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 10/5/16)

In The Cards 

– Season Three’s wheels roll on, as we’ve seen Dario Cueto brandish his new concept called “Dario’s Dial Of Doom,” which is essentially Raw Roulette to decide new challengers for his brother, Lucha Underground Champion Matanza Cueto. A funny parody of an idea taken too seriously, there were some credible names present. The opening video showed the latest victim when The Mack was unsuccessful in his attempt to uncrown the Monster. Again, Vampiro’s suggestion to Prince Puma to “go after the big guy” Mil Muertes was emphasized as we saw a glimpse of their past physicality. Also shown was the first match of the Best-Of-Five Series between Texano and Cage for “The Ultimate Opportunity” where Cage emerged the winner.

– The in-ring segment where Dario spun the wheel to determine Puma as Matanza’s next challenger was good, short and sweet. It was pleasant to see Puma’s involvement changed this from “squash match opener” to “esteemed main event.” Oh, what star power will do for you. We didn’t end things without some unpopular comments from Cueto about how his brother was the greatest LUG Champion in history.

– The Ivelisse-Mariposa match was a fair way to begin Ivelisse’s build as she prepares for Catrina at Ultima Lucha Tres. With the benefit of one of the card’s earliest announced matches, they have plenty of time to build this. Fortunately, Ivelisse’s a one-of-a-kind performer that goes above and beyond fancy spots. She might be LUG’s best seller and that says a lot with the caliber of talent they possess. We sort of wished Marty “The Moth” Martinez would’ve sold his injuries from the Weapons Of Mass Destruction match he had with Killshot, but we guess that’s long forgotten now. For what it was worth, he made a fair foil to Ivelisse’s plan and created another obstacle to overcome. It wasn’t long before Ivelisse got to hit a great sunset flip powerbomb to get the hard-fought win. The post-match angle where the heel duo got revenge with a sinister attack was well-done. Mariposa’s Titanic Splash went over well and we were reminded of the great power the Martinez siblings have. It was also a smart way to keep Ivelisse busy until Catrina comes back around.

– The cutscene in Cueto’s office with him and Johnny Mundo continued the Worldwide Underground leader’s constant attempts to persuade Cueto to give him a LUG Title shot. This time, he claimed “Mr. Losing Streak” didn’t deserve the shot and wanted a “tangible chance.” Cueto spoke of his belief in fate and that “it wasn’t in the cards for him.” Mundo brought up a chance against Lucha Underground Gift Of The Gods Champion Sexy Star since she lost against them. Cueto used the fact that Jack Evans pinned her to give him the chance instead and thanked Mundo for the suggestion. As you’d imagine, Mundo left the room more angry than he walked in. Will this be where Mundo turns on Evans for his own greed?

– The hype video for the unnamed new gimmick revolved around the words “Follow The White Rabbit” and “They’ll Be Here Soon.” We can’t help but think of a Luchador take on The Wyatt Family. Time will tell where it goes.

– The Second Match in the Best-Of-Five Series between Cage and Texano where Cage held a 1-0 lead headed in saw more great ring psychology mixed with sheer power. Texano understandably started the match with a sense of urgency as he dominated from the get-go, as he took Cage outside and shoved him into the barricade and ring post. Cage worked his comeback with high-impact moves, as the fans got worked up with an emphatic rhythmic stomp throughout The Temple. Commentator Vampiro also wisely noted Cage’s tendency to pander less here to play up his seriousness. With the final minutes competitive, it was Cage who broke out his signature second rope suplex that led to the fireman’s carry face buster (F5 in layman’s terms) to get the win and a 2-0 series lead. This will probably be the point where Texano begins a comeback, or with LUG’s tendency to not be like other companies, we might get one more match out of this tops. Maybe this starts a direction for Texano, who sorely needs it.

– The backstage cutscene with Jeremiah (Sami Callihan) and Ivelisse revealed the newcomer’s status as Ivelisse’s overly defensive, late and alcoholic boyfriend. Just when we were used to Ivelisse as an independent fighter, she got back on the relationship wagon. With the way we were left with them, we’ll imagine that Jeremiah collides with The Moth soon enough or we get a mixed tag.

– The Lucha Underground Championship match between Champion Matanza and Puma was a cool clash both on paper and in actuality. Puma’s arguably LUG’s heart and soul as he undergoes his own transformation into a darker figure, yet still holds everybody’s adoration. On the other side, Matanza holds many negative traits associated with Season Two, but has improved in the ring immensely and it was safe to say Puma carried him to another respectable effort. The early going was a tale between Puma’s athleticism (a nice shooting star press off the apron) and Matanza’s strength, as he slammed Puma around the ringside area. Dario was also a noteworthy presence as Matanza’s cheerleader at ringside. Things picked up grandly once Puma began to realize his own power and lifted the monster for two consecutive German suplexes. The crowd was in his hands at this point as it truly felt like Matanza’s reign was in jeopardy for the first time ever. The big plus would be that the Muertes-Puma feud would only be elevated with the Lucha Underground Championship in there. That said, the finish didn’t go over well with the people, but it was perfectly logical to advance the Puma-Muertes feud and keep the belt on Matanza, however narrow as possible. For what it was worth, Muertes’ interference after Puma hit his 630 only got him more heat than ever, especially as Catrina stood at ringside. We liked that Dario stopped the Referee from a disqualification call even though it would’ve kept the belt on his brother regardless and they opted for a clean finish, though “dusty.” The Wrath Of The Gods swiftly ended any hopes of a Title change and we’d have to imagine Puma goes nuts from this and perhaps an even darker path to stay on Muertes’ level. We are scared of who’ll eventually beat Matanza, but we guess we’re not there yet.

– The final cutscene with Killshot and Joey Ryan was funny on the surface, but we liked that this was about to advance Killshot’s story. He opened up a yellow paper given to him by Ryan, which was given to him by someone else. “You left me for dead” could be anything (dear god, don’t let it be The Moth) but it likely ties to one of Killshot’s abandoned “brothers” in the army. Who it is remains to be seen, but we got our hopes high. We love when LUG slowly unravels pieces of a storyline.

Quick Results

• Ivelisse def. Mariposa (w/Marty “The Moth” Martinez) via pinfall 
• Best-Of-Five Series – Cage Leads Series 1-0 – Match 2 – Cage def. Texano via pinfall to gain a 2-0 series advantage 
• Lucha Underground Championship – Matanza Cueto (Champion) (w/Dario Cueto) def. Prince Puma via pinfall to retain