The Over/Under On Lucha Underground Season 2 Episode 12: The Truth About Cats And Daga

Welcome to episode 12 of season two of the Over/Under of Lucha Underground, our gently reworded Best and Worst report about every episode of the best wrestling show on television. If you’d like to read about season one, you can find all of our previous episode reports on our Lucha Underground tag page. For season two, click here.

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And now, the Over/Under on Lucha Underground season two, episode 12.

Over: Everybody Knows What Cage Is

This week’s show opens with Johnny Mundo, Taya and They Call Him Cage in Dario Cueto’s office. Cueto explains to them that he’s putting them on the same team in the Trios tournament because they hate each other, and that worked out really well for Son of Havoc, Ivelisse and Angelico. It’s a good point. Cage and Mundo both want Lucha Underground gold, and this is a way to motivate them to work together and get it. Either that, or they tear each other apart and Cueto gets his daily recommended allowance of violence.

That sets up Cage’s response, in which Dario Cueto confirms why he’s the best character on TV:

“Tell you what, with or without them, I’m winning the Trios tournament. Because I’m not a man …”
“You’re a machine, yeah, we know.”
“… yeah.”

Love it. Cage’s non-confrontational “yeah” at the end might be the best part. It’s one part, “someone finally accepts that I’m a machine,” one part, “maybe I should get an additional catchphrase.”

Over, With A Little Under: Killshot, Military Guy!

First of all, I again want to say how much I loved Killshot’s origin video from last week, and how excited I am for his character going forward. Season one Killshot didn’t really have anything but a mask and some gun gestures, and now he’s got a backstory and some layers.

Killshot defeats Argenis with what looks like a combination of two Kenny Omega moves — Croyt’s Wrath and One-Winged Angel. My only complaint (and it’s a small one) is that Killshot’s new character motivations have caused him to kind of undergo a complete character reboot. I guess it’s not a big deal when his only previous character trait was “knows Big Ryck.” The announcers go a little too hard with the military stuff, and from time to time it sounds like the commentary’s been edited to add in even more.

I’m confident that’ll chill out after this first reintroduction match, so I’m not gonna get too worried about it. I’m still curious as to whether or not Killshot or The Mack knows about Big Ryck’s skull being part of a bone throne that’s in Temple storage somewhere now.

Under: Hey Daga, Bye Daga

The next match is for one of seven ahn-see-ent Aztec medallions, as we’ve begun a new road to completing the Gift of the Gods Championship. We’re introduced to the first competitor, AAA’s Daga, in a segment in Cueto’s office. Waiting for David Letterman to show up in the crowd during season 3 and make “Daga, Drago, Drago, Daga” jokes.

Anyway, Daga gets an Aztec Medallion match against Texano. The match is pretty good — Daga looks like a star, and Texano’s sit-out powerbomb is pretty damn great — but it continues Lucha’s weird tendency to introduce new characters and have them immediately lose. Remember what happened with PJ Black? The season’s certainly not over, but he went from “cool motorcycle luchador battle WEREWOLF guy” to “guy who hangs out with Jack Evans but isn’t as interesting as Jack Evans” in just a few weeks. Daga shows up, gets hyped as a sensation from Mexico, gets backstage facetime with Cueto, then … loses to Texano.

And granted, I like the idea that guys can’t just show up and be dominant. It gives some power to the guys who have been fighting in The Temple a long time, and shows that new folks have to work a little bit harder to keep up. At the same time, would it kill us to have a new guy look like a star? Matanza’s had a great start, but even undeniable stars like Rey Mysterio and El Dragon Azteca Jr. got jacked by Matanza in their Lucha debuts. It’s an interesting thing they do.

Over, But Kayfabe Under: BLACK LOTUS SITS ON A THRONE OF LIES

Speaking of Matanza, we get a great (and also slightly infuriating) backstage bit with El Dragon Azteca Jr. confronting Black Lotus about the death of their master, and why she’s working for Cueto. She tells him she was forced to, and claims Matanza’s the one who killed El Dragon Azteca Prime. Of course if you’ll remember, Black Lotus is the one that killed him, setting off the war-avoidance road trip that ended season 1.

How are you gonna lie to a guy’s face like that, Black Lotus? Especially when he’s WEARING THE FACE of the guy you killed?

Over: The Most Fun Match Of The Year (So Far)

I like to use “bonkers” to explain a very specific kind of match. Usually when I say something’s bonkers, it’s to suggest that there isn’t much to say about it other than CRAZY THINGS HAPPENED AND THEN THEY KEPT HAPPENING. To wit, the trios match between the team of Johnny Mundo, Taya and Cage versus the team of El Dragon Azteca Jr., Rey Mysterio Jr. and Prince Puma is CERTIFIED BONKERS.

If you want a fun, easily accessible match to show your friends and/or loved ones to get them into Lucha Underground, this is it. It starts off quick and fun and keeps getting better, with the right mix of comedy, ridiculous partner clashing and absurd gymnastic events.

For example, behold the TV debut of El Dragon Azteca Jr.’s “pizza DDT.” I don’t think it’s officially called that, but Vinnie Massaro tweeted about it once so that’s what we’re calling it. It might be the dopest move in pro wrestling:

Holy sh*t, right? Watching that in person’s like going over a hill on a roller coaster. It’s so good.

I haven’t been spoiled on the trios tournament results — don’t spoil me, I’m begging you — but Puma/Dragon/Rey might be the best trios team I’ve ever seen. They were the best trios team I’d ever seen when they showed up at the top of the steps looking like a bunch of enemies from Donkey Kong Country. This trio forever. PIZZA DDT FOR EVEN LONGER.

Over: MONSTER HOSS FIGHT

Next week we get SUPERNATURAL TELENOVELA BIG MATCH FEEL as The Monster Matanza Cueto takes on Mil Muertes. Lots of Ms. This is built in two comparatively awesome backstage segments:

1. Dario explaining to Matanza that he has to keep him in a cage because he’s valuable, and people want to protect their valuables. He then tells him to BRING DEATH TO THE DEAD, which is the most bad-ass thing someone’s said on Lucha since “these hands of a true queen.”

2. Catrina and Mil Muertes reviving the Disciples of Death, and her telling Mil that Matanza may be even more powerful than the earthquake that created him. She is straight-up telling Mil that this pro wrestler is STRONGER THAN AN EARTHQUAKE THAT KILLED FAMILIES. Mil responds by screaming at a bunch of candles. It’s amazing.

Next week, death comes to the dead, and somebody’s valuables get broken.