Impact Wrestling Presents United We Stand (April 4, 2019) -- Results & Afterthoughts

United We Stand was a professional wrestling internet pay-per-view (iPPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling that will take place on April 4, 2019 in Rahway, New Jersey. It was the second event in the 2019 Impact Wrestling pay-per-view schedule. Wrestlers from Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and Lucha Underground - with whom Impact has partnerships with - as well as stars from Major League Wrestling (MLW), Dragon Gate and Wrestle Pro also appeared on the card. The event was also streamed live on FITE TV.

I ordered the show for a mere $20 (a fair price IMO) off of the FITE TV app on my Amazon Fire Stick. The show aired without any streaming hiccups, but I did run into a few instances in the first half of the show where I either could barely hear anything or there wasn't any audio at all, especially in that backstage segment between Moose, Eddie Edwards, and Cage. I tweeted about it last night too, but I'm pretty sure that BotchaMania is going to have a field day in terms of citing the awkward camera cuts and production botches throughout the night. Don't get me wrong. This was a solid show from an in-ring talent perspective, but it came across as an extremely low budget indie show in terms of production and presentation. C'mon now, this is WrestleMania weekend. Everyone has to put their best foot forward and not settle for "just good enough" to be a part of the festivities to ride off WWE's coattails in terms of business for the weekend. Either go balls to the wall with the effort or don't do it at all, in my honest opinion.

There was a pre-show match live on Impact Wrestling's Twitch channel, but I didn't get back in from a food run in time to catch it, nor I was aware they were even doing a pre-show match period. That was some pretty bad advertising on Impact Wrestling's behalf there.

The result from that match saw Fallah Bahh and KM defeat the Heavenly Bodies and Team Espana to win the WrestlePro Tag Team Championships.

Ultimate X Match for a future X Division Championship Match
Impact World Champion Johnny Impact def. Jake Crist, Dante Fox, Pat Buck & Ace Austin

I was scratching my head at the start of this match to see that the Impact World Champion himself was competing in an Ultimate X Match. This was a welcome surprise, but wouldn't this have been something that Johnny had taken up prior to his World Championship aspirations? I guess they are going the route that Impact did with Lashley a few years prior where he had all of the Impact Wrestling Championships. It's either that or planning long-term where Johnny can get the X-Division Championship after losing it in the near-future and insert himself back into the main event picture by cashing in "Option C" to get another World title shot by vacating that title.

Out of all of the names from Lucha Underground that haven't been scooped up by WWE, I'm shocked that WWE (or any promotion really) hasn't snatched up Dante Fox (AR Fox) and Marty the Moth (Martin Casaus). Two talents that would add an exclamation point to any company's talent roster.

Speaking of talent, both Jack Evans and Kotto Brazil were absent from this match, even though they were advertised to be apart of this opener. I wonder what happened in that regard.

I don't want to say that this match was bad, but it wasn't nothing spectacular nor out of the ordinary in terms of these Ultimate X matches. Given the talent on hand here, I was a little disappointed in what we got here.

Team Lucha Underground (Aerostar, Drago, Marty The Moth Martínez and Daga) def. Team Impact (Brian Cage, Eddie Edwards, Moose, and Tommy Dreamer)

No offense in the least to Tommy Dreamer, but I was massively disappointed to see him show up as the last man for Team Impact. I get it - they are in the New York area so they wanted to cater to the old ECW fanbase for the nostalgia pop and they definitely got it for sure. I felt this match was a little too slow in terms of pacing, especially for all of the talent involved. The finish fell flat to me where Moose turned on his own teammates, allowing Marty the Moth to pick up the win over Team Impact.

That was just fucking gross...

I didn't have a damn problem with Team Impact picking up the win here as they deserve something with the question of whether or not their show/promotion is getting is another season is completely up in the air. Even the producers are saying that they are under the impression that the show is dead at this stage. It wasn't looking good that Lucha Underground/AAA and El Rey Network granted those talents who were suing them for refusing to release them from their contracts, notably Joey Ryan, King Cuerno, and Ivelisse. I'm anxious to see where those individuals are going to end up by the end of the year.

4-Way match for the Impact Knockouts Championship
Taya Valkyrie (c) def. Jordynne Grace, Katie Forbes, and Rosemary

Katie Forbes' fineness was a welcome surprise for this match. Every time I see that woman I'm taken back by her beauty, whether it's from catching up on WOW on the DVR on Axis or seeing her on the independent scene from time to time. RVD definitely reeled himself in one hell of a prize. There were a few stumbles in this match all around, but I thought it was decent for what we were given here. Rosemary was lured away by the arrival of Su Yung, which caused them to brawl into the back. I'm guessing they are playing up her role that she played in Allie's "death" on Impact Wrestling last week (done to write her character off their programming as she's signed with All Elite Wrestling). Rosemary's departure signified the finishing sequence that saw Jordynne Grace connect with a Michinoku Driver to Forbes, only for Taya to steal the win to retain her title.

That was a welcome surprise last night...

I'm not mad at these "screw job" finishes for Jordynne as it's the same thing that they are doing with Cage against Johnny Impact. In due time, both powerhouses will be holding Impact gold and I think it will be well worth the wait. If I had to complain/critique about anything involving Jordynne Grace is that she (along with Cage at times) sell their opponents' offense a bit too much for my taste. In Jordynne's case, I think it has to do with her still being fairly new to being on "mainstream" wrestling and showing respect to her opponents. Call me old fashioned, but I like to see the powerhouse archetypes in wrestling sell as few moves as possible.

