Lucha Underground: Ultima Lucha Tres Review - October 4, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Mack Won a Unique Opportunity Battle Royal

This was your typical "get everyone on the card" type of Battle Royal, so unsurprisingly, it was totally forgettable. Thankfully, it didn't overstay its welcome and was fairly painless. Mack was easily the biggest star of the bunch, so it made sense for him to emerge victorious. His "unique opportunity"? A Trios title shot... with Killshot and Dante Fox as his partners. I thought for a second that match would be taking place at Ultima Lucha Tres at some point, but the card is so stacked that it might be intended for the fourth season (assuming there is one). That could be a ton of fun. (Update: apparently the Trios title match is taking place on next week's show. So much for Killshot and Fox selling the brutality of their war from last week...)

Ivelisse def. Catrina

This match was announced for Ultima Lucha 3 at the start of the season over one year ago, yet unlike The Rock and John Cena with their WrestleMania 28 matchup, this feud has not been followed up on at all since then. Despite the lack of build, this was a way better bout than it had any right to be considering Catrina hasn't been an active wrestler in several years. Catrina going to the extreme helped mask her weaknesses and Ivelisse deserves a ton of credit for carrying her to an entertaining contest. Ivelisse may have won the battle, but Catrina apparently won the war by instructing Jeremiah Crane to attack his girlfriend afterward.

Fenix def. Marty "The Moth" Martinez in a Mask vs. Hair Match

As the ultimate underdog, Fenix's matches are always awesome because he works so well against almost everyone on the roster. Martinez has really come into his own as an aggressive heel and thus his nearfalls were believable. I liked that Mariposa bailed early on to ensure viewers that it was going to be pretty straightforward from that point forward, and I loved even more that the storyline with Martinez stalking Melissa Santos for so long finally came to a conclusion in such epic fashion with her hitting Martinez with a low blow and allowing Fenix to score the victory. Mariposa turning on Martinez afterward was a nice touch, and simply everything about this (and especially the emotion) was just remarkable.

Overall Show

While I would rank Part 1 of Ultima Lucha Tres over the second installment, this was still a solid show with a hell of a main event. The opening Battle Royal served a purpose, Ivelisse vs. Catrina exceeded my expectations and the main event was absolutely excellent. We're only two episodes in and Ultima Lucha Tres is already incredible. These next two shows should be sensational, especially if this is indeed the end of the program forever.