A Lucha Underground Rewatch Preview!

 

Good Morning!

Lucha Underground. That mean anything to you? For me, it was an awakening. The combination of influences like grindhouse cinema, lucha libre and telenovelas, 70s cop shows and kung fu movies, and MST3K fodder like Samson vs The Vampire Women…all put into a blender and presented as a weekly drama that had some awesome wrestling that was different from everything available, and to this day has nothing fully comparable that I’m aware of. 

I’ve watched wrestling since I was a little guy -- SummerSlam 1990 was the first show I watched front to back, on a Coliseum VHS tape in my grandma Celia’s Chicago basement with my cousins -- and WCW and WWF were pretty much all I knew growing up. The second wave of stuff I remember was when TNA started out with its unique weekly pay-per-view formula. I think it was five bucks a week, and I remember having people come over to my second floor apartment in Forest Park for those. Amazing Red and Low-Ki stood out to me at the time, and I think I stuck with them for a while after they got a TV deal on…was it Spike? I’ll have to look that up. That would have been while I was still working at the animal hospital, around 2002.

When Lucha Underground was announced, I remember being incredibly excited for it. I wasn’t young or naive, but my wrestling diet still mostly consisted of North American fare. I was aware of New Japan Pro Wrestling, CMLL, AAA, and Pro Wrestling Guerilla, but I was far from a regular viewer. Hell, before Lucha Underground launched I met Kenny Omega at an empty booth before a Ring of Honor show on WrestleMania weekend in New Orleans, and I was basically just being nice to a guy who looked bored. I looked over while talking to my buddy and my wife, and he waved so I went to say hello. It wasn’t until later that night that I realized who he was, but he was a nice guy regardless. This is all to say, I’m not the most wrestling fan kind of wrestling fan. I’m not super online, and I don’t invest the time a lot of superfans do. I like what I like, and that’s changed over the years. But my love of Lucha Underground -- or the idea of it, anyway…the feeling -- remains.

[Fun side story: at WrestleMania 34 the night after that Ring of Honor show, my incredible wife went to get us some drinks during the event. I think it was during the four-way between Jinder Mahal, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev -- she stayed for the entrances and then went and got this tumbler that we still use for iced tea to this very day!

While in line, a person behind her asked if they could take a picture with the guy in front of her, a man about her height with an incredible head of hair. She thinks the guy thought she was the man’s interpreter. The man in question turned around and my wife took the pic of the two, and then he put a finger to his lips for the both of them. And that, friends, is how we learned that one Hiroshi Tanahashi was visiting WrestleMania 34 as a fan.]

So, before I wrote this, I thought this show aired like 20 years ago, rather than ten. I would have been around 35 in 2014… by then I was already out here in Colorado. And here I thought I watched all this from my place in Forest Park, IL, or maybe even my first place in Denver, but no, we were already full on suburban homeowners by 2014. Actually, I just peeled the last remnants of a Lucha Underground mask sticker off my 1996 Ford Ranger, which I didn’t have until around 2011…so this timeline checks out, I guess. So these treasured memories aren’t from some bygone era, they’re from like two jobs ago. That makes sense, though, considering the amount of folks from LU that have appeared on AEW. You've got Swerve, Angelico, Ivelisse, Diamante, Penta, Johnny Mundo/TV…and that’s just off the top of my head!

A Very Brief Primer On Lucha Underground

Let's go through the backstory of the show itself, and why I'm so amped to get into the show again, before we dive into an episode-by-episode rewatch:

Why do you care about Lucha Underground?

Lucha Underground aired on El Rey Network, and debuted about a year after the network itself. The idea behind that channel was something that really spoke to me, personally. Per the company’s website:

"El Rey Network is an English-language entertainment brand founded by maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City, Spy Kids, Machete). Curated by Rodriguez and his artistic collective, the Latino-infused network revels in the courage, capacity, and creativity of ordinary people on extraordinary journeys through its unique original programming. In addition, El Rey Network showcases a wide range of iconic feature films and TV series including genre, cult classics, action, and horror/sci-fi."