The Latin American Xchange (Santana and Ortiz) (with Konnan) def. Promociones Dorado (Low-Ki and Ricky Martinez)

I was saddened at the lack of Salina de la Renta to escort her clients to the ring, but that was minor setback from what we got here in terms of action. This match wasn't as good as some of LAX's high profile feuds and matches over past two years, but it was a solid match nonetheless. Low-Ki returned to Impact here, rocking his Hitman 47 look while Ricky Martinez was thugged out as usual in terms of his ring gear. I hope MLW works with Impact Wrestling more often as those two promotions could really help each other out if they can manage to lend out talent sparingly to enhance their cards and/or storylines.

Intergender Match
Tessa Blanchard def. Joey Ryan

This was actually a really good match. I shouldn't have been surprised, given that Tessa Blanchard was involved, but I have to give props for where it's due. There were lots of back and forth between Ryan and Tessa, with Ryan targeting Tessa's arm in hopes to impair her for the long haul of this match's duration. Unfortunately, Joey Ryan had to squeeze in his stupid "dick throwing" spot into this match and that's where I mentally checked out in terms of buying into this match. They went into a sequence of multiple near-falls shortly after this, only for Tessa to crank out the win after connecting the Magnum (Diving Codebreaker) from the top rope.

I could have done completely without seeing Ryan's stupid dick throw spot here, but otherwise this was a solid bout. I'm sure Jim Cornette is somewhere losing his mind about his favorite female wrestler actually selling the infamous "dick spot"...

Singles match for the Impact X Division Championship
Rich Swann (c) defeated Flamita

I thought this match was the sleeper hit of the entire evening. Lots of back and forth action from both competitors, even though I was still a little saddened that Swann's original opponent (DragonGate's Yamato) was unable to make this event. Flamita was a solid replacement, even managing to make me buy into the possibility that the X-Division Championship could have changed hands here tonight. In the end, Swann got the win, but I wouldn't be opposed to see these two guys face one another again.

I enjoyed Rich Swann's new look here. About time that he distanced himself from the look that a friend of mine described best as "Swann trying out to be an extra on Roots" and more importantly from his ill-fated WWE career. 

Monster's Ball Match - Sami Callihan defeated Jimmy Havoc

For me, this match felt like deja vu from what these two guys did EXACTLY in MLW towards the tail end over on MLW Fusion in the same type of match. What I couldn't get over was that they did some of the exact same spots too. Nothing out of the norm here if you're used to these crazy hardcore matches that Callihan has been putting his body through over the last few years since signing with Impact.

I swear wrestlers in general need to stop abusing that piledriver spot while standing on a bunch of chairs. It looks stupid and whoever is willing to take it has to be even stupider.

Extreme Rules Tag Team Match - The Lucha Bros (Fénix and Pentagón Jr.) def. Rob Van Dam and Sabu

This was the dream match-up that everyone was staying up for on a work night to see. This match started at roughly 1:21AM and it seemed like they were rushing through spots just to get to the finish. I believe there was an issue with the venue because the finish came out of nowhere and the competitors were left in the dark as the iPPV came to a close. As much I did like what they did with the time that they were given, I wish they were given more time.

On second though, more time could have been to Sabu's detriment (he even had his indie valet, Melissa Coates, here as his "genie" for his ring entrance surprisingly) as he was half-confused or out of place/sync with RVD on some of their spots together. To him and RVD's credit, they both looked great here as I had no idea that Sabu grew his hair back out while RVD is in amazing shape for his age. This is like day and night in comparison to Kurt Angle currently in WWE.

Once again, I just wish they gave these guys more time to work with.

My Wrestling Wishlist for 2019

I haven't done one of these wishlists for professional wrestling for a few years now, so today on New Year's Eve, I've decided to take a shot at it with a few things I want to see in 2019.

General

I want to see wrestling Twitter/social media as a whole stop being so butt-hurt about everything. That's one of many reasons why I stopped covering everything under the sun for my own sanity. All of this hate from podcasters and writers who get mad at fans who say "stop watching" if the only thing they do is rant on how bad WWE is when their rebuttal is that "It's our jobs and we make a living off this" is just getting asinine hearing on a constant basis. There's a TON of wrestling to cover out there other than WWE. I stopped watching RAW and SD during the early part of this year and I'm forever grateful for that extra peace of mind and free time on Mondays and Tuesdays. I would like to see wrestling fans on social media come together in a positive manner instead of focusing on the negatives 24/7.

On the other half of that spectrum, I wish to see wrestling personalities use Twitter to their advantage rather to their detriment. I've lost count on how many times that I've seen great characters/gimmicks killed the second that said wrestler goes on Twitter and opens their mouth to tweet a reply to a fan and instantly shoot themselves in the foot. The smartest wrestler on Twitter in terms of using it to their advantage is Becky Lynch. She's destroying anyone and everyone who manages to even mention her by name. All I ask to use to enhance your on-screen characters instead of destroying them.

WWE

Ugh, where to begin?

How about making RAW and SmackDown! being must-see TV week-in, week-out. I don't mean this crap where they do one "above average" show then shit goes back into the toilet for weeks and months on end until WrestleMania season starts. The tag team divisions on the main roster are on life support. I don't know what the hell they are doing with the midcarders and the main event scene is hit or miss at best. It honestly makes me sick as a fan and outright disgusts me that WWE goes out of their way to sign so many remarkable men and women in this sport, only to have them to amount to cannon fodder and strip them of everything that made them great to begin with before stepping into one of their rings. You can't even say that it's the fault of the damn talent when Vince McMahon is so out of touch when it comes to wrestling in 2018 going into 2019.

