Ultima Lucha Tres Part 3: The End is Nigh
It was bound to happen folks. There was always going to be a part of Ultima Lucha Tres that wasn’t quite on the level as the rest of the Ultima Lucha Tres episodes. Tonight show was that one…which is to say it was awesome as opposed to THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST EPISODES OF WRESTLING I’VE EVER SEEN! What a shame, I know. But hey, awesome is still awesome and this episode of LU showed off the depth of the promotion, with both undercard matches delivering better than the first two nights combined before giving away to a good, not great main event. All in all, a nice first course before next week’s grand finale, the last part of Ultima Lucha Tres and perhaps Lucha Underground’s swan song. But let’s not talk about depressing shit like that right now! Let’s just dive in and see what was so good about tonight. Moses, just meme it!
Last Luchadora Standing Match
Sexy Star defeated Taya
If you take away the result and Matt Striker’s unfortunate commentary, this match was freakin superb. You can thank one person for that and yes, it’s exactly the person you’d think to credit. I will give Sexy Star credit for taking a beating and not messing anything up too bad, but it was Taya who made this match. She sold like hell for Sexy, she beat the tar out of Sexy; everything that looked good in this match was largely because of Taya working her ass off to make this match work. I know she says she’s a much better performer now than she was back when this was filmed, but she should give herself some credit; she was a hell of a worker during this match too! Credit to her for making this match a must watch, with at least as much violence as the Catrina-Ivelisse semi-classic from last week (it was so hard hitting that it looked like Sexy Star was on the verge of puking at times from the strikes Taya delivered). Would I have had Taya win this match instead of Sexy? Of course, but this was filmed so long that you can’t really blame for LU not seeing that Sexy was going to turn into the lucha equivalent of Casanova Frankenstein. Take that away and this was a better than expected opener and further proof of how awesome Taya is. I just wish her effort and professionalism had been rewarded better than putting over an ungrateful jackass.
Lucha Underground Trios Championship Match
Dante Fox, Killshot, Willie Mack defeated Drago, Pindar, Vibora
If you wanted to argue this was the best match of the show and the second best match of Ultima Lucha Tres thus far, I wouldn’t be bothered by that. I’d disagree (Marty and Fenix is second best in my book), but in a way that’s respectable. There were a lot of stories going on in this match; Killshot and Dante Fox being forced to work together just a few days after trying to kill each other, Killshot and Fox having to go all out just a few days after getting brutalized by each other (Fox was STILL bleeding from the wounds), Mack trying to hold it all together to survive Drago, Pindar and that giant ass dinosaur and (surprisingly) Pindar breaking away from Kobra Moon's plan to try and win the match "his way." It all came together perfectly. Fox and Killshot managed to find the perfect balance of selling their injuries and still doing some pretty incredible stuff (while doing their best to get along), Big Willie at times looked like the best performer to walk planet earth (his running clothesline attacks were simply breathtaking), Pindar excelled as the luchador holding the whole match together (I think he worked with every technico in this match and made them look like a million bucks), Drago was looking like his best version; hell LU even found the best use of Vibora, which was him doing his big power spots and very little else. With the storytelling at a high level and the in ring stuff clicking like it did, it all combined for an exquisite, extremely satisfying match that saw Mack pin Pindar (after a Lo Mein Pein/Stunner/Double Stomp combo) to win he and his makeshift team the Trios Champions. Hey, now they’re only the second most awkward Trios Champions in LU history!
