TV Review: Lucha Underground S2 E07, “Death Comes In Threes”

By Sachin Hingoo

Despite watching this show every week, there are some things about the Lucha Underground product that I’ve glossed over a bit since I started writing these reviews. Lucha Underground features stories and matches that I think we can all agree give reality a pretty wide berth; all of their storylines have an outlandish quality to them. Their potentially problematic (to say the least) choice to feature intergender matches even in this unbelievable universe has earned them some flack, however. Lucha’s handling of matches and angles like this hasn’t been perfect, but it’s mostly been OK because the matches between women and men are presented in a fast-paced, more athletic style that’s not as violent as “hardcore” wrestling can be.

Tonight’s episode is different. We all have our lines, and seeing a woman–in this case, Taya Valkyrie–suplexed off the ring apron and through a table, and then again taking Cage’s Weapon X finisher onto broken glass (it is very clearly prop glass, made of sugar, but the visual is disturbing) steps way over that line for me.

Though Lucha Underground plays at being more cinematic than other wrestling, and it is: the matches are still live stunt shows at their core and are filmed to look real in a way that even the vignettes between matches don’t. I don’t think it’s controversial to say I don’t want to see segments where the over-muscled Cage, the hero of this storyline, is violently and one-sidedly throwing Taya through tables and onto glass regardless of motivation or comeuppance to come later. This feels tonally different than when Ivelisse, Sexy Star, or Kobra Moon wrestle men, because their style is a more skillful, high-flying one (that’s made to look less painful) rather than the hard-hitting weapons match we got here. It also feels different than the stylized vignettes that play between matches on the show.

In the future, I hope Lucha Underground avoids the kind of match they presented this week.

Elsewhere in the Lucha Underground universe (and after a WHOMP WHOMP), we’re introduced to Mariposa, Marty the Moth’s creepy sister that held Sexy Star hostage at the end of last season. Mariposa, looking like a psychotic Mardi Gras attendee, shows up at the end of a match between Marty and The Mack, with Sexy Star at ringside. As Mack gains the advantage, the lights go out and Mariposa appears to distract and petrify Star and costs Mack the victory.

We get a vignette with Drago attacking Jack Evans in a bathroom as revenge for Evans proclaiming himself the “Dragon Slayer.” This, naturally, devolves into a three-way nunchuck fight when the Darewolf joins in to attack Drago as well. They start to overpower Drago 2-on-1 when Aerostar, the time-travelling spaceman, shows up with glowing neon nunchucks to even the odds. Evans and Darewolf cheese off because that’s apparently where things got too weird for them.

Famous B is back in a VHS-style vignette and still wants to make you famous. This time he’s wearing a wizard’s hat (?!) and wants to transform an unfortunate-looking young lady named Brenda into a star. He uses his “magic touch” to make her famous and beautiful, and tells us to call him right away. I have no idea where these vignettes are going but they are hilarious and B’s delivery is perfect.

Because Lucha Underground likes to mess with me, the very same episode that contains that unpalatable Cage/Taya match also features one of the best wrestling matches I’ve seen in a while, between three of my favorite performers at the moment. Puma, Pentagon, and Muertes have an absolutely fantastic 20-minute match that doesn’t let up for a second. Puma especially shines here with some outstanding aerial attacks, proving why he’s legitimately one of the best wrestlers in the world. Seriously, if you’re going to watch anything from this episode, and I daresay the entire season so far, make it this match.

At the end of this battle, though, it’s Muertes that manages to hit a double Flatliner on Puma and Pentagon to pick up a dominant victory. As Catrina crawls over the fallen pair and licks their faces because she’s kind of gross like that (and being a death witch, is probably immune to most diseases), Fenix appears with his Gift of the Gods title, telling them to celebrate now, because he’s taking his shot at Muertes’ title next week.

As you can probably tell, this episode of Lucha Underground was a mixed bag. It featured both, in my opinion, the best and the worst moments of the entire season so far in the main event and the Taya/Cage match, respectively, and it also gave us some really fun stuff in between, in the form of an actual damn nunchuck fight with dragons and aliens. Ultimately, I’m willing to give Lucha Underground the benefit of the doubt on the problematic intergender segment because I honestly feel like they can do better, but that’s not something I want to give them a pass for going forward.

Speaking of going forward, next week we have a match that I think could top even this week’s as Fenix faces off with Mil Muertes and the biggest rivalry on the show comes to a head. Let’s hope both guys bring nunchucks.

RELATED ARTICLES:

TV Review: Lucha Underground S2 E06, “The Gift Of The Gods”