Lucha Underground Review - August 1, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Daga def. PJ Black

I wasn't too impressed with Daga when he originally arrived on the scene simply because I found him to be fairly bland, but he is much better off as a heel and he had a solid showing here, along with Black who is always excellent. This was a nice little match to kick off the show where the right guy went over. It also served as a set-up for next week's six-person tag team matchup pitting The Reptile Tribe against The Worldwide Underground.

Gift of the Gods Champion Dragon Azteca Jr. Announced His Plans for Ultima Lucha 4

Azteca followed up his huge Gift of the Gods Championship victory last week with a good promo this week where he confirmed his intentions to cash in his shot at the Lucha Underground Championship at Ultima Lucha 4. That is a long way down the road since Season 4 just got underway, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him cash in before then. He doesn't interest me too much as a character, so if he does indeed wait until Ultima Lucha 4, here's hoping he develops his persona a bit more between now and then.

Trios Champions Killshot, The Mack and Son of Havoc def. The Rabbit Tribe

Damn, there's a hell of a lot of tribes in Lucha Underground, isn't there? Anyway, the Trios Champions have been on the skids lately and this was their chance to prove they are still on the same page. They fared pretty well for themselves for the most part and they teased more tension down the stretch before ultimately retaining their titles. Even as a match, though, this was a lot of fun where there never seemed to be a dull moment.

Cage and King Cuerno def. Lucha Underground Champion Pentagon Dark in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Although Pentagon and Cage had the option of choosing their tag team partners, Pentagon opted to go at it alone because he is his own partner, or something along those lines. Sure, you can make the argument that was a dumb babyface move from Pentagon, but I thought it was more courageous and badass than anything. Pentagon put forth a strong effort and stood his ground, but he ultimately fell victim to the numbers game. As a result, Cage has momentum on his side heading into their rematch for the Lucha Underground Championship, and Cuerno can lay claim to a title shot eventually because he helped Cage win here.

Overall Show

There was more storyline advancement than usual on this edition of Lucha Underground with two tribes furthering their feud, Azteca making an important announcement with Ultima Lucha 4 implications, the Trios Champions holding onto the gold, and Cage picking up a big victory over the Lucha Underground Champion. All in all, it was an enjoyable and effective show. On a side note, during the Indiana Mundo vignette at the end of the episode, Vibora was killed off (he was decapitated), so we'll see how that changes next week's six-person tag team match between the two factions.