Lucha Libre Rebelión put the finishing touch on a great season with its traditional event Apuesta Final. The show took place last Saturday, July 11th at the Ateneu Hortenc. A night where all the stories that had marked the last months in the Barcelona-based promotion found their final chapter, but also opened the door to new beginnings for the upcoming season, starting next October.
Below are the results and the recap of the show, courtesy of the promotion.
An overflowing Ateneu Hortenc went wild from the first match of the night, a historic fight that pitted Alexa Jade, a wrestler who was part of the first Apuesta Final in history, against Abril de la Plata in the first female match in Rebelión's history. The moonsaults from the La Triple W wrestler momentarily stopped a determined Abril de la Plata, who had the full support of the audience. After landing a knee strike to Jade's head, the Argentine applied her finisher to secure the victory.
After the match, Abril helped her opponent to her feet, and both acknowledged each other's effort, also celebrated by the audience. Then came the surprise: a message was projected directly from the United States by Sara León, who warned Abril that the women's rebellion she aims to lead had started long before they arrived. The Madrid native challenged her to prove she is up to her promise so that when she returns to Spain, they can face each other head-on.
The second match of the night will go down in history as one of the best seen in the promotion. In the first Casino Rules Match, the action in the ring escalated to an unstoppable pace. After Ángel "El Diamante" Reyes and the Portuguese Ricky Boy started the fight, the Undisputed British Heavyweight champion of RevPro, Michael Oku, made a surprise appearance to join the match to a thunderous ovation from the audience.
The match added another international talent with the entrance of "El Sol de Argentina," Lucio, who quickly became the most hated wrestler by the audience. Caldera, Enrique Lemus III, Matanza Delgado, César Hawk, and Pol Badía completed the lineup in a match that turned into a spectacular spotfest, with spectacular dives from all involved wrestlers. The outcome, to the audience's dismay, favored Lucio, who took advantage of Caldera's Dragon Sleeper on a nearly submitting Michael Oku to enter the ring and apply a quick roll-up on César Hawk, who was about to break Caldera's hold.
The first part of the show slowed down with the Bloodsport match between Ricky Barceló, accompanied by his SWA Angelnaut teammates, Dave Steel and Adriano Genovese, and Nathan de Wind, his former partner in Arma Secreta, escorted by his The Academy Barcelona teammates. The match seemed to lean towards Nathan, who constantly dominated Ricky with his technical skills, overcoming the Catalan's striking. However, as the match approached its end with the ten-minute countdown, Nathan was knocked out as the bell rang.
Referee Kike Pereira then announced that the knockout occurred after the time limit and, therefore, the result was a draw. Amid the wrestlers' protests, Carlos Ryder, the promotion's showrunner, had to intervene to grant an extra five-minute round. It wasn't necessary to use up that time, as Nathan de Wind turned the tables and ultimately defeated Barceló, who fell just short and ended up submitting.
After the defeat, Ricky Barceló began removing the tape from his hands and boots amidst the audience's pleas for him not to retire. Before he could do so, the legendary Bad Boy, who was part of the show's staff, entered the ring to attack his former SWA teammate and deliver a message. Bad Boy accused Ricky Barceló of being "a drama king" always wanting to be the center of attention, and made it clear that he wouldn't allow him to leave wrestling without him finishing him first. With that, Bad Boy confirmed his debut in Rebelión's rings.
The second part of the show kicked off with a street fight between the two leaders of the Los Enemigos de la Rebelión storyline: Marc Menino and TJ Charles. The OG faced the man who took his team in his own specialty, in a street fight where tables, doors, kendo sticks were broken, and even Menino's famous Jordan shoes filled with thumbtacks were used to punish the Volátil. However, after crashing through a table from the top of a ladder, Menino received a diving headbutt from TJ Charles, who wore a barbed wire crown. With that impact, TJ defeated the OG.
Then came the two main matches of the show. In the first of the contests, the two biggest teams of Lucha Libre Rebelión faced off. Lozano, who defended the championship he first won with Junior Martínez and then with Rogelio Maravilla against the Barcelona Blacklist. The match had plenty of action and moments where the champions' comedy couldn't be missing. Joey Torres and Sito Sánchez had to endure Plan C's offense fighting in their underwear, with a leopard thong and heart-patterned boxers, respectively Torres and Sánchez.
It wasn't enough for Lozano and Rogelio. Throughout the match, they managed to dodge the Combi Completa, but finally Joey Torres' swanton followed by Sito Sánchez's powerbomb ended Plan C's reign. Thus, Lozano closed the longest consecutive reign in Rebelión's history, from one Apuesta Final to the next; Sito Sánchez won his first title in the promotion; and Joey Torres became the first double champion in Lucha Libre Rebelión's history.
The night's main event was special, and it was evident in the atmosphere. Lacayo Sureño, who put his career on the line, wanted to enjoy what could be his last match by giving it his all to make it an unforgettable moment. He did so from his entrance, debuting a new outfit, with dozens of Lacayo stickers flying around the Ateneu and with a little Lacayo playing the famous Cotton Eye Joe live.
Martí Ubach arrived directly from running the Sanfermines, confident in his victory. But in front of him wasn't a bull, he had a whole Lacayo Sureño who gave absolutely everything in the ring. Martí tried to take advantage and hit Lacayo in the groin while the referee was knocked out after a super tackle from Lacayo. However, the cunning challenger revealed he was wearing a cup to avoid the champion's famous kicks.
Even so, Lacayo couldn't prevent Martí from hitting him with a metal chair on the entrance stairs, causing a wound that made him start bleeding. The champion tried to use the situation to throw him from the stage into the commentary table, but Lacayo reversed the situation, and it was Martí who crashed through the table.
With both back in the ring, Lacayo survived Martí's driver and managed to hit his Zambullida three times to cover the champion and finally get the three count. Thus, Lacayo Sureño was crowned the new world champion of Lucha Libre Rebelión.
With the entire Ateneu Hortenc moved and applauding the new champion, Lucha Libre Rebelión bid farewell to the season with new champions, stories that concluded this past July 11th, and many others that will begin very soon.
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