As an English-speaking, Latino-infused individual myself, I found that pitch a perfect sell to my own identity. Add to it the fact that my folks raised me on genre stuff like 80s action, sci-fi, and horror, and my own love of Rodriguez and his pal Quentin Tarantino’s stuff, and it was the perfect channel for a slightly younger me. While I wasn’t watching the channel 24/7, and this was before streaming was as big a thing as it is today, I was happy it existed, and spent many a night watching Bruce Lee or Bruce Campbell fight evil in its many forms. These days, El Rey Network lives on via Roku TV, as a streaming channel that shows genre fare, some original programming, and reruns of Lucha Underground.

So, I care about it because both the network and the show spoke to me. I think representation is important in all media, and Latino representation in any media seems pretty thin. So, to get in on the ground floor of a lucha libre promotion like Lucha Underground, to see the beginning of something new and cool looking, that was created by like-minded individuals to myself, felt almost like a responsibility. Speaking of those individuals...

Who made Lucha Underground?

Lucha Underground was a collaboration between a number of talents, but the big names at the top of the bill were Robert Rodriguez and Mark Burnett, a British megaproducer who helped bring about shows like Shark Tank, Survivor, The Voice, and many more. Konnan had some influence on the show as well. He was brought in as an on-screen managerial talent and creative consultant, but he also helped to bridge the gap as a liaison between Lucha Underground's producers and AAA, one of the larger wrestling promotions in Mexico. Former WWE writer Chris DeJoseph was added as a creative head/showrunner type. This was a talented group of people, but their methods of doing business often clashed, leading to some tension between them.

Where it was made, and why is that important?

A Google maps photo of the LU warehouse in 2015

The Temple in Boyle Heights was as much a character in Lucha Underground as any wrestler. From the outside, it looked like what it was -- a hundred-year-old warehouse near the 4th Street Bridge in Los Angeles. But inside, the work of production designer Kelly Van Patter, who also worked with Mark Burnett to design Survivor's Tribal Councils, transformed the former railyard building into a temple. Using the right angles present in the bleachers, balconies, and the ring itself, the idea of kind of an inverted underground Mayan temple was established. Van Patter said that a lot of the set dressing was stuff she found at local flea markets, or things that were already in place in the building. "There's always a special aging that has to go into it, because this is a gritty fight club, so it has to look pretty grungy," she told LAist in 2015. "Some of the things we just take and throw around outside on the ground just to scuff it up and give it a layer of grime." 

And they used that setting to the fullest. I remember segments shot in the locker room, where the camera was uncomfortably close to the talent during intense conversations. Promoter Dario Cueto's office was shot like a 70's cop show, with partially-open blinds, warm colors, and little items on Cueto's desk that helped establish his character. Everything oozed attention to detail, and pride in both the heritage of lucha libre and the city of angels.

LA is known as a city of immigrants, and its heritage is intertwined with that of the Latino community. By basing the promotion in the city, and giving it a connection to it by way of a building that's seen a century of development around it, Lucha Underground was given a head start in relating to both LA residents, and people who identify with, or simply are interested in, Latino culture. 

We actually stayed pretty close to the warehouse in which the temple was housed during our LA trip for AEW Revolution. These days, it's just an empty building, available to rent. But as recently as 2024, the Lucha Bros held a show in the building, and still referred to it as The Temple. Maybe that proximity is what rekindled my love for lucha. Who's to say? 

What set Lucha Underground apart?

Credit: Variety

The production levels that this show used, first and foremost, set Lucha Underground apart from other televised wrestling. Backstage vignettes had more in common, visually, with Planet Terror than they did with SmackDown. The focus on fantastic storylines that occasionally bordered on absurd, on outlandish characters, and on over-the-top acting made the telenovela aspect of the show shine. Edited matches, something viewers of live shows like WWE's product, weren't accustomed to, streamlined the action and eliminated many of the botches that can happen during a live match. And that logo...man, I love luchador masks anyways, but I love that stylized mask and the font they used with it. Good production means getting little things like that right. 

Why didn't Lucha Underground last?

