The first two Aztec Warfare matches have gotten ****1/4 and ****1/2 from me. For those unaware, it is a Royal Rumble style match with pinfall or submission eliminations and anything goes.
This week's episode starts with Dario Cueto walking backstage but he's stopped by Johnny Mundo. Mundo guarantees to win, holding the Lucha Underground and Gift of the Gods Championship. Taya is recording because she's making a documentary on him. Mundo says that in the event he doesn't win tonight, he's cashing in his GOTG Title shot next week. He also reveals that he's entering the match at number twelve. He says that he can beat Matanza so Dario takes the number twelve paper, rips it in half and says that he'll enter at number two, while Matanza is one.
Aztec Warfare III for the Lucha Underground Championship
No surprise but Lucha Underground Champion Matanza Cueto is first. Dario tells Melissa Santos that even though Sexy Star is supposed to be second, it's Johnny Mundo now. RING THE BELL! Mundo finds himself in trouble for the entire interval. Son of Havoc is in at #3 to a big pop. Matanza eats several near falls but is never in real danger. Jeremiah Crane (Sami Callihan) draws #4. Both of Ivelisse's flames are in already. He goes right after Tanzie and all three men kick him to the point where he gets sent outside. They do a pretty cool spot where Havoc pops Mundo up into a spear from Crane. CERO MIEDO! Pentagon Dark is here at #5! He comes in hot, kicking everyone moving. He and Matanza go at it in a reminder of Ultima Lucha Dos. At #6 it's PJ Black. He and Mundo work together obviously. Mariposa draws #7 while Matanza and Pentagon continue to go to war outside. Mariposa poses for too long and gets hit with the Crane Driller. Matanza German suplexes Crane to eliminate him at 7:36. Mariposa tries to flirt with Tanzie but he chokeslams her and she's gone at 8:11. That's the 11th straight elimination for Matanza dating back to Aztec Warfare II. At #8, it's Rey Mysterio Jr., who was the runner-up to Matanza last season. We don't get Rey vs. Matanza though as Rey gets attacked by Worldwide Underground. When Rey escapes them, he goes at it with Pentagon and the crowd eats it up. Drawing #9, it's Dr. Wagner Jr., complete with Famous B and Brenda. Things move quickly and #10 is Marty Martinez!
Marty impresses quickly, including a sweet plancha that takes out Matanza. The champion is quickly up though and sends Marty into the wall. Jack Evans is in at #11 to join Mundo and Black. They all jump SOH and eliminate him at 12:55. Sexy Star is here at #12 and she goes straight for the Worldwide Underground. Ricky Mandel returns at #13 and nobody really cares. Evans is being aggressive with Sexy, while Pentagon and Wagner work over Rey outside. Pentagon greets Mandel with a package piledriver. He then goes to break Rick's arm but four Japanese women show up and attack him. She swing him around the ring and deliver several kicks. One of them is Black Lotus and one of them hits a SICK Canadian Destroyer. Mundo pins Pentagon to get rid of him at 15:41. The crowd is disappointed but their attack came off well despite seeming random. Mandel gets eliminated around 15:48. Mascarita Sagrada is out at #15. Sagrada goes after Matanza in a fun attempt but is quickly gone at 16:25. At #16, it's time for Famous B. That dude is money with everything he does. He hugs Rey and gives him his card. "423..." Rey grabs him and is all like "619". That gets rid of Famous B at 17:43. Marty saves WU but then attacks them. He gets eliminated by Rey at 18:32 just before The Mack shows up at #16. The awesomely sleazy Joey Ryan is out at #17 and handcuffs himself to the rail on the steps. Last year he cuffed himself outside but Matanza ripped him free. Sexy and Mack are going at it with WU. Mil Muertes is out at #18 and Joey instantly regrets his decision. Mil rips the handcuffs off the steel and brings him inside. At 21:27, Mil and Matanza both eliminate Ryan and Wagner and come face to face. They had some wars in season two. They have a hoss battle outside while Kobra Moon enters at #19. She just walks over and sits on the announce table. Matanza gets tossed over chairs. Mack tuns Evans inside to send him packing at 22:43. WI loses another member when Black takes a popup stunner at 23:01. Sexy helped out with the pin. Drago comes in at #20.
HE goes after Kobra Moon, who had an interaction with him backstage recently. Matanza piledrives Mil outside, while Drago uses his dope pinning combination to eliminate Moon at 24:01. Matanza then murders him at 24:28. The final six are Mil, Matanza, Rey, Mack, Sexy and Mundo. Rey and Matanza go at it in the ring. When Matanza seems to have the upper hand, Mundo hits him with a shining wizard and Mil spears him. Sexy is next with a Codebreaker and Mack takes him out with a stunner. Mundo follows with a springboard kick and then Rey hits 619. He goes for a second but Matanza catches him. Rey uses Code Red to eliminate Matanza at 26:53, guaranteeing us a new champion. The crowd is floored by the elimination. Matanza is PISSED and takes out Rey with the Wrath of the Gods. He goes nuts outside and even shoves Dario on his ass. Mundo steals the pin on Rey to eliminate him at 28:38. Black and Evans are back to help Mundo beat up Sexy while Rey does a stretcher job outside. In an awesome moment, ANGELICO IS BACK! He's up on top of Dario's office and does another sick dive off of it to take out the Worldwide Underground. Sexy crawls over and pins Mundo at 31:00. Mil pretty much kills Mack with a Flatliner to eliminate him at 32:15.
We're down to Sexy Star and Mil Muertes. Sexy comes out firing but her offense doesn't have much impact on Sexy. Mil doesn't just try to win, as he brings a chair and table into play. Sexy counters a chokeslam into a DDT on the chair. She then delivers several chair shots to the skull for a near fall. Mil lines her up for a spear through the table but Sexy dodges and he goes through it. She rolls him up for two. Mil rocks her with a right hand and sets up another table. He brings her to the top for a mega chokeslam. She fights free and shoves him off and through it. Sexy comes off the top with a double stomp and gets the three and the title.
Winner and NEW Lucha Underground Champion: Sexy Star in 36:53
For the third straight season, Aztec Warfare delivers. The match moved at a great pace and didn't have any real downtime. There was the continuation of angles (Worldwide Underground, Sexy & Mack pairing, Rey vs. Matanza and Angelico's return), new stories set up (Matanza shoving Dario, Pentagon's new rivels) and the culmination of a long build for Sexy Star. I'd still put the first two Aztec Warfares ahead of it though. ****
Overall: 8/10. Lucha Underground is three for three in Aztec Warfare episodes. While I would rank this behind the first two, it's still a great episode that accomplished a lot. We got a new champion, feuds continued and several new things were set up for the future. Thumbs up.
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!
