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Lucha Underground was back last night (Dec. 21) from the Temple of Boyle Heights and had heavy title implications.
You can find all the results at the live blog here.
What Happened:
The Battle of the Bulls finale opened the show. It was a 4-way elimination match between Cage, PJ Black, Jeremiah Crane, and the Mack. The winner would become #1 contender.
Texano ran out and hit Cage with his bull rope and all three other men in the match hit the Machine with their moves to eliminate him.
Mack eliminated Jeremiah Crane using a Stunner from the Top Rope.
Mack quickly hit a stunner to Black to win the Battle of the Bulls to become #1 contender.
What We’ve Learned:
- The Mack is immune to stunners. After the big man hit a sweet one from the top rope onto Jeremiah Crane, he went blow to blow with PJ Black. Black tried to be cute and hit a stunner... and it did nothing to Mack. Nothing! Mack returned with one of his own for the 1-2-3. Clearly, after studying the stunner for years, he also learned how to take one without any pain. I’m sure he discovered the perfect way to move his body as it’s being delivered so it causes no pain.
- Cage is badass and he’ll be unstoppable if he’s inhabited by a god. Remember, that’s a distinct possibility if he wins the Best of Five Ultimate Opportunity series against Texano. And now that Texano cost him a shot at #1 contender, Cage is going to be even angrier when he faces his rival next. If Cage wins and is inhabited by a god (though there’s no guaranteeing that the god can occupy someone who is not a man but machine), he’ll be unstoppable.
What We’ve Yet to Learn:
- Why is Jeremiah billed from the last house on the left? It was a question posed by our Manolo last week in the comments of the recap and I didn’t have an answer for him. The Last House on the Left is a Wes Craven film from the 70s where a girl was raped and killed. The criminals then needed a place to hide and unknowingly chose their victim’s house, where her parents live. The parents figured out who these men were and took their revenge. Sick stuff, I know. But “sick stuff” fits the Crane persona.
What Happened:
Fenix and Aerostar were looking for Drago in the bathroom. Kobra Moon came in and told them she took him. Then her generals appeared and the three of them beat down the two thirds of the trios champions. She then told them next time it’ll be Drago who leaves them for dead.
What We Learned:
- That Fenix and Aerostar are terrible at looking for people. They were kicking down stalls of the men’s room looking for him. It’s not like Drago happened to eat some bad street meat and had to take care of business. The dude was kidnapped. He’s not in the can.
What Happened:
In the locker room, Sexy Star was super excited that Mack won the Battle of the Bulls. Willie said that now it’s her turn to defeat Johnny Mundo to become the first 2-time champion. As they left, the camera panned to a spider on the floor.
What We Learned:
- That Sexy Star and Willie Mack continue to be one of the best friendships in the Temple. In an environment where so many people stab each other in the back, this friendship is one of the nice things about it. It’s just two people who care about each other and want each other to do well.
What We’ve Yet to Learn:
- WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THE DAMNED SPIDERS?
What Happened:
Jeremiah Crane asked Dario Cueto for a match, which he was granted. Then he took a chair, removed a ceiling tile, and took something “he left there as a child.” In the hallway, Catrina appeared. Crane told her next week he’s got a match with “Pasquale Mendoza” that will make him wish Catrina left him for dead after the Earthquake. Then with him out of the way, he’ll have Catrina all to himself.
What We’ve Learned:
- That there’s A LOT more to Jeremiah Crane than meets the eye. He hid something in Dario’s office when he was a kid! (Was that a makeshift Ouija board?) His showing up here was more than just trying to support his girlfriend Ivelisse. And then there’s his past relationship with Catrina. The dude asked for a match against Mil Muertes (who he referred to as “Pasquale Mendoza”) so he can have Catrina to himself? What is going on here?
What Happened:
Johnny Mundo defeated Sexy Star in a cage match by removing her mask and using that time to escape the cage. While he celebrated at the top of the crowd, he was attacked by Willie Mack, who hit a stunner and held up the title.
What We Learned:
- That Johnny Mundo can get any crowd to hate him. Mid match, this crowd was split between Sexy Star and Johnny Mundo. Perhaps the Believers of the Temple were starting to think like many in the Lucha Underground comment sections here: That they were tiring of Sexy Star. But when he won by ripping off her mask, that was too much. The crowd reigned down boos against the Mayor of Slamtown. He may be a good looking guy who can move with ease in that ring, but it’s still easy to hate him.
- That you should never bypass escaping the cage to hit a big move. That was Sexy Star’s fatal error tonight. She had a clear path to escape the cage but instead hit a crossbody block from the top onto Johnny. If you’re going to take the high spot, you better win with it. Johnny kicked out at 2 and was soon the victor in the match.
- Mack is ready for a fight. He laid out Mundo right after and held up the title. And you know what? He looked damn good with it. I know I’ll be rooting 100% for Willie Mack when he finally gets his hands on Johnny.
What Happened:
We see that Drago is chained up next to Kobra Moon’s throne. She appears and said she was considering feeding him some scraps later. When she left, he’s so angry he breathed fire.
What We’ve Yet to Learn:
- Why Drago doesn’t use his fire to help him escape. Though maybe since it’s the Kobra clan, much like the Queen of Dragons (Game of Thrones reference alert), they are immune to fire.
This was a pretty fun show. I enjoyed the main event, which played up simple cage match psychology of preventing the other from escaping, and I am already pretty pumped for Mack/Mundo in the future. Their cut scenes are working on some interesting stuff. Color me curious in regards to Crane’s past.
Sound off below and we’ll be back next week!