Lucha Underground Review - August 23, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sexy Star def. Veneno in a Mask vs. Mask Match

The match started, I literally looked away for a few seconds, and then it was over after Joey Ryan involved and unmasked Veneno, revealing him to be Cortez Castro (who has been absent from TV for a while now). Essentially, the match (if you can even really call it that) was a total afterthought, but I'm actually glad it was brief as it was because it didn't serve much of a purpose, anyway. Is Ryan vs. Cortez going to be a match for Ultima Lucha 3? I can't say I'm excited to see that, but it should be quick and painless. By the way, how did Star win this when Veneno was the one who Ryan targeted?

Prince Puma def. Pentagon Dark to Win the Cueto Cup

Striker noted on commentary that the two other outings these two had against each other ended in controversy, meaning that it was virtually guaranteed that this would feature a clean finish. I appreciated that, especially since it was the finals of the Cueto Cup, and it was just as exceptional as I expected it to be. With the crowd invested in the action, they reached that next gear I hoped they would and went all out in contesting a classic. Both Puma and Pentagon had stories in place to capture the Cueto Cup, but I was personally pulling for Pentagon to win the whole thing. I'm curious what he'll be doing at Ultima Lucha 3 with Puma now in the title picture.

Lucha Underground Champion Johnny Mundo def. Rey Mysterio

Similar to the Cueto Cup finals, Mundo vs. Mysterio had been hyped up for so long that I was very much looking forward to a straightforward championship main event without any interference. Unfortunately, we were not granted that. The first half of the bout was excellent and very well-wrestled, but things went off the rails when Dominic showed up and then Dario Cueto. I assume that will lead to Mysterio vs. Matanza at Ultima Lucha 3, but it was a cheap and rushed way of getting there.

Overall Show

Although the opener was weirdly booked and the main event was slightly tainted due to overbooking, it was still an above-average edition of Lucha Underground thanks to that awesome Puma vs. Pentagon match in the middle. Parts of the main event were great, too, so I'd say the show was a mixed bag. Many matches have been teased for Ultima Lucha 3 in recent weeks, so I'm interested to see how the remainder of Season 3 will play out.