Ultima Lucha Tres: A Primer for Lucha Underground’s Season Finale

Lucha Underground is a wrestling show that doesn’t feature any pay-per-views and virtually nothing in terms of live shows. To make up for that, the mythological grindhouse grapplefest builds towards Ultima Lucha, a batch of shows meant to collectively be Lucha Underground’s WrestleMania in the form of a season finale. This year, it will be four episodes making up Ultima Lucha Tres, though at this time I’m unsure whether or not the final one will be one or two hours.

I’m also unsure of whether or not this will be the final set of shows for Lucha Underground. Season 4 is up in the air and it could really go either way.

At the end of the first season, Ultima Lucha (two episodes with the second being two hours long) featured such memorable moments as Pentagon Jr. defeating Vampiro and breaking his arm, only to discover that Vampiro was his secret mentor all along. Mil Muertes defeated Prince Puma to become Lucha Underground Champion while his electric skeleton minions won the Trios Championship. Then Dario Cueto had to shut down the promotion and skip town for a bit because he sort of caused the death of aging luchador El Dragon Azteca.

With Ultima Lucha Dos (three episodes with the third being two hours long), Rey Mysterio defeated Prince Puma in the main event, though we also got to see Matanza Cueto barely retain the Lucha Underground Championship against Pentagon Dark, who then turned on his master Vampiro. Once again, the show shut down due to a murder. In this case, it was Dario Cueto being arrested for brutally beating Mr. Cisco to death.

Ultima Lucha Tres will start airing on Wednesday, September 27 on the El Rey Network and will continue every Wednesday after. Episodes are available on iTunes. Let’s take a look at the card and the lead-up:

IVELISSE VS. CATRINA

This one has been building since the first season, though it’s very easy to forget its existence. Catrina has been a constant thorn in the side of Ivelisse, ever since she was instrumental in getting Ivelisse and her partners to lose their Trios Championship. The two remained antagonistic against each other, leading to Catrina getting involved in Ivelisse’s match against Taya in Ultima Lucha Dos. Seeing as how Catrina ruined both of her Ultima Lucha matches, Ivelisse came to the ring during Season 3’s first episode and challenged her to a match at Ultima Lucha Tres. Appearing via spooky teleportation, Catrina accepted.

Unfortunately, due to Ivelisse having an injury, she sat out the remaining 30+ episodes with zero build-up added on.

FAMOUS B VS. TEXANO

If Famous B wins, he obtains Texano’s services

Famous B’s career as a wrestler in Lucha Underground never took off, so he started becoming a manager with low-budget commercials inviting people to call 423-GET-FAME. He and the Beautiful Brenda ended up representing a couple wrestlers with mixed results, but then Famous B set his sights on Texano.

Famous B felt that Texano had the means to success, but was just a little too boring, which offended the bar-fighting bruiser. Famous B even tried getting Beautiful Brenda to seduce Texano, but it ultimately ended up leading to nothing. When Texano lost a match to Pentagon Dark and was being set up for a broken arm, Famous B inadvertently took the bullet for him by having Pentagon rough Famous B up and snap his arm instead. Also, Pentagon took out Brenda’s arm too because he’s scummy like that.

Famous B took over ring announcing duties one night due to Melissa Santos having a match. Bitter over Texano’s constant rejection, he cost him a match against Dante Fox via prematurely announcing Texano as the winner. Dario Cueto appeared and made the match official: Famous B and Texano would battle it out at Ultima Lucha Tres and if Famous B won, Texano would have no choice but to become his client.

When Famous B pointed out his broken arm, Dario jokingly said that it would be a handicap match.

DANTE FOX VS. KILLSHOT

Hell of War (First Blood, No DQ, Med Evac)

Killshot showed up alongside the Mack in the first season as an ally of Big Ryck (may he rest in peace). It took a while, but they finally explained his backstory. Killshot was a skilled counter-terrorist soldier who was good, but not perfect. He couldn’t save every prisoner of war he wanted and when he left the battlefield, he went into wrestling to help deal with his PTSD.

Eventually, Dante Fox arrived to the Temple. Dante was one of Killshot’s brothers in arms and he was also one of the soldiers left behind. The way Killshot sees it, he failed to save Dante and thought he was dead. The way Dante sees it, Killshot abandoned him and left him for dead. Relations between the two have been tense at best since reuniting at Lucha Underground, but soon exploded into constant attacks from both sides.

The two will go at it in a best 2-out-3 situation where each match has a different gimmick.

TAYA VS. SEXY STAR

Last Luchadora Standing

Sexy Star won the Lucha Underground Championship by coming out on top in Aztec Warfare 3. Shortly after, she feuded with Johnny Mundo over the title and lost again and again thanks to lots of interference, especially from Taya. Since then, Taya has been messing with Sexy Star on and off.

Now the two of them will battle it out until one can no longer stand.

EL DRAGON AZTECA JR. VS. MATANZA CUETO

Steel Cage Match

After the death of the original El Dragon Azteca, his young successor and Rey Mysterio got together to train and lay down a plan to go to Lucha Underground and topple Dario Cueto’s house of cards. This included going after Matanza Cueto, Dario’s monstrous brother who lives in a cage.

