Post by Slade on Aug 12, 2020 13:38:13 GMT -5
Season 4, Episode 22
From the Temple in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California
Commentary Team: Matt Striker and Vampiro
Ring Announcer: Melissa Santos
***
In the back alley behind the Temple, a Mercedes-Benz drives up to small section of parking near the back entrance and takes an empty spot. Testuya Naito exits the car. He goes into his truck and pulls out, not one but two NJPW Championship belts. Then, Jake Hager approaches him and compliments him on the belts, saying it’d be a shame if something bad happened to them. He puts them back down and asks if Hager is making a threat. Then, Naito is rushed from behind by Santana and Ortiz. They shove him in the trunk and about to close the lid when Hager reminds them to find the keys. Naito keeps putting up a fight despite being in the trunk of his own car, but eventually, Ortiz finds the keys. Santana gets his hands on one of the championship titles and appears to hit Naito in the head with it. Santana and Ortiz jump back while Hager slams the drunk shut on him. They high five each other. Moments later, a tour bus drives into the back alley and Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara get out. Jericho is carrying his Gift of the Gods, and Guevara has a gym bag with him. Jericho applauds Hager, Santana and Ortiz on a job well done, and says that Cueto told him to create his own opportunities so that’s what Le Champion is doing. Hager gives the keys to Guevara, who hands him the gym bag in return. Then, Jericho, Hager, Santana and Ortiz enter the Temple while Guevara gets in the car and drives off.
***
VS.
ANTONIO CUETO LUCHADORES CUP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH
Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman
ANTONIO CUETO LUCHADORES CUP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH
Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman
The opening match of the was an intense physical affair. These two larger than life luchadores faced off once before in the Temple. It ended in a rare no contest, but Strowman emerged from a pile of wreckage after powerslamming Joe through a second-story floor above a storage closet standing and Joe didn’t. At that time, Strowman was not a member of the Army of Truth. In fact, he didn’t even compete in Lucha Underground. He was the MUW Men’s World Champion, a title he hopes to win again at Ultima Lucha Cuatro. Joe has a history of coming out on top when he competes in rematches, but it remains to be seen if he can do that here.
The match began with Strowman rushing Joe as soon as the bell rang. He brought a high intensity about him into the match that Joe methodically attempted to counter by evading, blocking, and countering attacks to his own advantage. He let Strowman come to him and used that overzealousness against him. Joe was putting on a masterclass in defensive tactics and employed a strategy of slowly grinding the Monster Among Men down. This plan worked very well in the opening minutes of the match, but after Joe gave Strowman an inverted atomic drop, followed by a sing leg dropkick, a sequence that he usually following with a running senton, Joe had to do something else as Strowman didn’t leave his feet. He attempted a Samoan drop, and succeeded to lift Strowman off his feet for a moment, but then Strowman got his big arm around him into a modified final cut. Strowman went for the pin and nearly got the win, but Joe kicked out at two.
Now, Strowman was set to take over, and he did just that, mixing an impressive amount of speed with big power to overwhelming the Samoan Submission Machine. Strowman hit Joe with running clotheslines, a running big boot, body avalances in the corners, and a running dropkick. He also executed a sidewalk slam, flapjack and a rarely seen reverse chokeslam. In spite of all the offense, he couldn’t beat Joe with any of it. When Strowman argued with the referee over the speed of his counts, Joe rolled out of the ring to get a breather. Truth Martini told him to stay on him, so Strowman left the ring and went running around the ring for the Strowman Express. Joe saw him coming, stepped to the side at the last minute and tripped him with a drop toehold that sent Strowman face first into the commentary team’s table.
