November 30, 2016 – Los Angeles, California

Pentagon Dark and Vampiro bump into each other in the Temple’s gym. Vampiro says that there’s going to be hell to pay for him, even if he beats the Black Lotus Triad. Dark is naturally unafraid. Vampiro isn’t done with him. 

Pentagon Dark def. Doku
Dario Cueto had said this would be a gauntlet match, but each match is announced as its own thing and there are vignettes in between them. It’s kind of weird to see Kairi Sane as the scowling Doku and not as a pirate. She takes a crazy beating here, bumping around as if Dark was a dropkicking joshi dojo instructor. Doku got very little offense in, though near the end she took control and hit the Insane Elbow. She tried for it a second time, but Dark caught her arm and broke it to win by referee’s decision at 6:09. ***

Jeremiah Crane is working out when he’s approached by Catrina. She makes light of Ivelisse’s injury. Crane and Catrina have some kind of past together. His necklace is a piece of stone that he stole from her, but she says she’s in love with someone else. 

Pentagon Dark def. Yurei
Dark had never left the ring and he says he’s going to break everyone’s arms, and then he’ll break Black Lotus’s body. Yurei and Dark brawl on the floor, with Yurei getting in a lot more offense than Doku did. This essentially had the same finish, as Yurei was getting her ass kicked, took control, hit a move off the top, but when she tried for another Pentagon caught her with the package piledriver and then broke her arm at 7:12. I liked the last match more, as Doku’s pinballing was fun while Yurei’s moments of control looked too loose and light. **¾ 

Matanza Cueto blows off steam in his cell. Dario walks in to tell him that he gets a title rematch next week. Matanza doesn’t want it. He just wants to fight Rey Mysterio. Dario looks behind him and sees that Matanza has punched a bloody question mark onto the wall. 

Hitokiri def. Pentagon Dark
A quick, really rudimentary google translate of the Lotus Triad’s names gives me “poison,” “sway,” and “assassination.” That second one is probably wrong. The difference in appearance of both Hitokiri and Doku here and in NXT are proof that the Performance Center can make even fit wrestling freaks into more super fit wrestling superfreaks. This was kind of a combination of the last two matches, as we got a few gnarly bumps from Hitokiri, but she controlled a good portion of the match and clearly won the thing. She also hit a crossbody off of Cueto’s office, but that’s been done so many times at this point that it feels rote. Matt Striker tried to make it a big deal by calling out that she was the first woman to do it, but gender lines aren’t that important in this company so it just felt like a spot we’ve seen a bunch. Also, Dark no-sold it so even the wrestlers aren’t taking it seriously. Hitokiri escapes the package piledriver and hits a Destroyer for the win at 12:49. The match was fun, but way over-hyped by those who watched it when it happened. ***½ 

After the match, Black Lotus comes out with Doku and Yurei who are casually holding their arms. That pretty much ruins the mystique of Dark’s arm-breaker. And the timing of it isn’t great, because Lotus hits the arm-breaker on Pentagon. Doku and Yurei couldn’t have just hung back? Anyway, El Dragon Azteca comes out and stands by as the Triad leaves (I think for good). Azteca then hits the arm-breaker Dark as well and Vampiro smiles. This would have made a good part for Ultima Lucha, so I wonder where Dark goes from here. 

Prince Puma wakes up in a coffin. A face paint-covered Vampiro looks over him and says, “Come with me.”