince Puma face off in a Boyle Heights Street Fight. A minute barely passes before we see these two slugging it out and Puma gets sent through a table, then a bunch of crowd chairs. From Boyle Heights signs to shoes, the two take turns clobbering each other with weapons. Seeing this much aggression really highlights just how much bad blood has been brewing between these two over the course of three seasons. Even the trash can from that Sudden Death match re-appears in this match, though it gets so dented out of shape that we probably won’t be seeing it again anytime soon. There’s also a slight chance we might not see Mil Muertes again anytime soon judging by how Puma finishes him off.
After a variation of the Van-Terminator followed by his 630 Senton finisher, Puma celebrates with the crowd instead of making the cover. This costs him as Catrina storms in and hits Puma with her stone. While she tries to revive Mil, Vampiro leaves the commentary booth to even the odds by handing Puma a brick! Where he got the brick or why he had it to begin with, no one knows. What we do know is that it had to hurt when Puma cracked that brick over Mil’s head for the 3-count victory. Unbelievable finish to one crazy match, but I really liked how the finish teased Puma’s complete turn to the dark side. His adoration of the fans nearly cost him the match, but giving into his dark desires with Vampiro helped him win it. He might just turn on the fans altogether and turn heel by time this is over. Not sure how Prince Puma as a heel would work (or if it could work), but I’m so interested to see it happen.
Next week, stay tuned for the first round matches of the Cueto Cup Tournament!