NXT is currently packed to full to capacity at this point. While their events have been great, I feel that their weekly product has stagnated. It feels too much like Ring of Honor from a few years ago when I first jumped back into their product and it's coming off as too much deja vu in terms of "been-there, done that". I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing but there's a lot of cases, especially in their homegrown talent where I feel like NXT is setting them up for failure on the main roster. Case in point goes to the bulk of the call-ups over the past year and on the horizon.

I hope they don't rush this whole thing about pushing Shayna Baszler's friends in Jessamyn Duke and Marina Safir because they both seem like they aren't going to take to this wrestling thing like a fish to water like how Ronda Rousey has. There's no reason to rush them learning their craft slowly instead of fast-tracking them to the main roster to join up with Ronda. On the other side of that, I hope Io Shirai and Kairi Sane stay in NXT for a long time after seeing what the main roster has done to Asuka after calling her up.

I recently spent a few hours rewatching the HHH/CM Punk in-ring promos on YouTube and I want Becky Lynch to get to that point of her popularity. She's the biggest star they have right now and they would be MORONIC not to keep tossing fuel to this fire. I just fear that WWE will swoop in and clip her wings the very same way that they did CM Punk along with AJ Lee when they got to that point, but for some reason this is the same company that allows Brock Lesnar to do whatever pleases... Rumors are pointing to that the WrestleMania main event was "promised" to Charlotte Flair next year, but she can settle for second place for once. The world will NOT end without her being champion or not going for a title at WrestleMania. My dream scenario for WrestleMania would see Becky vs Ronda in the match that we didn't get due to her injury. Becky would get here after dumping both Charlotte and Nia out of the Women's Rumble. To be honest, I rather see Charlotte vs Asuka II anyway, with Asuka picking up the win in their rematch.


Speaking of Lesnar, my wish for the Universal Championship is anyone but Lesnar at this point, especially if he's going to hold both UFC and WWE by the balls.

I know I'm going to get heat for saying it, but if WWE wants to do another all-women's PPV, how about lay off on shoving so many "firsts" down our throats for the women? It's not our fault that they are the last ones to the party when realizing that women's wrestling is actually marketable and there's a demand for it currently... WWE were patting themselves so hard on the back about that this past year that I could've sworn that Stephanie McMahon burped during one of the press events for it.

Impact Wrestling

I hope their move to the Pursuit Channel is temporary and wind up on a network that puts more eyes on their product. PopTV definitely didn't do them any favors, much like their move to Destination America. In the words of Jim Cornette, they are better off playing slides on the side of a barn at this rate.

The roster on Impact Wrestling are busting their ass (as always) with the in-ring product and TBH the storylines aren't bad at all, definitely better than some of the crap they've done in the last 2-4 years. I've honestly enjoyed their product this year. They just need more eyeballs on their product. Their free Twitch streams are a step in the right direction, but not by highlighting every other garbage indie federation that would work with them.

In terms of storylines/gimmicks, I want them to drop the "Crazy" Eddie Edwards vs. Coming to America Moose feud. Moose's heel turn was one of the stupidest choices/decisions for Impact in 2018 in terms of storylines. It made absolutely NO sense. I can understand that they had cold feet in terms of having him dethrone Aries at the time and relying on him in the position to promote Bound for Glory around, but after the massive support behind him, only to turn him heel as part of Aries' faction made no sense at all. I still can't get how great that video package leading up to Moose's title shot against Aries was, yet they decided to turn him heel. (Shakes my head) Turn the guy back babyface and give him a shot at the gold unless they plan on getting Lashley back by this time next year because his WWE return ain't doing anyone any favors outside of Lio Rush...

In terms of the Knockouts, I've loved the whole storyline between Allie, Keira Hogan, Rosemary, and Su Yung. More of that, please. Same goes with the rise of Tessa Blanchard. Even though I'm positive that they are setting Taya Valkyrie to dethrone her at the next PPV, they should be building up a confrontation between Tessa and newcomer powerhouse Jordynne Grace by this time next year.

While I've enjoyed Scarlett Bordeaux's antics since her debut, I want her and Killer Kross to bring their pairing from the indies to Impact Wrestling. For 2019, they need to scrap the rocket to that dude's back as he just seems to scream money. Lucha Underground had the right idea in mind and who knows when they'll be back on air to capitalize on his growing popularity. Plus, it's only a matter of time before WWE gives him an offer he can't refuse...

I would love to see Impact Wrestling continue building around Johnny Impact/Mundo/Morrison (or whatever he's going to call himself...), Fenix, Pentagon, oVe (along with Jeremiah Crane/Sami Callihan), LAX (Impact better renew their contracts before WWE snatches them up...), and especially Brian Cage in the new year as those are definitely their biggest players.

New Japan Pro Wrestling

While I haven't kept up with NJPW's product as I should have over the past year or two, I hope they continue to set and raise the bar on the standard of quality in-ring wrestling with Wrestle Kingdom 13 at the start of the year.

Following that event, I hope they lock down their talents who are up in the air in terms of whether or not that they are renewing their deals with the promotion or not. At this point, it's obvious that The Elite (Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, the Young Bucks, etc.) are out of the door following that event, but don't allow the rest of their guys to walk out of the door without a fight. Hell, I hope Shinsuke Nakamura along with Gallows and Anderson return to the promotion when their WWE deals expire.

