By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post.

(Aired 5/4/16)

No Mas!

– We had much Ancient Aztec Medallion progression, with every match within the hour being contested for one. The opening video hyped this, along with the seeming payoff to the ongoing storyline between Sexy Star, The Mack, Marty “The Moth” Martinez and Mariposa. For those of you catching up, Sexy Star was abducted by Marty to end last season. Though she escaped and formed a friendship with The Mack, she was forever scarred by the torture and mental advantage held over her by Marty’s sister, Mariposa. This was easily one of this current season’s best storylines. Everybody has come in to their own, especially Marty.

– The cutscene between Dario Cueto and Catrina in his office helped set up next week’s main event, “Graver Consequences” for the LUG Championship between Champion Matanza Cueto and Mil Muertes. Instead of one coffin, there’d be four. Not sure how that’ll work, but the tension was tight and portrayed quite well. Dario remained confident in his brother’s ability while Catrina talked up her man a big game. This was set up to be the definitive match to determine which man was better. Based off how well last year’s match did, our expectations are high.

– The Martinez-Mack match for Ancient Aztec Medallion #4 carried some necessary animosity in the ongoing storyline. Much kudos to Martinez, who upped his creeper game particularly with ring announcer Melissa Santos throughout the bout. The match felt pretty short, as Mack held off Martinez’s oddness to come back with ruthless suplexes and get the win.

– The cutscene between Catrina and King Cuerno in the locker room helped establish their own tension in building up the Aztec Medallion #5 match between Cuerno and Sinestro De La Muerte (the purple guy who killed the other two Disciples Of Death) later. Basically, Catrina made it known that Muertes would get back the World Title, which unfazed Cuerno, who said that her disciple stood in his way of a medallion and that when he got one, he’d declare his hunt for gold whether Muertes had it or not. As you could imagine, Catrina wasn’t pleased.

– The cutscene between Dario and Sexy Star in his office was a great way to set up the night’s main event by showing us Dario’s manipulative side, also tying into another tirade against his “evil bitch” of a mother when he mentioned the change in Sexy’s eyes. He turned it into a moment where he booked a “No Mas” (“I Quit”) match designed for Sexy to stand up against her terror the way that he and his brother stood up to their mother. All good stuff here.

– The SDLM-Cuerno match for Ancient Aztec Medallion #5 was ultimately a quick upset, as Catrina quickly got involved from the outside to cost Cuerno the match and the medallion seemed to be an obvious way for her to keep Cuerno out of the “Title hunt” and her giving him the lick of death should provide an interesting follow-up. Are they going with Muertes-Cuerno for Ultima Lucha Dos?

– Famous B has been a comedic riot since his repackaging as a happy-go-lucky manager looking to give his clients “fame” with B-Movie style advertisements. The cutscene with him and Mascarita Sagrada set the scene for the later match, as Famous B told his new “small” client that he got him a spot in a match against someone who already had a Medallion but agreed to put it on the line. Well, this should be good.

– The cutscene between Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Cueto in his office initially made us groan because Chavo was back, but it turned into something decent as Chavo demanded to know why he wasn’t afforded the opportunity for a medallion, to which Dario replied that he failed at several past opportunities and thus, was done handing them out to him. When Chavo vowed to “seize the opportunity,” Dario’s careless expression matched ours.

– The Sagrada-Cage match for Cage’s Ancient Aztec Medallion was entertaining for what it was, a squash match for Cage where he threw around Famous B’s little client. Famous B was on point the whole time, right from his emphatic introduction of Sagrada, but the segment was all about his opponent being Cage, an obvious mismatch. Not sure what it was going for besides killing time, but rest assured, Cage remains a medallion holder. We had it in our minds that perhaps Johnny Mundo/Taya would interfere and cost Cage the match, but alas, that never happened. Instead, we got the lesser entertaining consequence, which was Chavo robbing Cage’s medallion behind his back after the bout. Oh god.

– Now for the main event. This is what it was all about. The “No Mas” match between Sexy Star and Mariposa for Ancient Aztec Medallion #6 was another example of LUG’s variety in entertaining main events, this time giving us a knockout, drag-down hardcore street fight between two women. The emotion of the abduction storyline was also there, as Sexy Star sought vengeance for what had been done to her, while Mariposa used her strength to get over. Everything about this was great, start to finish. They even flirted with great heights, as they worked their way to the Temple’s catwalk rafters and each teased dropping the other in a moment that had us cringe. The sight of Sexy Star’s legs dangling was one we’d never forget. Luckily, they worked their way down to the office roof, where Martinez tried to intervene, undone by The Mack, who threw him against a door. Add to that the visual of Sexy’s face and body being bloodied with her mask torn, you almost didn’t want this to end. Sexy amped up her badass side, at one point shouting, “Fuck you!” to the Referee when he asked her if she wanted to quit. The way it came down to the finish was brilliantly done, as The Mack took out Martinez once again, which allowed her to apply her submission to Mariposa, making her shout “No mas!” and didn’t let go for a good minute. Sexy had beaten her greatest demon and possible had her defining LUG moment. Excellent stuff that you should seek out if given the chance.

Quick Results

• Ancient Aztec Medallion #4 Match – The Mack def. Marty “The Moth” Martinez via pinfall
• Ancient Aztec Medallion #5 Match – Sinestro De La Muerte (w/Catrina) def. King Cuerno via pinfall
• Ancient Aztec Medallion Match – Cage (Holder) def. Mascarita Sagrada (w/Famous B, Brenda) via pinfall to retain possession 
• “No Mas” Match For Ancient Aztec Medallion #6 – Sexy Star def. Mariposa