Now, Joe was able to fight back. Strowman took his shots but landed many of his own. They brawled up into the hardwood bleachers, surrounded by a boisterous sea of Believers. While in the bleachers, those seas parted to enable Joe to execute a side belly-to-belly suplex, and they stayed parted when Strowman gave Joe a chokeslam. As painful as those moves were, they seemed to be running on pure adrenalin and kept brawling all the way up to the short mezzanine about the bleachers. Joe slammed Strowman’s face into an exposed pipe, and Strowman squashed Joe between himself and some chainlink fencing with a body avalanche. It looked like this match might end the same way as their previous match in first episode of season three, with Strowman scooping Joe onto his shoulder to go for the powerslam onto the area of floor above a storage closet, but Joe managed to slide free. He kicked and jab and then chopped away at Strowman, backing him up near the edge. Joe charged at him, but Strowman put up a foot to block, then ran at Joe, who gave him a back body drop down onto the top row of the hardwood bleachers.
Joe continued to attack until they were over to the stairs before knocking him down the stairs to the floor below. When he went down to pick him up, Strowman grabbed Joe around the waist and and rammed him, spine first, into the turnbuckle post. He did it two more times and then dropped him with a clothesline. Strowman waited for Joe to stir before building up steam, running around the ring and this time sending Joe flying through the door of Antonio Cueto’s office with the Strowman Express!
As Strowman waked in to pick up Joe, he ripped the door off its hinges and threw it aside, an act that did not please the elder Cueto. Strowman brought Joe back into the ring. Truth Martini told him to finish it, so he scooped Joe up. Again, he went for the powerslam, but again, Joe slid down behind him, but as he did, he applied the Coquina Clutch and a bodyscissors. Strowman showed impressive strength by getting onto all fours and lifting up to his feet, but he couldn’t get to a vertical base. Joe was too heavy, and by that point, he’d had his air cut off for far too long. Strowman fell to the mat. As the referee raised his hand and it fell for one, the Authors of Pain ran out. At the same time, Awesome Kong, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley ran out from the other direction. Strowman’s hand fell a second time as the Amazonas cut off Akam and Rezar, preventing them from interfering in the match. Finally, Strowman’s hand went up and down a third time and the referee called for the bell. Joe secured a place in next week’s finals, and guaranteed the Believers that he was going to win the Antonio Cueto Luchadores Cup.
WINNER : Samoa Joe
***
VS.
VS.
VS.
Paul London vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Aero Star vs. Drago
VS.
VS.
Paul London vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Aero Star vs. Drago
This match was a lucha libre spotfest in the truest sense of the word. Everyone took it to the air and often. Drago gave Ali a topé suicida, London gave him a plancha. Aero Star took them all down with a head-first tope suicida (like a flying rocket, he was!). London executed a moonsault into the pile on the outside. Aero Star did a springboard trustfall senton into the pile on the outside. Ali executed a tope con hilo onto Drago. Back inside the ring, Aero Star executed a springboard hurricane on London. Drago executed a springboard crossbody on Aero Star. Ali executed a springboard tornado DDT on Drago. London executed a moonsault on Ali. Ali gave Aero Star a Spanish fly that also took out London and Drago as they were trading punches in the center of the ring. It felt like all the action was in the air, all the time.
A big moment in the match occurred when London tried to superkick Drago, but he leaned out of the way. He turned and cocked his head back as if he was about to spit mist at his rival from the Rabbit Tribe, when Aero Star interjected and tried to talk him out of it. Kobra Moon, who was at ringside, climbed onto the ring apron and tried to talk him back into it. Drago was in a crisis of conscious between his one-time best friend and his captor and tribal master. Kobra Moon insisted he spit the mist at someone and when he went for it, Aero Star pushed him in such a way that he turned and hit Kobra Moon with the mist instead, causing her to fall to the floor.
In the confusion of the moment, London gave them both superkicks. Ali immediately executed a rolling thunder DDT on London and then went up to the top rope and executed an imploding 450-splash on Drago and pinned him for the win.