Lucha Underground

I hope they get renewed for a fifth season and fans don't have to wait as long as the gaps between the last few seasons. They have a lot of stories to wrap up, especially with the revelations at the end of Season 4 (boy do I need write about that at some point in the New Year...), while simultaneously bouncing back from a bulk of their talent being raided by WWE and other rival promotions, i.e. MLW and Impact Wrestling.

Ring of Honor

My main wish for them in the new year is the same as previous years - a sensible time slot for their weekly TV tapings. For the Sinclair Broadcasting networks in my area, it's like playing the lottery on figuring out when their show comes on the weekends. On Saturdays/Sunday mornings it's either anywhere from midnight to 3AM following news/sports coverage or reruns of Hell's Kitchen. Then there's a chance to catch it Sunday evenings occasionally 10:30PM, but I tend to forget that time slot with everything else going on Sunday evening in terms of getting ready for bed to start for the work week.

Outside of that, I hope they are able to snag some noteworthy talent for their Madison Square Garden show for WrestleMania weekend. If they were smart, they would just bite the bullet and just do a collaboration with Impact Wrestling and pool resources and talent to make it the biggest show possible. We already know that they won't have the Elite to peak interest there and they've pretty much ran the well dry in terms of relying on the NJPW partnership to garner interest on their product.

Independents

MLW (Major League Wrestling) was my personal favorite non-WWE product in terms of a new fresh take on wrestling. There's something for everyone here but at the same time, I wish they were on a more accessible network. Sure, I've stumbled onto their product from episodes being uploaded in full on YouTube but not everyone is going to go that far to check them out. I hope they get a better television deal to put more eyes onto their product. That being said, Court Bauer needs to make sure WWE doesn't swoop in and snatch up more of his talent because that was something that was plaguing his promotion (along with their recent widespread amount of injuries to marquee talent) this past year.

Outside of that, I hope the indies continue to thrive on their own with more great talent coming to surface, along with more events to highlight that fact. We saw ALL IN last year, spearheaded by the Elite, but the chances of that happening again is unlikely as they are rumored to be a part of the rumored All Elite Wrestling promotion set to debut in 2019 and I wish them nothing but the best for starting that from the ground up.

Lucha Underground: Catrina vs. Melissa Santos (E13 S4) | Here We Are

Can we take a second and talk about how awesome that introduction scene between Catrina and Melissa Santos was from this week's episode of Lucha Underground was?

Even though fight cinematography where it's cut to hell from reaction shots back and forth usually drive me nuts in full-length films, I was fine with it here. This was the pay off to the storyline between Catrina and Melissa Santos that began once Fenix lost his Grave Consequences Match against Mil Muertes. Catrina then took his life force and restored her own, causing the Man of 1000 Lives to "die" for good. This left Melissa Santos struck with grief over the course of the last few weeks/months (I forget how the timeline works here in Lucha Underground) until things came to a boil a few weeks ago in Mil Muertes match against The Mack where Melissa refused to even call ring announcements. This sparked a brawl between her and Catrina that was pretty one-sided after Catrina left her laid out. This sequence is Melissa Santos' means of getting revenge on Catrina taking who she loved the most in the world out of her life.

While I'm sad to see Catrina "killed" again it seems, but I'm anxious to see how Mil Muertes functions on his own. We saw the chains come loose on Matanza this season after Dario's father ordered him to destroy the key that symbolized the last of his humanity. We saw the fruits of that labor last week during the wedding of Taya and Johnny Mundo, so I'm sure the shit is about to hit the fan with Mil Muertes on his own and off Catrina's leash.

I have no idea what to make of this "time displacement" nonsense with Aerostar though. That goes double with the soul-stealing/manipulation he was performing like Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat. I'll just wait and see on that one.

PREVIEW -- Lucha Underground Season 4 Extended Trailer

How about that trailer, yo? This just makes me more excited for Season 4 in June. I could rewind and dissect this thing from a hundred different angles, but for once, I'm going to wait and see - even though I've read some of the spoilers from the first set of tapings they did a few months ago.

You can see it first hand from this trailer though... Catrina is going find a new pawn to do her bidding. The gauntlet is going be still fought over, with an unlikely alliance of Aerostar, El Dragon Azteca, and King Cuerno meeting to discuss on how to deal with it. Johnny Mundo somehow gets his hands on it too. Paul London and the Rabbit Tribe go down the rabbit hole in what looks like a test of sanity. The Black Lotus Triad seems to have some in-fighting going on. Kairi Hojo (Sane in NXT) is in WWE, so I'm sure that they've found another talented joshi to replace her in that role. Some of past stars will return - Pentagon Dark, Ivelisse, Marty the Moth Martinez, Mariposa, Son of Havoc, Taya, Johnny Mundo, etc. - but they are joined by some newcomers (Tommy Dreamer, Jack Swagger, Chelsea Green, etc.) in a montage that went by so fast you'd miss 'em if you blinked.

IMPACT Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground At WrestleCon (April 6, 2018) -- Results & Afterthoughts

As part of WrestleMania weekend and the ongoing WrestleCon annual convention, both IMPACT Wrestling and Lucha Underground talent faced off in this event streamed live and FREE on Twitch TV on Friday, April 6, 2018. The entire event can be viewed in its entirety here on Video on Demand on Twitch TV at the link below.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/247553403


Even though it seemed like it was awkward at first with the crowd trying to bury Impact Wrestling's brand at first, the crowd eventually came around after some coercing from Melissa Santos and Mckenzie Mitchell sharing ring announcing duties for the night. If I may add, the baby weight on Melissa is a great look on her and makes her look juicy in the right places. Lord, have mercy for her in this upcoming season of Lucha Underground.

