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| Dragon vs. Killshot was crazy Screenshot via Lucha Underground YouTube |
The Cheese Stands Alone
Last week, Mala Suerte was fed to Matanza Cueto, and Paul London had superficially flimsy reason to offer up his one comrade. He took the pin in the Trios Championship match. But why was he so willing to offer up Saltador? On the surface, London thought Saltador would do a lot better vs. the supercharged former Champion and eternal murder monster, but c'mon, the look he gave while watching Matanza end Saltador's life made him appear like he was enjoying it. If I had to guess, either London has acquired a taste for murder, or the will of the White Rabbit is especially bloodthirsty. Ah well.
Killshot Rolls Snake Eyes
So, Killshot was the clear focus of this week's episode of Lucha Underground, or mainly his hubris leaving him with nothing but his own damn self to stew over all the shit that he feels is wrong. He had two title matches, one a shot at El Dragon Azteca Jr.'s Gift of the Gods Championship, and the other a defense of his Trios Championship that he held with Son of Havoc and The Mack. The former match was set in stone beforehand, but the latter came about after Antonio Cueto granted Kobra Moon her request for a rematch that she claimed she was owed from after the Reptile Tribe lost the titles at Ultima Lucha Tres. This, of course, after Cueto received his invitation to the Johnny Mundo/Taya Valkyrie nuptials and muttered "It'll never last!" What a romantic! But I digress.
So of course, the existing tension between Killshot and Havoc was at the center of everything with Mack trying to play peacemaker. Killshot basically spent a whole backstage vignette bitching out both teammates, fueling his own paranoia at the same time. No matter how much Havoc and Mack tried pleading their case, it fell on deaf ears. Of course, it foreshadowed the end of the Trios Title match, which happened second of two, where Havoc accidentally hit Killshot with a dive on Daga. That kind of collateral damage happens in wrestling all the time, but try telling that to an increasingly paranoid veteran character thinking everyone was against him, including his own teammates. So he shoved Havoc off the top as he was about to finish Jeremiah Snake and then murked him after the match to make a point. Of course, it would've been better for him in terms of his own enrichment had he not lost the Gift of the Gods Title match beforehand, but at the same time, he took his sweet time joining his partners for the Trios Title match in the first place.
So basically, Killshot is a man without a country right now. His paranoia has consumed him to the point where he's not interested in titles or advancement, but that he's lashing out against everyone who seems to have wronged him in his own eyes. It makes sense for him to break now after going through what he went through in prior seasons (namely, the WMD and Hell of War matches). In a way, his arc is both a commentary on how war affects veterans and also the purest distillation of the lone wolf character in wrestling. War has broken him, and he can't function without conflict. So he's done with interpersonal relationships. Only fight remains.
Of course, this didn't really set well with Havoc but especially not Mack, who thought he was an ally to the point where he demanded his match for next week from the bossman Cueto. Of course, he was denied because someone else wants a pound of flesh, and I'm guessing when choosing between honoring a request from Catrina and Mil Muertes or from The Mack, Cueto knows where his bread is buttered. More pointedly, the match was announced as a "Haunted House" match, which I'm guessing is either going to involve a shitload of plunder or it'll be their take on House of Horrors. One thing that Lucha Underground has working for it over WWE is that it doesn't have to worry about throwing humorless-ass Randy Orton into an absurd gimmick situation to bring things down. Given that something like House of Horrors is right up LU's alley, and both Mack and Muertes have embraced gimmick matches to the fullest so far, I have high hopes.
AS for the matches themselves, well, they both smoked. What would you expect seeing a match between El Dragon Azteca, Jr. and Killshot, two of the best wrestlers in or out of The Temple under whatever names they adopt? Both guys just went into fifth gear and wove in and out with their big dives and highspots. I'd seek it out especially. The Trios Title match had some exciting action too, even from the unfortunately named Jeremiah Snake. Seriously, who decided that was a good goddamn name? Then again, the dude calls himself "The Draw" when left to his own druthers outside of the Temple. Fuck him. Still though, the match was really good as you'd expect from those two teams.
The Emo Dragon
Aerostar found Drago on a rooftop being all emo over what he did as a member of the Reptile Tribe before flying away. It was a nice follow-up from last week, but even if Drago ends up staying away from the Temple for a few weeks, I hope Aerostar sticks around. Hopefully he's got a Gift of the Gods match against Dragon coming up. That would definitely be off the goddamn hype chart.
Poor Rick O'Shea
For as heated and deranged as Cage and Pentagón DARK are, their brawl to end the show was kinda tepid. I mean, the collateral damage was funny, especially poor Reverend Rick O'Shea getting his arms broken. And I guess they had reason not to throw each other off heights since they gotta do it again in a sanctioned, last man (or machine) standing setting next week. I just wish it didn't close the show, especially given how hot the end of the Trios Title match was. Speaking of last entity standing matches, the timing on airing this season kinda sucks, since I'm sure no one at the LU offices thought they'd be putting their LMS match right after Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa wrestled in one at the biggest Takeover of the year. Que sera sera, I suppose.
To close, I wonder if Cueto's dismissal of Mundo's and Valkyrie's chances of making it and the fact that the dude marrying them got his arms broken portend some dark times ahead not just for the wedding but for the marriage afterwards. I hope not, but hey, they're in the ultimate scumbag faction in the company. I'd be shocked if their marriage went off without a hitch.