After the match, Kobra Moon was pissed and berated Drago for screwing up and losing. Aero Star tried to tell him not to listen to her. Kobra Moon said she wanted Drago to destroy Aero Star, but he was unwilling to strike him. Aero Star told Drago to come with him and leave the Reptile Tribe, but he also wouldn’t do that. He was conflicted. Kobra Moon said Drago would never be free, but then Aero Star requested a match for next week, if he wins, Drago goes free. If he loses, he will agree to become a slave to the Reptile Tribe. The offer was enticing enough to get Kobra Moon to agree.
WINNER : Mustafa Ali
***
It’s the wedding everyone has been waiting for! To open the segment, our justice of the peace, the CEO of Infamous Inc., Famous B, comes in from the floor entrance, getting pushed in a wheelchair by one of his star-clients, Mike Awesome. Before introducing anyone else, he takes a moment to discuss his litany of injuries, sustained at the hands of Dominik Dijakovic, and announces that Mike Awesome will get revenge on Dijakovic next week in a Steel Cage Match!
Back to the wedding, first comes the groom and his best men, Joey Wrestling (Joey Mercury) and The Miz. Next, we get the ring entrances of the maids of honour, Cheerleader Melissa and the Beautiful Brenda. Then, the lovely bride, Taya Vaklyrie enters the Temple and comes into the ring. After they have exchanged their vows, in which they promised to be totally rad together as long as they both shall live, Famous B says that if there is anyone who knows why these two should not be united in holy matrimony, may they speak now or forever hold their peace.
Zelina Vega interrupts the ceremony. She says she knows why they should not be married. She says that she and Johnny have shared more that a few hot nights together. Johnny denies this. Taya looks upset. The wedding party is trying to calm the bride and the groom. But, there’s more! Vega says that Johnny shared one last all-nighter with her a few weeks ago. They were up all-night – he was up all night, if you get her drift. Johnny isn’t upset about her saying that one and gets slapped in the face for it. He immediately goes back into damage control mode. Then, to top it all off, Vega enters the ring and produced a little stick. She walks up to Taya and gives it to her. It’s a pregnancy test and it’s positive. Johnny is now freaking out as Vega tells the whole world she is pregnant!
Taya attacks Johnny, who simply tries to defend himself. Joey Wrestling and The Miz try to pull her away, but she turns on them. Beautiful Brenda crouches in a corner, wailing because everything is ruined. Cheerleader Melissa gets into the fray. There is a total breakdown in the ring. Famous B tries to wheel away and calls for Awesome to get him out of there, but he gets superkicked in the face by accident, tipping him and the wheelchair over, and causing him to fall out of it. Famous B is out cold for the second week in a row. Awesome scoops him up and pulls him out of there. The melee in the ring leads to bodies flying all over the place. Taya cannot be control and he takes it to everyone because hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Then, Andrade “Cien” Almas slides into the ring with a steel chair and hits everyone in sight. Beautiful Brenda is long gone, but the other five take a licking. Vega performs a diving hurricanrana on Cheerleader Melissa. Vega gets a kendo stick and takes shots at everyone. She gives Taya a Russian legsweep with the kendo stick, then sits down on her and chokes her out. Almas puts a chair in front The Miz’s face and gives him a running double knees into it. He executes La Sombra on Joey Wrestling onto a steel chair, and throws Mundo onto a table of buffet food outside the ring and then puts him through it with a springboard frog splash. Plus, Vega dropkicks Taya from the ring apron onto the table with her wedding cake on it and then puts her through it with a frog splash from the top turnbuckle.
The wedding has been ruined and Almas and Vega couldn’t be more pleased with themselves. Vega takes a microphone and says that she lied about being with Mundo. She wouldn’t be caught dead with a dirty piece of trash like him. What happened here today was for showing up Almas with their stupid wedding proposal and engagement immediately after getting that fluke win to eliminate him from the Luchadores Cup tournament. Let this be a lesson to the entire world that no one disrespects Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega. No one!
***
VS.