Matanza defeated Moose, Matt Sydal, Caleb Konley, Jack Evans, and Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a six-way match

This would end up being Jack Evans' last match for Lucha Underground after he (along with Angelico) tweeted that he was done working for the promotion. I have no idea if that means he's not in Season 4 or what, but sucks to see him go. I wonder what's going to happen to Mundo's Worldwide Underground faction in Season 4 then. Chavo took the mic and treated the crowd to this teaser for the next season of Lucha Underground following this match:

As for this match, it was a fun start to this show. We got to see everyone clash at one point or another, but the most fun interaction for me was Matanza and Moose sizing each other up. That didn't last for long until Matanza tossed everyone around like lawn furniture and picked up the win promptly.

Knockouts Champion Allie defeated Taya Valkyrie to retain her title

I can't remember but isn't this their first encounter here in Impact Wrestling? I mentioned this on social media during my #IMPACTonPop live discussions, but why do people keep giving Taya shit on her weight gain? Thickness is a great look on her - much better than look she had in the last two seasons of Lucha Underground. In that case, I blame their lighting on making everyone look like they are tanning worse than Hulk Hogan. Seeing this match made me immediately think of the lack of Rosemary (or better yet no Catrina, Ivelisse, nor Black Lotus...) on this card in terms of femme fatales to represent both the Impact and Lucha Underground brands. Allie and Taya had a pretty average match here and that's fine, given everything else going on this show.

Scott Steiner & Teddy Hart defeated oVe (Dave & Jake Crist)

It still blows my mind that both Scott Steiner and Teddy Hart were tag team on this card, let alone on this card PERIOD. For those who don't know, Teddy's been on a mission to revitalize his career and repair the damage to his reputation in the business with a fresh start. TJ Wilson (AKA Tyson Kidd/Natalya's husband) even went as far as tweeting out some kind words for his fresh start and asking his peers in the business to give him a second chance to redeem himself.


We've seen a lot of craziness from oVe over the last few months in their feud with LAX, so this match was pretty tame in comparison. Hell, Teddy wasn't even doing anything crazy like I remember from his Wrestling Society X days.

King Cuerno, Drago & Aerostar defeated Andrew Everett, Dezmond Xavier & DJZ

This was my second favorite match of the night, just from all of the talent involved. Impact could sign all of these guys from Lucha Underground tomorrow and run a X-Division clinic on the next PPV. This is the first time I remember seeing DJZ on an Impact card in quite some time. Someone will correct me in the comments or via social media, but wasn't he dealing with an injury of some kind? I remember Dezmond Xavier won that X-Division tournament they had last year to face Ishiimori in a short feud, but I don't remember seeing him much on TV tapings afterwards. It's a damn shame too to say that guy is hella talented. Wouldn't be surprised if WWE swoops in with an offer for him to join 205 Live once his contract is up.

Trevor Lee (w/ Caleb Konley) defeated Marty The Moth (w/ Famous B)

Marty the Moth being Famous B's partner was a pleasant surprise, but this match wasn't as great as I was expecting it to be. I did get a good laugh at Melissa Santos running out of the way AS SOON as he was announced given their history on Lucha Underground. Too bad we didn't get Dr. Wagner Jr. and Beautiful Brenda along for the ride too. I honestly was shocked that Marty took the L here, but then again, I'm not given that Trevor Lee always seems to be booked strong throughout his tenure in

Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz w/ Diamante) defeated Killshot & The Mack to retain their titles

This wasn't an Art of War match like we saw at Ultima Lucha Tres, but this was another fun match on this show. Given everything that we've seen from LAX in terms of sheer brutality with their feud with oVe, this was another tame match in comparison to that stuff, but still worth the watch.

Brian Cage defeated Eli Drake

Much like every other match (outside the one with Lashley) he's had since arriving in Impact Wrestling, Cage ended this in a promptly manner. There wasn't a second I believed that Drake was going to pull out a win here. He put up a good fight, but we all knew where this was going the second the bell rung.

Jeremiah Crane (Sami Callihan) defeated Eddie Edwards in an I Quit match

I busted out laughing at the spot where Eddie called Crane by his NXT name to piss him off. Yeah, we were all mad at that wasted opportunity there. At least Callihan is doing better for himself now, much like Edwards here after getting the shaft from NXT. After what transpired in their match a few weeks ago on Impact that drew all of the media attention from the botch that caused Sami smash Eddie's orbital socket with a baseball bat, I thought they would have given the win to Eddie here. Color me surprised on that one. I guess Impact wants to continue riding that heel heat for Sami until their upcoming Redemption PPV for Eddie to finally get his comeuppance for Sami's actions.

Pentagon Jr. defeated Austin Aries and Fenix in a triple threat match

It is worth noting that the main event for the event had been set to be a tag team match with Alberto El Patron teaming with Austin Aries to face Pentagon Jr. and Fenix, but El Patron did not show at the event. At this time there has been no explanation offered as to why the Mexican star did not show at the event, but one Impact Wrestling source has since claimed El Patron had become sick. El Patron is due to face Aries for the Impact World Championship at Redemption on April 22nd. Impact Wrestling came to terms and terminated El Patron from his contract by the end of the weekend after no showing another appearance on Saturday.


Good riddance if you ask me. I wouldn't have rehired him after all of that bad PR and negativity surrounding him in the first place. On top of that, the guy is a damn charisma vacuum and extremely bland. He does NOTHING to elevate their product, unlike how resigning Aries has done. To say they lost Lashley, EC3, and James Storm over whatever they were too generous paying El Patron, he wasn't worth that investment in the least.

