Lucha Underground Review - June 29, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​King Cuerno def. Mil Muertes

I thought it was foolish to do this match so close to Ultima Lucha Dos instead of holding off on it, but we later found out they'll meet in a Death Match at the event. That also helped better explain the screwy finish to this match. That said, the match itself was well-wrestled and they had good chemistry together, but it felt like they could have used a few more minutes to reach that next gear, though I assume they want to save their best work for the big rematch. Catrina seemingly remains a heel manager, but I guess Muertes is a babyface by this point following his feud with Matanza Cueto.


Prince Puma def. Dragon Azteca Jr.

This is a match that should have been advertised in advance given their history together as tag team partners, yet I understand why it wasn't since Puma vs. Rey Mysterio was just made official for Ultima Lucha Dos at the end of last week's episode. At any rate, this was an excellent match where Azteca came out of it looking just as great as Puma. I was worried he would be overshadowed by Puma and Mysterio in their trio, but he had the crowd solidly behind him here. Puma winning was logical since he'll be in the bigger bout at Ultima Lucha Dos, but unless I missed something, I found it strange there was no mention of Azteca's match with Black Lodus. Or is that not happening anymore?

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Dario Cueto Announced "4 a Unique Opportunity" Tournament For Ultima Lucha Dos

If you took a drink every time Cueto or the commentators said "unique opportunity," you probably would have died. That has been Cuerto's go-to phrase in the past, and it led to the creation of the Gift of the Gods Championship, so it will be interesting to see what is at stake in this tournament. I actually prefer these guys be involved in this match as opposed to the aforementioned Gift of the Gods match where they would have been overlooked. No one hypes a match better than Cueto.


Johnny Mundo def. Fenix

Both Mundo and Fenix have been in Lucha Underground since the start, so I found it surprising they had never faced off one-on-one prior to this bout. Thus, billing it as the first ever encounter between them was wise and made the match more meaningful as a result. Similar to the opener, this could have gone even longer than it did, but it was fantastic in the time it was allotted. At first, I didn't like how after everything they did that it was a simple belt shot to the skull that ended it, but it was perfectly characteristic of Mundo. The post-match brawl between the two trios as well as Taya and Ivelisse was a wonderful way of heading into Ultima Lucha Dos next week.


Overall Show

I'm not completely sure, but I could have sworn I heard Matt Striker say that Ultima Lucha will be a three week event with the July 20th episode being two hours long. Either way, they have done an awesome job of putting this stacked card together in a matter of weeks. This season felt more rushed than the last one, and not just because it was shorter. Despite that, a number of matches at the event(s) have potential to be something special and I'm excited for all that is in store for the month of July.