As great as all of this was though, there has to be a special award given to Dante Fox and Killshot for what they did in this match. It would’ve been a good outing for both under normal circumstances; dare I say that’s not what this was after they worked the most awe inspiring death match in the history of time just two weeks ago (in reality, these guys worked this match just a day after the Hell of War. A DAY!). I have no doubt that some of the selling they did in this match was very real and that it must’ve been more painful than enduring Movie 43. No one would’ve blamed them for taking it easy. And yet, they were doing Fosbury Flops, running moonsaults off the apron, springboards, over the turnbuckle dives and more, despite the pain, despite the blood. Whether it was ill advised or not is not for me to say; I just know that those two guys didn’t have to do this, did anyway and delivered the type of top notch performance we’ve all come to expect from them. Whatever takeaway you have once Ultima Lucha Tres is over, one of them should be that Dante Fox and Killshot are phenomenal, brave performers who deserve every bit of praise and fame they will hopefully receive from here on in. They went from having a Match of the Year candidate just 24 hours before to working another excellent match with several other talented luchadors a day later. My hats off to them and to Big Willie for a title victory so richly deserved. If there’s a season four, the only way big things won’t be in store for those three is if Jeremiah Crane kneecaps them with that hammer. And I wouldn’t worry about that; Ivelisse will take care of him.
Ladder Match for the Gift of the Gods Championship
Pentagon Dark defeated Son of Havoc
This may be an unpopular opinion but I thought this was the weakest of the Ultima Lucha Tres main events thus far. Hear me out before you throw your fruit and drinks at me! Perhaps I’ll feel different when I eventually get around to rewatching the match but I thought it was a little too slow for the first few minutes, with the guys taking too much time to bring weapons into the ring as opposed to dishing out some high quality action. That was enough to hinder the match compared to Fox-Killshot and Marty-Fenix. Was it enough to keep it from being a really good match? Hell no! Even with the stalling in the mid section Havoc and Pentagon made it work, with the story being Havoc trying to match Pentagon’s level of violence and…well let’s just say he didn’t quite get there. He made his best effort, hitting a Space Tiger Dive early and at one point trying to spay and neuter Pentagon by slamming a ladder into Pentagon’s balls with a chair. But in the end it wasn’t enough to overcome Pentagon, who saw Havoc’ mean streak and raised it with a chokeslam through a table and a PACKAGE PILEDRIVER THROUGH FOUR CHAIRS! That spot alone almost put this match on the level of some of the other UL3 matches. As good as that stuff was, there was nothing better than the result, which was Pentagon scaling the ladder and winning his first ever LU title. About time right?! The question will now become what happens next with Pentagon and…well let’s just say I’ve got a feeling we may not have seen the last of him in this LU season. He’s got the Gift of the Gods title after all; who’s to say he didn’t go to Dario after the match and backdoor his way into the main event next week? Grodd help Prince Puma if that’s the case. Why do I say that?
This Was the Exact Moment We All Knew Prince Puma Had Been Had!
Because of this gorram end tag, that’s why! Initially, the only backstage scene of tonight’s episode (live from the Vampiro Dojo of Kinky Pain) seemed like it was all about Vampiro motivating Prince Puma for next week’s big match against Johnny Mundo. Then Puma left…and the lights went dark. And Vampiro was kneeling in the middle of the floor. And then there was a voice (that I initially missed) telling Vamp that he had done well. And if that weren’t enough, there was then the kicker; Vampiro thanked the disembodied voice and referred to him as “master.”
So yeah, PRINCE PUMA IS IN DEEP SHIT YO! Clearly Vampiro has been playing him all this time; the question now becomes who this master is. I think the immediate thought is that it’s Pentagon. After all, he and Vampiro have the history and Pentagon’s vicious beating of Vampiro at last year’s Ultima Lucha could’ve been less of a betrayal and more the master/apprentice relationship turning over. I must confess though that I’m not as sold on that the more I think about it, which means there’s YET ANOTHER MASTER POTENTIALLY IN PLAY! Who the hell could that be? I have no idea and honestly I’m not sure I want to know. All I need to know right now is that Prince Puma’s title chances (and by extension his career) are in serious danger and, provided he can find a way into the match, Pentagon’s chances are suddenly looking really, REALLY good. If you’re a fan of Mr. Cero Miedo, I’d be very excited for next week.
That is game sports fans! Only one week of Lucha Underground, season three left to go! I’ll be back before then though to break down this year’s Leyenda de Plata tournament, and you may very well hear my sweet tones on the interwebs sooner or later. Till that comes to pass, THIS!
