Our usual recap starts us off, focusing on the Trios Tournament and the build for Cage/Mundo tonight. Commentary reminds us of the finish to Matanza/Muertes last week and say both men will be back soon.
Steel Cage Match: Cage def. Johnny Mundo w/ Taya in 13:28
Right off the bat, you got the feeling that Cage wanted to destroy Johnny Mundo. That's exactly how this should have gone. I saw some very interesting things here, like Cage putting a Boston Crab on while sitting on the top rope. The shot of Mundo screaming with his face on the cage was splendid. Taya took off her belt and whipped at Cage's hand to prevent him from doing a move off the top, allowing Mundo to hit a big Spanish Fly in a cool spot. Mundo, who won the only other Cage match in Lucha Underground history, had the match won after everything but got too cocky and missed a dive off of it. Taya came in off the top with a cross body and they hit Cage with their own version of Magic Killer for two. They tried to handcuff Cage to the ropes but he turned it around and cuffed her. Mundo hit her with a chair by mistake and Cage used that same chair to nearly kill him with a screwdriver. Not quite on the level of Mundo/Cuerno last season but still a good steel cage match. A bit too much Taya and the overdone "docky missed dive" spot to be great though. Also, Cage earned an Aztec Medallion with the win. ***1/2
Dario Cueto interrupts the start of the next match with breaking news. He says that Angelico has suffered an accident and had to be rushed to the hospital. Ivelisse and Son of Havoc have to defend without him.
Trios Championship Elimination Match: Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. def. The Crew and Joey Ryan; Fenix, Jack Evans and PJ Black; and Ivelisse and Son of Havoc (c) in 23:15
Jack Evans did handstands down the steps because he's Jack Evans. Four competitors were allowed to be legal at once. If one person is pinned from your team, the entire team is eliminated. The action was insanely fast paced with everyone getting involved and hitting their shit fluidly. There was one odd moment where Azteca seemed to miss his cue but other than that, they did some incredible things to great success. Sleazy Joey Ryan got his ass kicked by Ivelisse, which was pretty fun. However, Cortez hit her with a brainbuster and Joey begged for the tag to pin her. Cortez declined but the time spent arguing allowed Ivelisse to pull him into an inside cradle to eliminate them. Jack hilariously called himself the "baddest bitch in the building", not Ivelisse. Ivelisse was on fire until she hit Code Red on Jack and PJ came in to kick her in the skull. Evans reversed the pin and eliminated her, guaranteeing new champions. The back and forth of the final teams was great. I loved Fenix going up against Dragon Azteca too. Evans took a beating, eating finishers from everyone on the other team in the end, before losing to a moonsault from Mysterio. Great match filled with the action that makes Lucha Underground click. ****
The final thing we see is Vampiro in full "master" mode in some lair. He calls over Pentagon, who is in a wheelchair. He demands that Pentagon get up but he can't. Vampiro pours hot candle wax onto him, burning him, but he still can't do it. Pentagon finally muscles up and stands but falls instantly. Vampiro leaves him lying at the show ends. Not the best segment between the two.
Overall: 8/10. Look at that. Lucha Underground delivers yet again. This episode focused on the matches a lot more than the story as we got no backstage segments until the final scene. The opening cage match was really solid and the Trios Title match was a blast, while also giving us new champions.
If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!