ANTONIO CUETO LUCHADORES CUP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH
The Fiend vs. Chris Jericho
ANTONIO CUETO LUCHADORES CUP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH
The Fiend vs. Chris Jericho
When Tetsuya Naito did not show, Antonio Cueto announced that The Fiend would need a new challenger and Chris Jericho appeared. Le Champion said that he was here to do just what Naito did when Dominik Dijakovic couldn’t compete in the quarterfinals. Antonio Cueto said that he couldn’t have the spot because he had already been eliminated from the tournament. Le Champion complained about how unfair it was that he was being treated this way and that Antonio had turned out to be a worse boss than Dario. Cueto didn’t appreciate that comment. His son Dario was a disappointment and a disgrace. To prove how fair he was, he said he’d give Jericho the opportunity to compete if he relinquished the Gift of the Gods, saying that he’ll let him turn it in for a chance to win the Luchadores Cup instead of the Lucha Underground Championship. Jericho didn’t like that deal, and when Antonio said that he’d just declare The Fiend the winner in that case, Jericho asked for a moment to think about it. He talked it over with Jake Hager and decided to accept the offer, reasoning that winning this put him back on the path to becoming the Mash-Up Wrestling Men’s World Champion, which is the biggest honour anyone could ever have.
And so, the match was on. Jericho had a hard time with The Fiend, who no sold all of his punches, kicks, his step-up enzuigiri and his flying forearm smash attempts, without trying to do anything in return. Jericho needed help and called on Big Strong for help. Once it turned into a handicap match, The Fiend began to fight back with nasty uppercuts and throat thrusts. He gave them both running body blocks, threw all his weight down on Hager with a running senton, and gave Jericho a ura-nage. He applied the mandible claw to Jericho, but Hager kicked booted him in the back of the head and started in on him with stiff shots to the body, finally putting him down with a side belly-to-belly suplex. Then, he executed a Hager Bomb out of the corner, but got the mandible claw put on him. Hager was freed when Jericho dropkicked The Fiend in the back of the head. When The Fiend got up, he tried to give him the Judas Effect, but The Fiend blocked it, turned him around and gave him a quick Sister Abigail!
Before he could do anything more, he was getting waylaid with steel chairs by Santana and Ortiz. He took a bunch of shots and then laid down on the mat as if he were out cold, but he sat up while Santana and Ortiz were reviving Jericho. The Fiend didn’t back down, but even he was no match for a 4-on-1 assault. However, that didn’t last long because The Fiend found unlikely help from the likes of Pete Dunne, Will Ospreay, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, who have all been screwed over more than once in the last few months by the Inner Circle. They brawled all over the place, leaving The Fiend free to no-sell a Judas Effect by kicking out of Jericho’s pinfall attempt, execute another Sister Abigail and apply the mandible claw for the win.
WINNER : The Fiend
However, before he could make Jericho vanish, Sammy Guevara showed up just at the right time to pull him out of the ring to safety. The lights went out and when they came back on The Fiend was gone, but Dunne, Ospreay, Ford and Dawkins were still brawling with the Inner Circle. Ford, Dawkins, Santana, and Ortiz all found themselves fighting with each other in Antonio Cueto’s office. Cueto was extremely unhappy. He waved his cane and ordered them all out. Once they were back on the floor, Cueto also exited his doorless office and he told them all to stop. While he loves seeing luchadores fight each other out of spite and hate, they have been interfering in so many matches – and have created a mess of his office – that he’s had enough of it. He is banishing them all from the Temple until Ultima Lucha Cuatro when they will return to have the first ever TEMPLE TURMOIL MATCH! Anything goes, anywhere in the Temple. The only way to win is by pinfall or submission. But there is just one thing, the Inner Circle’s opponents will need to find a partner to make it 5-on-5.
Then, a voice was heard saying, “I will join them.” Up on the bandstand above the floor entrance, we saw Tetsuya Naito wearing a suit that is rinkled, torn, and dirty. He tepped out from behind a microphone stand and leapt off the bandstand onto Guevara and Jericho down on the floor below with a diving crossbody. The fighting resumed and continued as the credits rolled.