As a result of El Patron's no showing this event, we got a MUCH better main event bout as a replacement - Austin Aries versus Fenix and Pentagon Jr. in a triple threat non-title match. IMPACT Wrestling announced later this weekend that the main event for their upcoming Redemption PPV will be a repeat of this match, but for the IMPACT Global Championship.

Lucha Underground - Ultima Lucha Tres (Season 3 Finale - Parts 1-4) - Results & Afterthoughts

Ultima Lucha Tres (Spanish for Last Fight Three) is the name of the final episodes of the third season of professional wrestling TV series Lucha Underground. The first part of Ultima Lucha Tres (episode 37) premiered on the El Rey Network on September 27, 2017. The second part (episode 38) was shown on October 4, The third part (episode 39) was shown on October 11 and the fourth part (and Season 3 finale) was broadcast October 18 on the El Rey Network and later shown in Mexico with Spanish commentary on the UniMás network. The episodes are the climax of several ongoing storylines that played out throughout the third season of Lucha Underground. As part of the season finale all three of the Lucha Underground championships were on the line. The episodes were taped on June 25 and 26, 2016.

As we roll towards the end of 2017, I revisited this event over the holidays and decided to do a proper write-up of my thoughts of this show from start to finish.

Results: 

Famous B (w/ Beautiful Brenda) and Dr. Wagner Jr. def. Texano for his services

I have to wonder if there's any particular reason that they only manage to get Dr. Wagner Jr. to show up for these Ultima Lucha events instead of for a full season. That being said, this match was hella short to say that it was the kick-off opener for this card. I guess they just wanted to get this one out of the way to save the rest of this episode for the next match.

Hell of War Match - Killshot def. Dante Fox

Fox takes the first fall. Killshot took the second and the third. It was pretty much a Three Stages of Hell match. This match was borderline gruesome at points. The first fall was First Blood after Dante Fox dropped Killshot through a glass table. Killshot got the second fall after pulling off a Buckle Bomb into a barbwire table leaning into the corner and hitting his finisher for the pinfall. At this point, Fox was a bloody mess with his back covered in his own blood.

They kept doing spots at ringside since the last fall was a literally Stretcher Match and I couldn't help but cringe seeing pieces of Dante Fox's flesh was on the floor and on the stretcher along with his blood everywhere. The match ends with Fox falling from the balcony through a stack of tables and another glass pane, which allows Killshot to toss him into the evac unit to end this episode and win the match.

I humbly suggest watching this match just to see what these guys put themselves through in this match at the cost of their own physical well-being for our entertainment. Just holy fuckin' shit at this match at points...

Battle Royal For An Unique Opportunity - The Mack def. Vinnie Massaro, Argentis, Pimpinela Escarata, Mascarita Sagrada, Joey Ryan, Mala Suerte, Paul London, Saltador, Son of Madness, Cortez Castro, PJ Black, and Ricky Mundo

Nothing much to write home about on this one. It served as the opener to Part II of this four part event. There were a few comedy spots for laughs and athletic spots to get over the folks for their various ongoing feuds/storylines. Seriously, you knew none of these guys weren't going to win this thing, especially the ones who were mostly goons for the other various factions or acting as cannon fodder for the bulk of the season.

The shocker here was Dario's announcement that The Mack won a Trios Tag Title match on the next episode, but his partners would be Killshot and Dante Fox who just killed each other in the previous episode. Man, Fox is a better man than me to wrestle TWICE on this card after taking the beating that he took in that match.

Ivelisse def. Catrina (w/ Mil Muertes)

I don't know who idea it was for both ladies to come out here wrestling in what looks like lingerie for their ring gear, but I'm not complaining. This seemed like a typical WWE Divas match from the Diva Search era at first glance until Catrina retreated back into Dario's office and broke SEVERAL glass bottles over Ivelisse's head to bust her open. At this point, I was convinced that the Lucha Underground roster were determined to "out-bloody" themselves in each match following that Hell of War match in Part I. I honestly marked out to see Catrina bust out her old finisher from her days on NXT Redemption as Maxine. I don't care what anyone says, but Ivelisse is the marquee woman of Lucha Underground - NOT Sexy Star.

Nice way for Jeremiah Crane to garner heel heat by targeting Ivelisse's ankle after her history of injuries to that same limb over the past few seasons that sidelined her for the bulk of those seasons. Other than that, I really can't complain about this match. Sure, it was bumpy start, but the ladies served their purpose here and told a story, even if it was a brief exchange to determine who is Lucha Underground's "baddest bitch".

Mask vs. Hair - Fenix (w/ Melissa Santos) def. Marty "The Moth" Martinez (w/ Mariposa)

Mariposa bails on Marty within the first few minutes of this match, forcing him to take on Fenix on his own. Marty recycles a bit of what Mil Muertes did in Grave Consequences - biting and tearing into Fenix's mask before slamming him into the exposed turnbuckle to leave the luchador a bloody mess. Like I said during the previous match, it seems like this episode is deadset on "out-bloodying" the previous episode's Hell of War match. I can't really knock this match though. Fenix always has a knack for making these underdog babyface comebacks so compelling to watch after he's gotten the holy hell beat out of him.

I applaud Melissa Santos for her involvement in this feud/storyline too as I can't imagine her being comfortable having to be in the ring with so much blood on the canvas. If I may add, she did well in their tag team match a few episodes back, despite having so little in-ring experience. You guys know how much I mark for Cheerleader Melissa/Melissa Anderson, so you know I was all for Mariposa betraying Marty at the end.

