Lucha Underground Review - July 5, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

PJ Black def. Sexy Star  by Disqualification in a Cueto Cup First Round Match

Wasn't it said that when Sexy Star lost to Johnny Mundo many months ago she could never again contend for the Lucha Underground Championship? If that's the case, why was she entered into the Cueto Cup? Well, it doesn't matter now that she's been eliminated, but this was a pretty basic match it lasted. Sexy Star usually does nothing for me, but I'm interested to see whether her using the brass knuckles here against Black and even the referee leads to her a heel turn for her.

Son of Havoc def. Son of Madness in a Cueto Cup First round Match

Not much is known about Son of Madness, but that's part of his appeal right now. The only thing for certain is that he has history with Havoc, and if this is the start of a feud between the two, I'm looking forward to the rest of the rivalry because this was a very good match. They obviously work well together and I liked the finish that saw Havoc barely score the victory to advance in the tournament.

Prince Puma def. Ricky Mandel in a Cueto Cup First Round Match

This was a much darker Puma than we've seen in the past, likely thanks to Vampiro's mentoring of him lately. It's cool to see him get some character development and it adds to his motivation for wanting to win the Cueto Cup: so he can avenge his loss to Rey Mysterio at last year's Ultima Lucha. Mandel is comedic relief, so it made sense for Puma to make short work of him here.

Dante Fox def. El Dragon Azteca Jr. in a Cueto Cup First Round Match

I honestly forgot Rey Mysterio and Dragon Azteca were still an item because this marked the first time in a great while that they've appeared on TV together. However, it might not be long before they part ways if Azteca blames Mysterio for costing him this match. It was hands down the best bout of the night and the in-ring action was very entertaining. The interference from The Worldwide Underground hindered it a bit, but at least it furthered their feud ahead of the Mundo vs. Mysterio title match at the Cueto Cup finals.

Overall Show

Slowly but surely, the Cueto Cup is picking up, and now that the first round matches are out of the way, expect the second round to be even better. The last four weeks have featured mostly squash matches with an exciting main event, and while this week's installment was no different, it was a solid show on the whole taking into account everything else we saw from feud progression and an awesome video package on Fox that kicked off the evening. To boot, the next three Cueto Cup matches were announced for next week, which is appreciated.