Lucha Underground recap (April 20, 2016): When Muertes Met Matanza

Fade in.

Dario Cueto is in his office, telling Fénix he is lucky he survived his brother. We see that Drago and Aero Star are also sitting in his office. He says he needs one more team for his trios tournament, but Drago and Aero Star need to work out their differences. So Fénix will team with Jack Evans and THE DAREWORLF PJ Black against the Disciples of Death.

Meanwhile, Aero Star and Drago will compete against each other ... for an ancient Aztec medallion. Next.

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Matt Striker and Vampiro welcome us to the Temple and hype tonight's action, with the final Round 1 match of the trios tournament and the big title match between Matanza and Mil Muertes in the main event.

Ancient Aztec Medallion Match: Aero Star def. Drago

Stray observations: Boy, we sure haven't seen a lot of Drago in the ring this season, have we? The Temple is pretty crowded these days. Drago shows up wearing his BOSS ASS death metal helmet, which I absolutely love. There's some sweet technical lucha in the outset, but soon friendship goes out the window.

Aero Star goes for a springboard to the outside, but slips and lands real ugly on the ring steps, so Drago takes advantage. Aero Star quickly recovers and hits a SWANK step-up topé. Drago keeps hitting the bigger moves, but Aero Star keeps kicking out.  Aero Star finally manages to hit a saluting springboard splash for the win.

What we learned: Aero Star and Drago will probably remain friends, but they both understand that the opportunity to compete for the Gift of the Gods remains a big deal. It will be interesting to see which seven wrestlers will end up with the medallions.

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Johnny Mundo is training with his stick dummy. Taya walks in and compliments him. Mundo says he's not just A man, he's THE man. HMMMMM. Taya says she spoke to Dario and demanded he give Johnny one of the medallions, since he didn't get a chance to compete for one last year. She says Dario gave him a match for a medallion next week. "Making me work for it, huh? Classic Cueto." Johnny Mundo is the best.

Oh man, next week, his match will be against THEY CALL HIM CAGE. In a THEY CALL IT A STEEL CAGE. CAGE IN A CAGE. SOMEONE IS GOING DIRECTLY TO SLAM TOWN NEXT WEEK.

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Trios Tournament First Round Match: Fénix, PJ Black & Jack Evans def. Disciples of Death (El Siniestro de la Muerte, Trece & Barrio Negro)

Stray observations: This thing breaks down in a hurry. One of the very first things that happens is Fénix taking a massive dive to the outside with a camera angle that makes it look like he fell from the goddamn ceiling.

One of the highlights of the match is, of course, Jack Evans just running his mouth nonstop. I'm hoping everyone has come around to what a sheer delight Evans is by this point. Fénix plays face in peril a couple times before his team has a bit of miscommunication. Fénix tags himself in as Black is midair on a dive, then does a rope-straddle springboard 450 to get the win for his team.

Catrina is FURIOUS at her team coming up short yet again.

What we learned: This doesn't bode well for the DoD, obviously. We're also seeing that Evans and Black are just out for themselves and Fénix might find himself all alone on a team of three people. He'd better make sure he's watching out for himself.

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The Unlikely Trio is in Dario's office, still lovingly arguing with each other. Dario says they're actually going to be IN the trios tournament and will get a bye to the finals. Next week, they'll compete in a four-team match for the trios titles. Whoever wins will win the tournament AND leave as champions.

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The Disciples of Death materialize in the locker room. Catrina says they had one last chance to prove themselves and they failed. Miserably. She says it's even worse that Fénix is the one who beat them. She wants them to give her one good reason not to destroy all of them right now.

El Siniestro de la Muerte turns and RIPS TRECE'S STILL-BEATING BLACK HEART OUT OF HIS CHEST. "Is that it?" asks Catrina. He then does the same to Barrio Negro. Catrina smiles. El Siniestro de la Muerte then appears to digivolve into a more ... siniestro form.

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Lucha Underground Championship Match: Matanza (c) NC Mil Muertes

Stray observations: Striker refers to Catrina as "the high priestess of Hades," which is ... new. As Dario leads Matanza to the ring, Vampiro asks Striker if he knows what the key represents. Always nice to reestablish that the announcers have NO IDEA what goes on backstage, because they don't get to watch the show like the rest of us.

Matanza and Mil finally going toe-to-toe is suitably epic. They begin by trading blows, then Muertes begins clubbering him, making Matanza look vulnerable for the first time. Dario at ringside keeps reminding Matanza to do this for the family.

They start throwing bombs at one another and Matanza looks both literally and figuratively on the ropes. Matanza takes over with rolling deadlift gutwrench suplexes, but Muertes slips out of the third one and tosses Matanza to the outside, then hits a big dive.

As Muertes ground and pounds Matanza on the outside, Dario hits Muertes in the back. Big mistake. Muertes begins choking Dario, which gives Matanza a chance to recover. Matanza is limping now. Catrina hits Matanza in the back of the head with the mystical rock, so Matanza grabs her by the throat ... which allows Muertes to hit Matanza in the back with a chair.

Muertes starts pummeling Matanza up the stairs with a water can, but Matanza turns the tables. Both men make it to the balcony and continue tussling as Striker reminds us the referees are encouraged to be lenient. The fight spills onto the roof of Dario's office and Muertes attempts to throw Matanza off.

Matanza teeters, then Muertes attempts to German suplex him off, but Matanza escapes. Then Muertes FLATLINES THEM BOTH THROUGH THE ROOF OF THE OFFICE. The referee has no choice but to call a no contest. Dario holds up his key in the direction of Catrina and screams "WAR" in both Spanish and English as Catrina holds her rock up in defiance.

What we learned: Well, that's certainly the way to end the first meeting between these two monsters. It's now all-out war between the Cuetos and the army of death. If this match led to wholesale destruction of the Temple, god only knows what the subsequent match will entail. Three Stages of Literal Hell?

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Cheesy cop show music lets us know we're not done with this episode yet. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, we return to the police station and get a pan across a corkboard, which reminds us that Bael is deceased. We also see that Hernandez, Alberto el Patron, Blue Demón Jr., Daivari and Big Ryck are all listed as "MISSING," which is gloriously cheeky.

Reyes and Meehan's commander is looking at the corkboard when there's a knock at the door, so she unfurls a map of the Los Angeles area to cover it up and turns as a man enters. She welcomes him in. He's a councilman from Boyle Heights, who has heard she has been sniffing around his jurisdiction. He says his employer would prefer if she stops pursuing Dario Cueto. But he doesn't work for the mayor. She knows he works for someone much more powerful.

He says he's just there to offer advice. From an old friend. He leaves smugly and she reacts by appearing to hit herself, then fumes.

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And that'll do it for this week. See you back here again next Wednesday!