***
It is nighttime somewhere out on a dark desert highway. There is light up on the right. As the white Cadillac closes in on it, we see that there is a highway service center. The car pulls off the highway into the service center and comes to a full stop beside some pumps. El Santo gets out to pump the gas. Dario Cueto gets out of the car and says he’s going to the restroom. El Santo complains that the pumps are broken. Dario tells him that they’re in California now, so you have to go in pay first. Matanza remains sitting in the backseat, with his head back, apparently trying to sleep when an item flies through the crack of the rolled down window and hits his leg. He looks down and finds an iPhone. He clicks the button to turn it on.
We’re really glad that you’re our friend and this is a friendship that will never, ever end.
We open to an image of Bray Wyatt with his back turned to the camera. He’s straightening a photograph of Chris Jericho, whose eyes have been crossed out with large red X’s. Bray turns around and says, “Yowie! Wowie! I didn’t see you there!” He let’s us know that he and Ramblin’ Rabbit have just been cleaning and straightening up in the Firefly Funhouse. Part of doing his chores is adding photographs to the wall. He stands aside and we see photos of The Godfather, Fénix, Pentagon DARK, and Chris Jericho. They are placed on the wall in a diamond formation. Bray asks why we think that is. Ramblin’ Rabbit appears and guesses it is because Bray has an artistic flair. Bray thanks him for noticing, but says there’s another reason. Ramblin’ Rabbit isn’t sure what it is. Mercy The Buzzard shows up and guesses it is because Bray is a big baseball aficionado. Nope! Wrong again! Huskus The Pig Boy appears and guesses it is because his favourite food is Chocolate Diamonds importen all the way from Antwerpen! Oh, Huskus! When will you ever learn that chocolate isn’t the answer to everything?
Bray asks his Fireflies if they have any more guesses. Since they don’t, Bray asks if they all want to know and Ramblin’ Rabbit, Mercy, Huskus, and the Fireflies all agree that they do. Bray says he’s saving that big spot in the middle for a special photo belonging to a very special friend. Is it Samoa Joe? He asks as he holds up a framed photo of Samoa Joe. The Fireflies give mixed answers. Or could it be Matanza Cueto? He holds up a framed photo of Matanza as the Fireflies give mixed answers. Or could it be Dario Cueto? He holds up a framed photo of Dario as the Fireflies give mixed answers. Bray says he’s not going to give the answer away. Only he can reveal that answer, but he isn’t going to do it today. Maybe if we all wish and hope and dream and pray for it, he will reveal it next time. Until then, bye for now! Bray smiles and waves at the camera.
The screen on the phone goes black. Frustrated, Matanza slams the phone down on the seat beside him, then punches it a few times and throws it out the window. A few moments later, El Santo is back and he’s pumping gas. Dario Cueto comes back to the car and gets in the front seat. He looks around in the back and tells Matanza that he’ll never guess what he found in this truck stop. Chocolate Diamonds by Goossens Chocolatier, imported all the way from Antwerpen! He offers them to Matanza, but he doesn’t want them. Dario takes one out of the box and bites into it. He says they’re so good and Matanza doesn’t know what he’s missing. Dario looks out the front windshield and sees a vintage pickup truck with a big bucking bronco hood ornament pass by in the parking lot. El Santo hops back into the driver’s seat and asks if they’re all ready to go. Matanza nods but Dario doesn’t answer. He simply stares straight ahead at the truck as turns out of the lot. El Santo waves a hand in front of his face. Dario apologizes. He says he thinks he just saw someone he knows driving a pickup truck that got back on the highway, but that couldn’t be. It must just be his imagination. He offers El Santo a chocolate. He declines, shifts the gear into driver and goes to exit the parking lot, to return to the highway for the final leg of their trip.
***