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Lucha Underground recap - s4e8 The Ranks of the Reptiles

Screen shot from Lucha Underground. Killshot, a black man wearing a black mask with a bull's eye embossed on the forehead, is standing in front of a wall covered in graffiti. He looks pensive or mysterious.

In our first post-Gift of the Gods tournament episode, it’s never been more apparent that Pentagòn Dark has a huge target on his back.

Cage challenged Pentagòn for the title a couple of episodes ago and now Matt tells us that Antonio has decided that the match will now be a mystery tag team! Who will be their partners? Does anyone like Pentagòn enough to actually team up with him?

We also get a flashback of Mack’s first days in the temple, brought in by his cousin Big Ryck. Who is now deceased (in reality, Ezekiel Jackson retired after season 1) which was alluded to on the show, but he was confirmed to have been killed by Mil Muertes in the short-run comic series to fill in the gap between seasons 1 and 2.

After the ominous flashback, the first match of the night is PJ Black versus Daga, continuing the feud between the Reptiles and Worldwide Underground. PJ is rocking the millennial dyed hair and a more mat-based fighting style, I assume due in part to an accident that he suffered before the season began airing. But his ability doesn’t appear to have suffered too much and he keeps even with Daga, who is quite agile and likes to fly. This match is a good show of both of their talents, but goes a few minutes too long. Daga finally puts PJ into a nasty looking submission and PJ taps out; as the Reptiles tend to do, Kobra Moon and her minions gang up on poor PJ… until Worldwide Underground (and Ricky) make the save! Kobra and the Reptiles back off, but before they go they announce a challenge: next week, if WU defeats the Reptile tribe Kobra must grant Johnny a wish. If the Reptiles win, then Johnny must join them! WU accepts and now we have some high stakes for next week. This Reptile versus Underground feud is going places, but it might want to slow down before it gets a-head of itself. More on that later.

After that match, we get a segment with Mack in the locker and Catrina sneaks up on him. Seeing Catrina not bamf into places like Nightcrawler is still a little odd, but somehow makes her more menacing. She warns Mack that death is coming for him because he pissed off Mil Muertes; Mack is only a little scared, but Catrina warns him he should be a LOT scared… like his cousin Ryck. And in one of the more morbid scenes on a show with quite the body count, Catrina punches open a locker to reveal… Big Ryck’s skull! With the cigar! Jesus Christ, Mil.

Presumably while all that is going on, El Dragon Azteca Jr gives a pretty good babyface promo in the ring. He enters himself into Ultima Lucha 4 and lets us know that he’s going to defend his title against any adversary. I’m sure by the end of this episode he probably regretted that statement, but we’ll get to that. Dragon Azteca has been mentored by Rey Mysterio Jr and it shows with his attitude and overall personality, so I’m hoping some matches as the GotG champion will give him a little shine again. His plot line with the Eagle tribe and avenging Dragon Azteca Sr has been a little lost in the sauce for season 4 so far.

After that stirring promo, we get a trios match with the evil Rabbit Tribe against the current champs Killshot, Son of Havoc, and traumatized Mack. Killshot is still a liability and has it out for Havoc. He gets a few spots where it’s ambiguous as to whether he’s trying to help or harm, which on a meta level is pretty masterful editing and wrestling. For the rejuvenated Rabbits, this is the most interesting and intense match the group has had to date. Dare I say their best? Those Killer Kross lessons must be paying off. Unfortunately, they don’t get the win this time either as Killshot slides in and steals a pin from Mack. Why? Who knows just yet, but a win is a win and the three are still Trios champs… for now.

It’s time for the main event! Cage announces his partner for the match: King Cuerno! Not a bad decision if you go with the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” wisdom. Pentagòn’s partner is… no one! Pentagòn’s gonna wrap this up all by himself, right? This was a great main event that didn’t feel too busy. Everyone came in with their own motivations and put on a pretty good blood feud. And Cuerno is a great tweener character in an age where we don’t really see that anymore. This match is also funny when you remember that Cuerno’s alternate persona El hijo del fantasma has been teaming up with Pentagòn on Impact.

But there’s no love lost between Cuerno and Pentagòn; Cuerno does his job as neutral hired muscle and lets Cage take the pin. Cage, not just content to win and because nothing good happens to Pentagòn, proceeds to serenade Pentagòn with a con-chair-to for his troubles. So Pentagòn’s ego has gotten the better of him yet again? Intense.

And the intensity isn’t over yet! In an awesome segment in homage to the Indiana Jones movies, Taya and Johnny infiltrate the Reptile tribe base. They don’t get very far before they’re found by Vibora, who looks intimidating as hell in this segment. Vibora knocks Taya out and nearly chokes out Johnny, but Taya comes back with the save and decapitates Vibora. Decapitates Vibora?! And he had just gotten really good! I thought we were just killing the old roster off?

This week’s episode was incredibly intense and next week promises the same. Will Johnny become a Lizardman? Will Pentagòn repent? Who is paying Killshot’s therapy bills? All of this and more next time!

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