Someone should've called Enzo and Cass for the moment where they were shaving Marty for spelling out "BAWLD" like they did for poor Marcus Louis on NXT.

Last Luchador Standing - Sexy Star def. Taya

In retrospect, I'm watching this match many months after Sexy Star's unruly behavior that caused her to legitimately dislocate Rosemary's arm during an AAA/Global Force/Impact Wrestling joint event (TripleMania if memory serves) and well after Taya's Impact Wrestling debut. I don't know what lightning/filter they use for their show, but it takes away a lot from Taya's beauty. I don't want to sound biased, but goddammit Sexy Star's ring work is damn awful here. Thankfully for her, the bulk of this match is ringside brawling and using the furniture within the Temple to their advantage, so it works to hide her shortcomings.

I know that I wrote a piece in the past about the significance of Sexy Star winning the Lucha Underground Championship, but now that I'm thinking about it, it would have meant more if Ivelisse managed to avoid her untimely injuries and won the title instead. Remember the pop she got a few seasons ago when she came so close to defeating Mil Muertes when he was the Lucha Underground Champion? It wouldn't have been a stretch if they had Son of Havoc and Angelico helped her pull it off only for her to lose it the week after like Sexy Star did, but the impact would have been the same.

Back to this match though... I can't help but feel that this match had an underlining message to vent Sexy Star's real life issues with non-Hispanic opponents. This match has Taya a bloody mess too when Sexy Star really didn't take much abuse here. C'mon, girl, you could've at least taken something in return if Taya was willing to do the job here.

In retrospect though, I honestly can't see Sexy Star popping up in the next season of this show at all due to her unprofessionalism over the past year. Seriously, who is going to trust her in the ring after what she did to Rosemary and allegedly against another opponent a few months after that?

Trios Championship Match - The Mack, Killshot, and Dante Fox def. The Reptile Tribe (c) w/ Kobra Moon

Dante Fox deserves a medal for even coming out here and wrestling again period. I'm surprised his back wasn't still a bloody mess coming out here for this match. I don't mind this storyline between Kobra Moon as the "queen" of the Reptile Tribe with her "brainwashing" Drago to serve her, but I hope her talents won't continue to be wasted at the sidelines when I know she's a formidable competitor in her own right. If I may add, every single member of the Reptile Tribe has a bloody awesomely designed costume. That's some shit straight out of a comic book and one of the main reasons I absolutely adore what Lucha Underground provides as a wrestling alternative.

I was surprised to see the Reptile Tribe drop the titles here, but I guess Kobra Moon's kingdom is about to come crumbling down around her in Season 4.

I'll say this much though... if they are looking for a replacement for Prince Puma, then put Dante Fox underneath the mask and let him play the part.

Ladder Match for the Gift of the Gods Championship - Pentagon Dark def. Son of Havoc

There were a few spots here that reminded me of El Generico (Sami Zayn) and Kevin Steen (now Owens) feud in Ring of Honor that ended in a death-defying ladder match. Doing a Package Piledriver on top of three ladders is just as bad as doing one while standing on top of four steel chairs. Hell, my neck hurt watching that spot even though I thought it was awesome at the time. I thought the table spot at the end was completely unnecessary when I would've ended it after that Package Piledriver spot.

Other than that spot, I can't say that I was surprised at anything else in this match. To be honest, this was pretty tame in comparison to everything that we have seen up to this point.

Steel Cage Match - Dragon Azteca def. Matanza Cueto (w/ Dario Cueto) via ring escape; Match restarted with Montanza def. Dragon Azteca w/ assist from Black Lotus

HOLY FUCKIN' SHIT at that cage break spot. If they planned that, holy shit that looked unsafe as hell. If not, thank god that Dragon Azteca wasn't hurt. I would have been fine with Dragon Azteca taking the win here from that cage escape bump as Matanza wouldn't have been pinned nor submitted as the assist from Black Lotus didn't make sense at all, especially when she was ready to confront Dario immediately afterwards. Like why do his dirty work?

In either case, I'm glad that they are continuing Black Lotus' storyline here. I believe that Angela Fong, who plays Black Lotus was pregnant during most of their tapings of this season so that explains her absence up to this point. As much as I liked their slow burn for her narrative in season one, I'm hoping that she becomes a regular character in Season 4. Her and Dragon Azteca Jr. should be working together instead of being at odds with each other.

3-Way Elimination Match for the Gauntlet of the Gods - Mil Muertes (w/ Catrina) def. Jeremiah Crane and Cage

They must've had a huge intermission between tapings of this episode and the previous three as the ring has been thoroughly cleaned of blood and we're treated to the lovely surprise of Catrina and Melissa Santos have had time to change their wardrobe. I know WWE must be kicking themselves for not hanging onto Jeremiah Crane (formerly Solomon Crowe on NXT). Dude took like the worst bumps in this match and pretty much in this match to get eliminated first. I can't even be mad as he always looks like a badass taking all of this punishment. That was like foreplay to the main course - Mil Muertes versus Cage.

In terms of the storyline, I'm anxious to see if Catrina is going to regain her mortality now that she has the Gauntlet in her possession for her mother... Well, once she and Mil Muertes regains it back from King Cuerno. I was wondering what happened to that dude after last season as I was under the impression that he was going to either Impact Wrestling or going to compete in the Cruiserweight Classic for WWE. It's the end of 2017 and we haven't seen him pop up in neither promotion, so no idea what's going to happen in regard of his future in Season 4.