Azteca Jr. and Matanza fought it out in a Death Match. Thanks to Mysterio’s help, Matanza fell through a floor and his body dropped down a story. Incensed, Dario closed down the Temple and put Lucha Underground on a hiatus for several months, allowing Matanza to recover from his injuries.

Matanza has since gone after Mysterio and Azteca Jr. when possible. Recently, he appeared in the ring after Azteca Jr. lost to Pentagon Dark and manhandled the beaten, young man. Then he defeated Mysterio and carried off the brutalized carcass. El Dragon Azteca Jr. now has a chance to end Matanza’s threat once and for all while avenging his fallen mentors.

CAGE VS. MIL MUERTES VS. JEREMIAH CRANE

Triple Threat for the Gauntlet

Months ago, Cage and Texano fought in a series of matches where the winner would earn the mysterious “Ultimate Opportunity.” That turned out to be a metal gauntlet, which Cage won. The gauntlet was also an artifact that would turn the wearer into a host body for a god. Cage became obsessed with its power and was constantly reluctant to ever remove it. It made him angrier and more impulsive, such as punching Councilman Delgado (one of Dario’s superiors) so hard that his head exploded.

Not only is Cage a threat to Dario Cueto due to his resistance to being taken over, but he’s also targeted by LA police captain Carmen Perez. Not only is Perez an immortal Aztec, but she’s also the mother of Catrina and the reason she partially exists in the land of the living despite being a ghost. She offered her own immortality to Catrina to make her whole…granted that she can procure the gauntlet.

Luckily, Catrina orders around the powerful Mil Muertes. She is also the object of affection to one Jeremiah Crane, who has seemingly loved Catrina since he was a child messing around with a Ouija board.

Crane stole the gauntlet from Cage during a match and brought it backstage to Catrina, asking for a kiss in return. This instead led to a three-way brawl between Crane, Cage, and Mil Muertes. With all of them distracted, Dario scooped up the gauntlet and decided to set up a match for the rights to its ownership to see who TRULY deserves its power.

Then again, if Cage retains it, Dario will have his mysterious, cigar-smoking boss show up to strike him down.

FENIX VS. MARTY “THE MOTH” MARTINEZ

Mask vs. Hair

Marty has always had a disgusting infatuation with ring announcer Melissa Santos. He’d creep on her constantly before his matches and she’d become increasingly grossed out. Then it became apparent that he has pictures of her all over her walls and does nasty, greasy stuff to them.

It was only natural that for Marty – a psycho whose rich lifestyle has given him everything he’s wanted – he’d go even deeper off the edge when discovering that Melissa was in a relationship with former champion Fenix. Granted, it’s a relationship where Fenix outright refuses to ever remove his mask at any time for any reason. His hair must be nastier than Marty’s.

Marty has targeted Fenix several times and has left him a bloody mess. The worst blow came when Melissa was forced to team with Fenix against Marty and his sister Mariposa. The two siblings incapacitated Fenix and forced him to watch as they manhandled Melissa.

Now Fenix will have a shot at vengeance. If he wins, Marty will be shaved bald. If he loses, he will be unmasked.

PENTAGON DARK vs. SON OF HAVOC

Ladder Match for the Gift of the Gods Championship

Pentagon Dark and Son of Havoc are two of the most popular wrestlers in the Temple, yet neither has been able to make it to the top. Pentagon has come close several times, but his own failings tend to get in the way.

The two earned Aztec medallions that earned them spots in a seven-way battle for the Gift of the Gods Championship. Unfortunately, there was no clear winner, as each wrestler pinned an opponent at the same time. Dario decided to let them settle who the true winner is via a Ladder Match.

Now, the way the Gift of the Gods Championship works, the holder can cash it in for a title shot as long as they have at least one week in advance. That means that if this match happens in an earlier episode than the main event, we might just see a surprise challenger pop up.

JOHNNY MUNDO (C) VS. PRINCE PUMA

Lucha Underground Championship vs. Prince Puma’s Career

The very first episode of Lucha Underground ended with a main event of Prince Puma vs. Johnny Mundo. The two heroes became strong allies in the early days, even when Prince Puma became the first Lucha Underground champion via pinning Mundo at the end of Aztec Warfare. Mundo’s personality took a darker and more egotistical turn and he became Puma’s enemy. In Season 1, Mundo failed to dethrone Puma as Lucha Underground Champion. In Season 2, Mundo’s Worldwide Underground team unseated Puma, Mysterio, and Azteca Jr. as the Trios Champions.

Prince Puma has also become darker over time, thanks to the guidance of Vampiro. This helped him win the Cueto Cup tournament, earning him a shot at Mundo’s championship. Mundo wanted to put Puma’s mask on the line, but Dario didn’t like that because he already had a match like that on the card. Instead, Dario suggested putting Prince Puma’s career on the line. Puma agreed to the terms.

The beginning has become the end.

As for the rest of the show, there are a handful of notable wrestlers not on the card who might do something of interest. The biggest omission is the team of Drago, Pindar, and Vibora, who are the current Lucha Underground Trios Champions.

Gavin Jasper likes that the two broken soldiers are fighting in a First Blood bout. Follow Gavin on Twitter!