Things start this week with a recap of the Dragon Azteca/Black Lotus/Pentagon Dark stories. During Aztec Warfare III two weeks ago, the Black Lotus Tribe arrived and cost Pentagon that match. Tonight, he runs the gauntlet against them.
In the back, Pentagon and Vampiro bump into each other for the first time since Pentagon attacked him at the end of Ultima Lucha Dos. Vampiro says that everyone pays for their sins and those he isn't his master anymore, he hasn't forgotten. Pentagon does the "zero fear" hand signal and walks off.
Gauntlet Match: The Black Lotus Triad def. Pentagon Dark in 26:09
Vampiro stayed quiet on commentary while Matt Striker ran down the setup of the match. First up is Doku, better known as Kari Hojo. She is great. The best intergender matches are the ones where they the guys don't hold back. Too often we get situations where the woman is portrayed as not being on the same level (though she's champion, this happens with Sexy Star a lot). Pentagon held nothing back, delivering a vicious superkick and some badass chops throughout. Pentagon was in control for most of it but Doku never looked out of place. She hit an awesome elbow but Pentagon caught her second one into the armbar and broke her arm! The referee called for the bell at 6:10.
After a commercial break, Jeremiah is working out backstage when Catrina comes up to him. She says that Ivelisse's injury is a shame. They know each other and Catrina says that he isn't love with Ivelisse, but in love with her. The stone around his neck was stolen from her but she's in love with someone else.
Back to Pentagon Dark who has a microphone and promises to break Black Lotus in two, Up next is Yurei, better known as the awesome Mayu Iwatani. Let's just say that I never expected to see Petagon vs. Iwatani. She fared better than Doku, hitting a big cross body and even laughing when Pentagon screamed for more kicks from her. She did hit a really weak looking shot with the ring bell. Pentagon fought back and twisted her leg in awkward ways. Yurei actually kicked his ass for the most part but made the mistake of somersaulting into position for a running package piledriver. Pentagon then broke her arm at 7:12 (13:22 cumulative) and is halfway home.
An angry Matanza is punching the wall of his cell. Dario Cueto shows up to tell him that he wins his title back next week. Matanza shouts "NO" and wants "MYSTERIO!" He punched his hands bloody and made a question mark symbol with the blood on the wall.
Hitokiri was next, which translates to assassin. Hitokori is Io Shirai and she's arguably the best of the three. Hitokiri brought it with a missile dropkick and high impact offense before bringing a chair into play. As this has progressed, Vampiro has made it seem more and more like he's the one behind it all. She dominated until Pentagon dropkicked her when she tried a handspring move. Pentagon's kicks were just brutal as was him throwing Hitokiri into a bunch of chairs. The violence factor got kicked up in this part of the gauntlet. Hitokiri climbed Dario's office and leapt off with an insane cross body. Back inside, she countered a Package Piledriver into a Canadian Destroyer to beat Pentagon at 12:47 (26:09 cumulative).
Black Lotus, flanked by Yurei and Doku holding their broken arms, picks up the pieces and breaks Pentagon's arm. She kicked the referee so there was no official decision on her portion. Pentagon/Doku was good, Yurei/Pentagon was better and then Hitokiri/Pentagon was insane. This got progressively better and more violent, before ending with Lotus getting revenge on Pentagon. Quite possibly the best intergender match I've seen and the best gauntlet match I can recall. ****
Dragon Azteca Jr. returned and has issues with both Lotus and Pentagon. He got in the ring and Black Lotus Triad calmly exited. Azteca grabbed Pentagon and broke his other arm. Pentagon now knows what his victims feel.
Prince Puma awakens in the coffin he was put in a few weeks ago. Vampiro is there and tells Puma to come with him.
Overall: 8.5/10. Once again, Lucha Underground does a one match show and totally nails it. Pentagon Dark against three of the best Japanese women's wrestlers was just as great as I hoped it would be. Not only did we get a great match but they advanced the story of Catrina/ivelisse, set up Matanza/Mysterio, brought back Prince Puma and added to the intrigue of Vampiro and even Jeremiah.
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!