Lucha Underground Championship Match - Title vs. Career - Prince Puma def. Johnny Mundo (c)

I have to applaud whoever did this short film (narrated by Taya) chronicling Mundo's creation of the Worldwide Underground stable and his training leading up to this match. This season has done a great job establishing Johnny Mundo as the top of the food chain in Lucha Underground. I don't blame the guy for wanting to continue working for them as well as Impact Wrestling. The guy is talented enough to juggle being in a top position in both promotions. Plus I'm anxious to see what they do with Taya as part of the Knockouts division if they are able to work out her work visa issues if Anthem plans to continue taping in Canada.

This match acts as a reminder of why these two men were positioned at the top of the card time and time again in Season One of this show. Johnny Mundo and Prince Puma have an answer for each other's offense and their levels of athleticism shown off here is simply uncanny. Don't forget that these are the two men who killed it in that All Night Long match before Mundo found himself lost in the shuffle until his rise to power here in Season Three. I couldn't think of a better opponent to act as the gatekeeper to his second championship win.

I wasn't surprised with the interference from the Worldwide Underground but the referee getting involved with the action along with Angelico's return certainly did. (Laughs) Why was Taya out here dressed like she was the lovechild of Misty from Pokemon and Joy from My Name Is Earl?

I think they screwed up the spot where Mundo missed the End of the World out of the corner then landed on his feet only to hit it again. I think that's where Puma was supposed to counter it on the second attempt and get his comeback to finish the match. Outside of that minor exchange, this match didn't disappoint.

Lucha Underground Championship Match - Career vs. Career - Pentagon Dark def. Prince Puma (c)

I have to come clean here on this one. I was reading stuff on Wikipedia earlier this year and stumbled onto the fact that Pentagon Dark won the Lucha Underground Championship. I just didn't know how. So when Dario made this last minute revision to the card, I instantly went "Oh shit..." at the time of watching this live. That's why he won Gift of the Gods for they could do a Money in the Bank style moment to end this event.

From a storyline perspective, I thought it was stupid to say that this was Career vs. Career as you already soured the mood for everyone going into this match as one of their favorites aren't coming back. Plus, on top of that I think everyone knew Puma would take the loss here as rumors of him going to WWE have been floating around since Season Two once his Lucha Underground contract expires. As of this writing, just about everyone under contract to Lucha Underground are free to go elsewhere after so much time has expired between taping Season Three and it airing on television, but after the announcement of Season Four was coming, Lucha Underground did reach out and requested that people come in for the tapings and at least humbly finish up storylines and drop titles out of respect. In my honest opinion, that's not too much to ask, especially given the popularity of some of these men and women have gotten as being part of this show.

What wasn't stupid about the story here was Vampiro's loyalty to his original pupil, Pentagon Dark, that served as the turning point of this match and was the nail in the coffin that cost Puma this match. He put so much stock into following Vampiro as his new master when Vampiro didn't have any stock into him at all.

Afterthoughts: 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Man, I hope they aren't killing off Dario Cueto for good. Give whatever money his actor wants and get him back ASAP. Let Catrina revive him with her magic or something. Wonder who is going to be taking over the Temple in his place?

Anywho... in typical Ultima Lucha fashion, we get a montage showing off what is to come. Prince Puma removes his mask and exits out of the curtain, seeming to never return to the Temple. He could be WWE bound and showing up in NXT by the time Season Four rolls around, so I wouldn't hold my breath on him sticking around. I do wonder why he of all people would be the one that Dario calls on his death bed.

Who would've thought King Cuerno would have been the one who ends up with the Gauntlet of the Gods after everything that transpired tonight? Mil Muertes is going to whoop that ass good next season, making that beatdown he got at Ultima Lucha Dos look trivial in comparison. I wonder how much Catrina is going to be involved in the next season after landing that movie role (which I have completely blanked on what it was at the moment...) since her story revolves around her "mother" going forward.

Like I mentioned earlier, I doubt Sexy Star is coming back so we can pretty much rule out this whole "spider" storyline with her. Sucks too as I was wondering where they were going with that since it was confirmed that Mariposa has nothing to do with that.

The Rabbit Tribe are off to meet the White Rabbit. I wonder who in the world could that be? Maybe this will make London's faction to be taken seriously in the future instead of being comic relief.

Melissa Santos and Fenix continue their budding romance. Santos is going to be another oddity for next season as she announced her pregnancy (she's dating Cage IRL in case you don't know...) earlier this year, so I would imagine they would want to wait until she's back on her feet afterwards before involving her into another physical storyline, especially if they want her to continue being involved in the ring.

Kobra Moon has taken Daga (who she's had her eyes on for the past season anyway) as her new "king" as Drago watches in horror while he executes the member of the Reptile Tribe. Can't say I could tell you what were the names of those two guys in the masks anyway, despite of how cool they looked. Daga was criminally under-used in Season Three, so I hope they remedy that in Season Four.

I'm dying to know who is Vampiro's new "master". This dude is looking like Shao Khan from Mortal Kombat from what I can see of his costume.

Rey Mysterio must have a death wish visiting Matanza in his cage. If they are intent on making Dragon Azteca Jr. as Rey's successor and student, then he really needs to stand on his own without Rey dragging his ass out of the fire. Jobbing to Matanza definitely ain't doing him any favors either.

As a season finale, Ultima Lucha Tres definitely didn't skip a beat, even though I thought that they went a bit overboard with just about every match having color (read: blood) over the course of this show. I humbly suggest that you take the time to check this one out if you're a fan of Lucha Underground. I honestly can't recommend the entire card to everyone else as that much blood and high spots aren't for everyone.

As for the future of Lucha Underground after this cliffhanger, I hope they don't make us wait for long before Season 4 drops.