Lucha Underground season 3 episode 16: Johnny Mundo vs. Sexy Star, Battle of the Bulls final
This week’s episode was stacked with two tantalizing matches and a host of other angles to look forward too. Johnny Mundo defended his Lucha Underground Championship against the superstar he won it from, Sexy Star. The Battle of the Bulls tournament finale was also scheduled to kick off the night, pitting The Mack, Brian Cage, PJ Black and Jeremiah Crane. The winner of the match would get a guaranteed shot at the Lucha Underground championship.
The show began with the customary hype, courtesy of Vampiro and Matt Stryker. They focused on the LU title steel cage main event and the Battle of the Bulls final.
The much-anticipated finale was kicked off this week's in-ring proceedings.
Battle of the Bulls tournament final (winner becomes the no.1 contender for the Lucha Underground Championship)
The Mack vs. PJ Black vs. Jeremiah Crane vs. Brian Cage (Elimination match)
Considering the talent involved, this was expected to be a classic four-way battle between the best wrestlers on the LU roster. Thankfully, it did deliver. The match got underway with Cage showcasing his brute strength, which was countered by PJ Black's high-flying move-set.
Jeremiah and Black worked in tandem and took the giant down. They both eventually knocked themselves out in the process, and Mack took full advantage of the situation by executing a moonsault on all the men. Mack and Crane then had a brief sequence, with Mack kicking out of a Crane pinfall. Crane got the upper hand and continued his dominance on Black, by sending him out with a springboard kick. He then stunned Black with a suicide dive to the outside.
All the four competitors joined in the ariel party as Cage and Mack leaped onto Crane and Black onto the floor. Black went up to the top rope and executed a perfect moonsault on Cage and Mack. He tried to take Crane down too, but Crane spotted the danger early and caught him in the electric chair position and rammed him face first into the apron.
Crane looked to capitalize on the shift of momentum and attempted a leap himself, only to get caught by Cage mid-air, who slammed him into the floor with a vertical suplex. Cage looked to send Black back into the ring, but Mack got him up into a doomsday device. Black’s high-risk leap failed yet again when he was caught mid-air and power slammed into the mat by Cage. The Mack looked to be the ultimate opportunist when he went for the standing shooting star press on a distracted Cage. Unfortunately for him, he missed. Crane looked to get in on the action when he bounced off the ropes in a bid to take Cage down. Cage thwarted his effort by power bombing him onto Mack.
Crane showed his resilience by kicking out of Cage's pinfall attempt. Cage looked to end Crane’s title aspirations with another powerbomb, but Crane fought out of it and countered with by applying the chokehold. Cage reversed it with a great swinging flatliner.
PJ Black, who was missing out on all the action, decided to fly off the ropes onto Cage, but instead, got slammed into the mat with a destroyer suplex. Cage was dominating at this moment, but it was all about to change courtesy of his bitter rival, Texano. Texano came out and hit Cage on the jaw with the bullropes. A kick by Crane, followed by a stunner by Mack and a springboard 450 splash by PJ Black was enough to put away a visibly hurt Cage. Black pinned the reeling beast to notch up the first elimination of the match.
PJ Black eliminated Brian Cage
Jeremiah Crane took the reigns of the match after the Cage’s elimination and executed a foot stomp on both men on either corner. Crane focused on Black and floored him with a hanging neckbreaker, which yielded him a nearfall.
A top rope spot followed the close pinfall, with both Crane and The Mack jockeying for dominance on the top. After a brief tussle, Crane powerbombed Mack from the top rope and locked in the ankle lock in the transition. Black broke the hold in the nick of time and rolled Crane up for a two-count. All three men take a momentary breather before Crane executed a perfect Cranial Contusion on Black. Vampiro highlighted the fact that Misawa used the move in Japan, popularly known as the double underhook piledriver.
Black smartly rolled out of the ring, leaving Mack and Crane battling it out on the top rope. Mack hit a jaw-dropping stunner from the top rope on Crane. He covered him and successfully completed another elimination.
The Mack eliminated Jeremiah Crane
Mack and Black were the final two men left in what was a grueling match thus far. The final sequence saw Mack recuperate from a jawbreaker to execute the stunner on Black. He wasted no time in going for the pinfall and won the match, much to the delight of the believers in the temple. Mack winning was a great end to a solid match.
Mack eliminated PJ Black and won the Battle of the Bulls tournament. He became the no.1 contender for the Lucha Underground Championship in the process. Truly well deserved!