Lucha Underground Review - June 7, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Lucha Underground Champion Johnny Mundo def. The Mack in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

This was the conclusion of last week's All Night Long match, but Dario Cueto added the stipulation that it would be Falls Count Anywhere. You have to love Dario. While that definitely resulted in a more exciting match, it also allowed for interference again, which I was fine with during last week's encounter but not so much in this bout. I guess that's just par for the course for Mundo's title defenses. Nevertheless, this was a terrific title match with several suspenseful nearfalls down the stretch and plenty of stellar spots, including those with the chairs at the beginning and end. It's funny that nothing in any Chairs match I've seen in WWE came close to being as innovative and as cool as those spots. Anyway, the timing wasn't right for Mack to capture the gold, but at least he looked strong in defeat.

Dario Cueto Announced the Cueto Cup

Following Dario's Wheel of Doom and Battle of the Bulls, it looks like we're in for another creation of his called the Cueto Cup, which will be a 32-man tournament starting on next week's episode. The winner will earn a Lucha Underground Championship match at Ultima Lucha 3, and equally exciting was the announcement was that Mundo will defend his title at the tourney finals against Rey Mysterio. Cueto's logic that he wouldn't award his brother Matanza with a title shot because he embarrassed him in this match with Mysterio actually made sense, too.

Drago, Pindar and Vibora def. Aerostar and Fenix to Win the Trios Championship

I forgot all about the Drago and Kobra Moon angle and where we last left off with it months ago. I remember Drago was apparently under Moon's trance, so he then must have been saved by his babyface partners shortly thereafter. I'm not sure whether he's still under said trance or if he turned willingly, but he rejoined Moon and her minions in this match. Initially I was confused how he could switch sides mid-match, but Matt Striker later clarified that he might have been on the heel team all along because Moon never tagged in. Nice attention to detail there.

Prince Puma def. Mil Muertes in a Boyle Heights Street Fight

I don't know if it was wise to hold a Street Fight on the same show that featured a Fall Count Anywhere match, but that didn't stop Puma and Muertes from taking their fight all around the arena and having a great match. They have always had awesome chemistry together dating back to Season 1, so it was no surprise that they delivered a fantastic performance to blow off their long-running rivalry. Vampiro helping Puma win will certainly be something to keep an eye out for going forward. Hopefully Vampiro has better luck with Puma than he did with Pentagon Jr. Speaking of whom, where the hell is he?

Overall Show

I've said this before, but I could not be happier that Lucha Underground is back from its hiatus. There's nothing quite like it in wrestling right now. The first half of Season 3 wasn't lighting the world on fire, but it was for the best for the program to take a break and come back refreshed. They wrapped up two feuds on this episode in addition to doing a title change and announcing a blockbuster tournament with high takes, so this was undoubtedly a newsworthy and entertaining show that is worth seeking out.