Post by Slade on Jul 2, 2020 9:26:23 GMT -5
Season 4, Episode 16
From the Temple in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California
Commentary Team: Matt Striker and Vampiro
Ring Announcer: Melissa Santos
***
We’re really glad that you’re our friend and this is a friendship that will never, ever end.
Bray Wyatt is putting the finishing touches on a painting he’s working on. Ramblin’ Rabbit appears and wants to know what he’s doing, dude! Wyatt says he’s painting. Well, what is he painting, dude?!
Wyatt says he’s painting an image that came to him in a dream last night. There is this man who wears what looks like a black prison jumpsuit, and a big black leather mask. His life has been dark and depressing as heck. Here, you can see a bright light up above, shining down on him. That represents the gods. They gave him this gift, you see. A gift so wonderful and pure that they thought he would cherish and take care of it forever. But they were wrong. Now, do you see all these flames that engulf the bottom half of his torso? That is the fiery pit of hell that is burning up his soul because he let the gods down. He was meant to do great things in their honour, and in return they were going to bring him to paradise – a place with the power to heal his broken heart and sooth his aching soul – the kind of place where fireflies dance around and fill your spirit with light and happiness and fun!
Ramblin’ Rabbit sees the flames and the man of dark and the light, but he doesn’t see all the elements that bring Bray’s painting it’s deeper meaning. Bray says that’s okay. Art is open to interpretation. Ramblin’ Rabbit can interprete it differently. So too can Mercy the Buzzard, Abby the Witch and Huskus. They might all see something different. What Bray has told Ramblin’ Rabbit is what he sees. He would love to give this painting to a very special person – to Matanza Cueto – and ask him what he sees. But Matanza’s not here and that’s sad because he was expecting him.
It’s also sad because he is disappointed. He thought he had a new friend. He thought they were going to have a lot of fun together in the Firefly Funhouse. But, maybe, it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe some people you want to have as friends will always end up being a disappointment. But you see, Ramblin’ Rabbit, it’s important not to be bitter about it. Don’t hold onto the hatred. Let your bad friends know how they made you feel and it’ll set you free. That’s why He still wants to see Matanza. He needs to let him know how he feels. He needs Matanza to let him in.
***
VS.
STREET PROFITS VS. PROUD & POWERFUL
Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford vs. Santana & Ortiz
This first match of the night saw the Street Profits vying for revenge against members of the Inner Circle. Dawkins and Ford both felt cheated out of wins in the first round of the Antonio Cueto Luchadores Cup in their matches against Inner Circle members Chris Jericho and Jake Hager, respectively. They were in the zone and dominating. Half way through the match, Jake Hager came down to ringside and his appearance was enough to distract Ford, who paid more attention to him than to his opponents. Santana and Ortiz took advantage of Ford’s lack of focus and took the advantage, causing Ford to play the role of Ricky Morton in the match. After a few minutes where he was effectively double-teamed, Ford had an opportunity to make the hot tag after giving Ortiz a spinebuster and a step-up enzuigiri to Santana, only to see Hager pull Dawkins off the ring apron and give him an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor. Hager’s involvement prevented Ford from being able to tag out. Santana and Ortiz continued to work him over with quick tags and double-teams, leading to them executing Streeet Sweeper on him for the win.
WINNER : Proud & Powerful
***
VS.
Awesome Kong & Kairi Sane vs. Rhea Ripley & Shayna Baszler
What happens when three heavy hitters and one pint-sized dynamo enter the ring? This! Everyone got some good spots in. Kairi Sane was relentlessly worked over by both Rhea Ripley and Shayna Baszler. She bumped like a maniac, taking Ripley’s powerslam, spinebuster, and sidewalk slam, and taking Baszler’s devastating strikes to the body and the head. She finally had an opportunity to escape when she got out of the corner to avoid a charging attack from Baszler, whose shoulder smacked into the turnbuckle post. Sane tagged in Awesome Kong, who was the great equalizer on their team. She entered the ring and gave powerslams, spinebusters, fallaway slams and chokeslams to both her opponents. As Kong set up Ripley for an Awesome Bomb, Sane came in and gave Baszler her Interceptor spear. Ripley countered with a huge back body drop, but then Sane got her with a dropkick that sent her into the corner. She followed that up with a Sliding D. Kong tagged her back in. As she climbed the turnbuckle, Kong gave Ripley a bodyslam and a standing splash. Then, Sane executed the Insane Elbow and pinned Ripley for the win.
WINNER : Awesome Kong & Kairi Sane
***
VS.
RABBIT TRIBE VS. REPTILE TRIBE
Paul London, The White Rabbit & El Bunny vs. Kobra Moon, Jake Roberts & Drago
In this long-awaited tribal trios match, we got our first look at The White Rabbit inside the ring. He stayed on the ring apron for much of the match, as did Jake Roberts. In that sense, this felt like a tag team match between Paul London and El Bunny on one side and Kobra Moon and Drago on the other. However, at around the 7-minute mark, after El Bunny pulled off a tornado DDT on Kobra Moon, he made the hot tag to The White Rabbit, who entered and dominated Kobra Moon and Drago. He gave them exploder suplexes, biel throws, and belly-to-belly suplexes. Kobra Moon received an Olympic slam, and Drago was put in a giant swing. After that, The White Rabbit gave Drago a Doomsday Saito and then pulled a white glove out of his trunks. He put the glove on his hand and applied his Down the Rabbit Hole mandible claw to Drago. Roberts came into the ring and whacked him in the back with a chair, but it didn’t seem to phase him. The White Rabbit got up and gave a menacing look at Roberts, who immediately backed off and out of the ring. As he called on Kobra Moon to retreat, Roberts was taken down by London with a moonsault from off the the top rope. Meanwhile, The White Rabbit reapplied the hold and got the submission victory. When The White Rabbit released the hold, we noticed the index and middle fingers of the white glove were stained with Drago’s blood.