I mean, I wouldn't call a four-year televised run a failure by any means. In a world where far too few wrestlers were able to remain employed, any contract with a larger company with a TV deal meant a "guaranteed" income and more eyes on your product -- in this case, you, as a performer. Unfortunately, a combination of outside and inside forces conspired against the continued viability of Lucha Underground. Creative issues arose between Konnan and Chris DeJoseph, with the former leading an unsuccesful strike against the show. Konnan tried to use his influence, which is still felt to this day, to convince/intimidate his AAA performers to pressure management to change Lucha Underground to a more traditional lucha libre program, while DeJoseph was more interested in storytelling and presentation. And with megaproducer Burnett reportedly never attending a taping of the show, and his subordinates more interested in production and the appearance of the show, a line was drawn. Konnan ended up taking that loss personally, and as a result was hit with a restraining order after allegedly threatening both staff and performers.

But that's not all. Financially, the show became untenable, as production costs rose and income stagnated. A touring schedule may have helped, and merchandising was said to be limited. I know I had a t-shirt with the show's logo, and a decal that was on my truck for the last ten years, but I ordered those from the El Rey Network store -- I don't remember any individual wrestlers being highlighted for merch.

And then there's the whole contract situation that hampered things near the end. The last two seasons of LU weren't announced as far ahead of tapings as the first two, leading to rushed production of season four. Contractually, wrestlers weren't allowed to seek other employment during those between season  breaks, and after season four several performers ended up suing to get out of those contracts. 

In the end, as it is with most things, money was the problem. Would a Tony Khan-like benefactor have saved the show? Would a deal with a larger streaming deal, a lack of an offseason, or less of a dependance on the partnership with AAA? I don't know. I'm hoping to gain some perspective on the overall quality of the show throughout this project, and maybe I'll have a better answer for you afterwards. As it was produced as more of a telenovela with some wrestling, maybe it just ran out of creative juice. Or maybe it would have gone on to reach incredible heights if backstage drama and financial issues were resolved. We'll see!

Credit goes to Dave Knows Wrestling and Ring the Damn Bell for refreshing me on this stuff.

Let's Watch Some Lucha Underground!

I’m excited to dive back into this world of monsters and luchadores, madmen and snake women. A world where intergender matches were just accepted as the norm, and one where the guy who runs the show is as slimy as any “authority figure” character -- although Dario Cueto did keep his massive brother in, like, the basement of the arena in a prison cell, if I’m remembering correctly. I’ll watch, take notes, and do a little research to keep up with what went down at the time these shows came out. After all, this will be a history lesson as much as a reminder of what we had. I think I’ll have fun, and I hope you do to. You can even watch along once we get a schedule set…or at least watch the episode (however you can find it) before reading the next entry in the series.

In short, my memory is garbage and I’m due for a rewatch. So that’s the plan! I had been wanting to buy a DVD set of all four seasons, but that’s not forthcoming. I found a DVD set of Season 1 in German on Amazon, but that’s about it. So we went to [REDACTED], and sure enough I found and downloaded all four seasons! My plan is to watch one or two shows a week, write about them, and post ‘em here. I know a lot of talent that ended up in AEW, TNA, and WWE made their way through the Temple in Boyle Heights first, and I’m looking forward to being surprised to see who's there, or to learn who's under those gorgeous masks.

So Long For Now

So that’s gonna be where I wrap things up for right now. I’m hoping this is a long-term project that keeps me writing and interested, and given the reverence I have for both lucha libre in general and Lucha Underground in particular, I don’t think that’s a worry. Once I get into a groove we might get a real schedule -- I'm thinking watch/write on Tuesday, publish for Wednesday -- but right now its up in the air. Between trips to hang out with my new niece, wrestling stuff, house projects, and my wife going out of town for a few things, it’s gonna be more of a “I’ll let you know when something drops” scenario. Hope that works for you, brother! I just wanted to do a little primer/introduction before we got into this project. 

Follow me on BlueSky for updates and live watch-along commentary for AEW Dynamite. And, if you’re looking into anything from a smart fridge to a new drill, check out the tech writing I do over at SlashGear -- my lists are heavily researched, and ranked after thorough aggregation of expert opinions, reviews, and my own experience as a professional auto mechanic, an unprofessional handyman and a somehow even less professional homeowner.

Until next time…Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!