Lucha Underground, possibly the most innovative wrestling promotion in the world today, will come back from their shorter-than-expected 6-week break on Wednesday, September 7th. The last time they left us, at the end of Ultima Lucha Dos, Prince Puma was pondering his future after losing a “dream match” in the main event to Rey Mysterio Jr., Pentagon Dark (no longer Jr.) attacked color commentator Vampiro from behind with a chair declaring himself “The Master”, earlier in the 3-week long “Ultima Lucha Dos” the Lucha Underground Champion Matanza had humbled Pentagon to retain his title, Mil Muertes sent King Cuerno to hell, and Sexy Star became the 1st female in Lucha Underground history to win singles gold by winning the Gift of the Gods Championship in a 7-way match. In other words, total mayhem, which is just what the Believers in the Temple and Dario Cueto want.
Where do all these storylines go or don’t go? Here are a few of the important stories to keep your eye on as Lucha Underground enters Season 3:
The Lucha Underground Champion Matanza:
Matanza has been the Lucha Underground Champion since his debut with the promotion at the “Aztec Warfare 2” match on March 23rd. In that match alone he eliminated the champion at the time, Fenix, Rey Mysterio Jr., Joey Ryan, Prince Puma, The Mack, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Aerostar, Dragon Azteca Jr., and Texano. In his title defenses he has beaten Fenix, Pentagon Dark (twice), Mil Muertes and Cage. On top of his domination, he is the brother of the leader of the Temple, Dario Cueto. Being that powerful in the ring and having the power behind the scenes would certainly seem like he is on the path to continue his dominance in Season 3. I don’t know if we have seen the luchador that can dethrone the monster.
Pentagon Dark Is Now “The Master”?:
The story of Pentagon Dark in both Lucha Underground and AAA is a bit of a sore spot to me. I had predicted he would win the Lucha Underground Championship AND the AAA Mega Championship this summer in what I was calling “The Summer of Pentagon”. Well, boy was I wrong. Pentagon Dark was humbled by Matanza Cueto at “Ultima Lucha Dos” and not only has he not had a chance at the AAA Mega Championship, he just lost the AAA Latin American title, their secondary title, to Johnny Mundo after his Perros Del Mal stablemate Taya (more on her later in this column) turned on him. To me, Pentagon Dark is the most over character in either Lucha Underground or AAA, maybe one of the top 5 in all the planet. There is really no reason to hold him back and not give him the ball and run with it. I’m going to double-down on my prediction and say that 2017 will be the “Year of Pentagon Dark”. He (and Lucha Underground) needs him to hold the big strap. I say he will get it.
Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr.:
The paths of the future of lucha libre, Prince Puma and the (still) “King” of lucha libre Rey Mysterio crossed in Season 2. First, they formed the “dream team” of lucha libre with Dragon Azteca Jr. and won the Lucha Underground Trios title right off the bat. However, their Trios title reign only lasted a month and featured a much darker Prince Puma after the title loss. This led to him challenging his former teammate for a match at “Ultima Lucha Dos” and in what is a Match of the Year contender came up just short. Rey is back in the Temple and has to be looking for Lucha Underground gold after the momentum from defeating the former Lucha Underground champion. I don’t believe putting the belt on Rey would be a great idea for Lucha Underground or if it’s believable that he can beat the monster Matanza. Puma is in such a transitional time for himself in the ring and as a character that only time will tell if he can come back from the losing streak he has been on, or even if he will resist the temptations of going to other promotions and stay in Lucha Underground.
Sexy Star:
Sexy Star became the 1st woman to ever hold singles gold in Lucha Underground when she won the Gift of the Gods title in a 7-way match at “Ultima Lucha Dos”. What this entitles her to is a match for the Lucha Underground title against whoever that may be at that time. If it wasn’t for Matanza’s dominance of everybody he faced in Season 2, it can be argued for sure that Sexy Star would have been the MVP of the show for Season 2. She overcame being abducted by Marty “The Moth” Martinez and his very powerful sister Mariposa, beat Mariposa in a “No Mas” match just to get the Aztec medallion to get her into the Gift of the Gods championship match and then defeated 6 of the best luchadors in the world to get the opportunity at the Lucha Underground championship. The big question is…can she continue this momentum from Season 2 and actually win the Lucha Underground title??? No woman has ever been the major champion of a major promotion, so this could be a major deal. We know that Lucha Underground loves to put over their women as powerful role models, but asking Sexy Star to unseat Matanza, who I see keeping the title around his waist for a long time, is a little bit too much. Sexy will have a huge role in Season 3, but a run as Lucha Underground champion? I think not.
Catrina/Ivelisse/Taya:
This feud is for female dominance inside the Temple. Catrina, a ghost and the manager of Mil Muertes, as well as a former proprietor of the Temple has had it in for Ivelisse since Season 1. Ivelisse takes great pride in being able to fight any woman or man on the planet, doesn’t take crap from anybody and fancies herself as the “Baddest Bitch”. Taya is the lone female member of the Worldwide Underground, a very dangerous wrestler herself and calls herself “The Perfect Woman”. As a side note, she damn well is! Ok, back to the feud, Ivelisse got a match with Taya at “Ultima Lucha Dos” and appeared on her way to victory…until the lights went out in the Temple and Catrina appeared and took out Ivelisse leading to a Taya victory. Taya may have bragging rights, but it’s only due to Catrina and knowing the female Devil of Darkness, she is going to want something in return. Ivelisse will want to get after both of them and has the ability to take both of them out for an extended period of time. However, I think Season 3 will end up being a huge season for Taya. She’ll get another major victory over Ivelisse, get the Worldwide Underground to help her ward off any tries that Catrina has to get something from her and then move on to Sexy Star and claim the Gift of the Gods title. Yes, I’m a major Taya mark and maybe none of what I’m writing even I believe, but she deserves it in my opinion.
There’s my preview and major storylines to follow for Season 3 of Lucha Underground. The only certainty in the Temple will be mayhem and violence. That combination as well as the devoted Believers are what is keeping Lucha Underground as one of the must-see wrestling promotions in the world.
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