WINNER : The Rabbit Tribe
***
VS.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Prince Puma vs. Roman Reigns
LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Prince Puma vs. Roman Reigns
This was a big match with a lot on the fine for both men. Prince Puma had his title at stake. Roman Reigns had the opportunity to become a double champion. Reigns started strong, using his power to his advantage, but the speed of the champion helped him turn the tide when he ducked a clothesline by doing a somersault, then took Reigns down with a backflip headscissors takedown. A dropkick sent the challenge to the outside where Puma took him down with an over-the-top-rope hands-free corkscrew moonsault plancha. After that, Puma took control for a few minutes. Reigns ended his run with a powerslam but then Puma knocked him over with a corkscrew roundhouse kick. Reigns went back to the outside where Puma took him off his feet with a springboard shooting star press. When Puma tried to bring Reigns back into the ring, Reigns blocks, slammed his face off the ring apron and unloaded on him with some wicked uppercuts before giving him a Samoan drop on the floor.
Reigns took over and tried to win the match following a scoop powerslam, a sidewalk slam, and a super Samoan drop (off the top rope), however Puma was able to kick out of each pinfall attempt. Reigns lined him up for a spear but Puma leapfrogged him and Reigns hit the turnbuckles. Puma took him over with a bridging northern lights suplex, rolled into a deadlift vertical suplex. He covered for a 2-count. He went to the top rope and executed a missile dropkick and then a running shooting star press and got a 2-count with the lateral press. Puma climbed the ropes, presumably to go for his finisher, but Reigns rolled out of the ring and walked away, around the ring. Puma came down off the top turnbuckle and tried to go for another corkscrew moonsault plancha over the top rope, but Reigns backed away and then gave Puma a release German suplex instead. He whipped Puma into the turnbuckle post and then knocked him down with a Superman Punch!
Reigns appeared to be gearing up for the end of the match. He brought Puma into the ring and again, he tried to go for the spear, but this time Puma did a baseball slide under it. He popped back up and struck Reigns with three consecutive superkicks to knock him down. He signaled he was going up to the top. As he was climbing the turnbuckle Reigns’ teammates came out. Hulk Hogan created a distraction that allowed John Cena to climb the turnbuckle and give Puma the Attitude Adjustment off the top rope! As Cena slapped Reigns in the face to wake him up, Eddie Guerrero slid into the ring with a steel chair. Reigns crawled over to make the pin, Hogan got down from the ring apron, and Eddie tossed the chair at Cena, who caught it out of instinct. When the referee turned around, he say what was going on. Eddie said that Cena hit Puma with the chair. Cena denied it. The referee got in his face about having the evidence in his hands. The referee ignored the pinfall as he was too busy ripping into Cena. Reigns got up and was going to interject but then Guerrero snuck up from behind and gave him a low blow and then a brainbuster! He slid out of the ring and Hogan chased after him. Meanwhile Puma went to the top rope and landed the 630-degree senton bomb on Reigns and then pinned him. 1-2-3! Puma retained the title, but John Cena reminded him that his win meant that he was going to have to defend the title against him in two weeks, and this time, he’s going lose.
WINNER : Prince Puma
***
Mustafa Ali walks into a dingy bar somewhere in Boyle Heights. He walks up to the counter and orders a drink from the bartender. As he waits for it, he turns to his left and nods his head in acknowledgement of King Cuerno, who is seated down at the far end of the bar. Cuerno, who would not be recognizable in his western cowboy shirt and cowboy hat, if not for his luchador mark, keeps both his hands on the beer bottle in front of him when he nods back at him.
Ali takes his drink over to the pool tables where two locals are engaged in a pricey game of 8-ball. One guy loses and Ali asks if he can take on the winner, who tells him he can for the right price. How much, Ali wants to know, and the pool shark tells him $5 grand. He tells him he’s in. The pool shark wants proof. Ali grabs a wad of cash from his pocket and throws ten Benjamins down to buy in, barely making a dent in his pile. The guy says he’s in. They start playing.
Meanwhile, Agent VKM walks in with a couple of big men wearing dark suits and black shades. He walks to the far end of the bar, where King Cuerno is seated. Agent VKM says he understand that he’s a hunter. King Cuerno asks him who wants to know. Agent VKM passes him a photo. Cuerno takes a look, then hands it back and says he’s not in the mood for jokes. Agent VKM says this isn’t a joke. He wants him to track something and someone down for him. He puts a large manilla envelope down on the bar and says the details are in here. So is his advance. Cuerno asks him what makes him think he’s for hire. Agent VKM says that everyone’s for hire at the right price, then he walks away. Cuerno opens the envelope. He pulls out a couple of photographs. And slides them back inside. He looks inside and finds giant stacks of cash and a small note. He reads it, puts it back, then folds the envelop and stuffs it inside his shirt. He tags a long swig of his beer and leaves.
Back at the pool table, Ali watches Cuerno leave. The pool shark says it’s his shot. Ali says he’s sorry and then takes a pool cue. He runs the table and says thanks for the game. The pool shark calls bullshit and says he isn’t paying. Ali says he doesn’t care. A couple of local gangbangers try to jump him, presumably for his money, but Ali takes care of them, and then heads out the door without collecting his winnings.
***