Season 3 — Episode 27: “Fade to Black”
An exciting match headlined the latest episode of Lucha Underground as Prince Puma battled with PJ Black in the second round of the Cueto Cup tournament.
In other second round action, Cage’s anger cost him a chance to advance before his match with Pindar even got underway. An attack on Son of Havoc left him fighting from underneath in another tournament match against Dante Fox.
The show opened with Prince Puma standing on the rooftop of The Temple looking down at the city below. A brooding Puma was still being haunted by visions of his battle with Mil Muertes. Vampiro interrupted, telling Puma that he could quiet his thoughts by regaining the Lucha Underground Championship.
Puma asked what happens if he fails to win the title. Vampiro told Puma, “those visions, they will consume you.” Vampiro added there will be nothing left of Puma if that happens.
Down below them, the Worldwide Underground stable was walking together towards the building. From his perch on the roof, Puma looked down on them and focused on the title belt Johnny Mundo was carrying. A member of the stable happened to look up and shoot him the middle finger as visions in his head continued to haunt Puma.
Puma made a vow, “I will not lose no matter what, my master.” Was he still talking to Vampiro, or someone else? Time will tell as the answer was unclear.
Pindar (w/ Kobra Moon) defeated Cage via disqualification to advance in the Cueto Cup
The referee instructed Cage to remove the gauntlet from his hand. Cage was so unwilling to do so that he punched the ref with the gimmicked hand. He then attacked Pindar as the ref called for a DQ. Pindar fled as Cage turned his attention back towards the ref. Cage assaulted him some more before giving the ref a vertical suplex piledriver.
Dante Fox defeated Son of Havoc to advance in the Cueto Cup
Son of Madness jumped Son of Havoc in a sneak attack before the match. Madness choked him with a chain as the issues between the two bikers remains unresolved. They fought into the crowd, where Madness used the chain to lay out Havoc.
Dario Cueto emerged from his office. He sarcastically apologized to Havoc for being attacked, but Cueto added that the tournament must continue. He ordered Havoc to either forfeit or fight. Being the babyface, Havoc’s choice was to fight. His match went on as scheduled.
With Havoc still selling the pre-match beating, Fox had an early advantage. Fox did a wild flip dive out of the ring over a ring post to the floor. Fox almost missed Havoc as he sailed to the outside and took a bump on the floor. Nevertheless, Fox continued his onslaught.
Havoc cut off Fox and threw him hard into a barricade. Back in the ring, Fox soon regrouped to deliver a senton bomb for a near fall. Havoc fought back to get a two count after a cutter. They began a series of back-and-forth exchanges that included Fox hitting a modified Spanish Fly for another near fall.
They were exchanging strikes on the apron when Havoc caught Fox in a fireman’s carry. Havoc then executed a Death Valley Driver off the apron to the floor. Ouch. A springboard double foot stomp back into the ring and a standing moonsault resulted in a close two count. Havoc missed a shooting star press, with Fox capitalizing by finishing off Havoc with his Foxcatcher finisher for the pinfall.
In a scene from the locker room, Mundo introduced PJ Black to Benjamin Cook. Mundo said the businessman in a suit was the Worldwide Underground’s new representative. Black asked why they needed him in the group.
“For starters, asking stupid questions like that,” Cook replied.
That angered Black. Cook quickly offered a sarcastic apology before he put over the greatness of Mundo, though he mispronounced Mundo’s name. Black left for his match as the stable continued to consult with Cook.
Prince Puma defeated PJ Black to advance in the Cueto Cup
They started with chain wrestling and quick exchanges. Black then powdered out to regroup after Puma gained the upper hand. Puma continued to dominate using more of an aggressive rudo style than he had during matches on previous seasons.
Black soon cut him off to apply a dragon sleeper in the middle of the ring. Black broke the hold to work over Puma some more. He shined up Puma for an eventual comeback. Before the comeback, Black applied more submission holds like an abdominal stretch. Puma escaped to launch into his comeback, hitting a swinging DDT and a standing shooting star press for a near fall.
Black countered with a guillotine choke, then transitioned from that hold by dropping Puma into a brainbuster. Puma quickly used a cutter to counter. Puma also used a cradle drop for a two count. Black got a near fall after hitting Puma with the Wellness Policy.
Channeling their fighting spirit, they began exchanging a series of strikes in the closing moments. Puma floated over after giving Black a northern lights suplex to deliver a brainbuster. Black kicked out of a cover, and Puma seemed to struggle with the visions in his head outlined in the scene that opened the show.
Black dropped Puma with a springboard kick before following that with a springboard moonsault. Puma mustered the will to kick out of a subsequent pinning attempt. He crotched Black on the top turnbuckle. That led into a reverse rana by Puma for a close near fall.
They went back to the top turnbuckle, where they jockeyed for position. Puma sent Black crashing down to the mat with a super Frankensteiner. Black still managed to kick out on a cover.
Puma climbed back to the top rope. He leapt off into a 450 bomb to finish off Black for the deciding pinfall.
The closing scene showed Dario Cueto in his office answering a telephone call on his landline. The call was apparently from someone with the Worldwide Underground.
“He’s here now,” Cueto said into the phone before hanging up.
Black came into the office. Cueto revealed that Benjamin Cook had already called him 17 times to insist that Black deserved a rematch. That astonished Black since his match had just ended moments beforehand.
The telephone rang again. Cueto pulled the phone jack out of the wall assuming it was Cook calling again. Cueto told Black he had a chance to redeem himself. Cueto revealed that he was booked in a match against Rey Mysterio.
As Black left the office, Cueto’s cell phone began ringing. A persistent Cook was calling again. Cueto ignored the call by throwing the phone into a trash can as the show closed.