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Lucha Underground

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Lucha Underground
GenreProfessional wrestling
Action drama
Fantasy
Developed byMark Burnett
Robert Rodriguez
StarringLucha Underground roster
Narrated byMatt Striker
Vampiro
Country of originUnited States
No.of seasons4
No.of episodes127(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersMark Burnett
Robert Rodriguez
Eric van Wagenen
Anthony Jensen
Chris DeJoseph
ProducersMatthew Stollman
Chris Roach
Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Sue Vial
Ryan Hermosura
Nick Staller
Barry Murphy
Production locationsBoyle Heights,California
Downtown Los Angeles,California[1]
Camera setupMulticamera setup
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesUnited Artists Media Group
MGM Television
Rodriguez International Pictures
FactoryMade Ventures
AG Studios Content
Original release
NetworkEl Rey Network
ReleaseOctober 29, 2014(2014-10-29)–
November 7, 2018(2018-11-07)

Lucha Undergroundwas an Americanprofessional wrestling promotionfounded in 2014 byUnited Artists Media Group.Partly owned byLucha Libre AAA Worldwide(AAA),[2]Lucha Undergroundalso refers to its weeklytelevision program,which featuredcharactersportrayed by wrestlers from AAA and the American and Mexicanindependent circuits.The series originally aired in English onEl Rey Networkand in Spanish onUniMás.[3]

The series was developed byMark BurnettandRobert Rodriguezand produced by United Artists,MGM Television,and One Three Media. It premiered on October 29, 2014 and aired until November 7, 2018, consisting of four seasons for a total of 127 episodes. It was set and filmed inBoyle HeightsandDowntown Los Angeles,California,while the series later forged creative and production partnerships with other North American promotions.

Lucha Undergroundreceived generally positive reviews throughout its run, with praise for its action, characters, and cinematic presentation, with critics noting its departure from professional wrestling tropes oflegitimate sporting contests.The series had moderate viewership in its first two seasons, but the third and fourth season saw fluctuations in viewership after it was made available onNetflixprior to the fourth season premiere. The series was eventually cancelled due to budget concerns.[4]

History[edit]

In January 2014, it was confirmedMark Burnettwould partner withRobert Rodriguez'sEl Rey Networkto launch a weekly hour-long professional wrestling television series in the second half of the year; it would be affiliated with the Mexican wrestling promotionLucha Libre AAA Worldwide(AAA).[5]In July, it was tentatively titledLucha: Uprising,[6]before officially announced asLucha Undergroundin August, with AAA wrestlersBlue Demon Jr.,Pentagón Jr.,Sexy Star,Fénix,andDragojoining the cast.[7]It was to be narrated byMatt StrikerandVampiroand began filming on September 6 in front of astudio audienceinBoyle Heights,California.[8]

The series premiered on October 29, 2014, on theEl Rey Networkwhere it aired on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m.E.T.,[9]and in Spanish on November 1, 2014, onUniMáswhere it aired on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. E.T.[10]

Johnny Mundowon the main event of the pilot episode.Prince Pumawas the firstLucha Underground Championafter winning the first Aztec Warfare match on January 7, 2015.[11]On April 22,Ivelisse,Son of Havoc,andAngélicobecame the firstLucha Underground Trios Championsafter winning the inaugural Trios Tournament. The season's two-part finale,Ultima Lucha,which doubled as the promotion's first annual special event, received acclaim.[12]Lucha Undergroundwas subsequently renewed for a second season on September 21, 2015.[13]

Thesecond seasonbegan production on November 14, 2015, and premiered on January 27, 2016.[14]Prior to filming, it was leaked the series had been renewed for a third season;[15]El Rey announced the renewal on February 1, 2016.[16]During this period, the Lucha Underground promotion began a collaborative partnership with theInternational Wrestling Syndicate(IWS),[17][18]and held its first touring event, Austin Warfare, inAustin, Texas,as part ofSouth by Southwestin 2016.[19]The promotion was also represented by different teams at three editions of theLucha Libre World Cup,between2015and2017.

On November 10, 2017, it was announced thatLucha Undergroundhad been renewed for a fourth season to premiere in 2018.[20]In February 2018, filming of the series was moved toDowntown Los Angeles.[1]The following month it was announced that the promotion had entered into a working relationship withImpact Wrestling,holding a joint promotional event onTwitchon April 6.[21]The fourth season premiered on June 13, and concluded on November 7,[22]after which producer Eric van Wagenen stated that the series had amassed budget concerns, and would require "a major reboot on a lot of levels" to produce a fifth season.[23]

A fifth season was not produced in 2019, and in a 2020 interview withChris Van Vliet,Vampiro stated the series was effectively cancelled, and the promotion dissolved.[24]

Roster[edit]

Main article:List of former Lucha Underground personnel

Championships[edit]

Championship Final champion(s) Reign Date won Location Notes
Lucha Underground Championship Jake Strong 1 March 18, 2018 Boyle Heights, Los Angeles DefeatedPentagón DarkatUltima Lucha Cuatro.
Gift of the Gods Championship Jake Strong 1 March 17, 2018 Los Angeles, California DefeatedKing Cuerno,Big Bad Steve,Aero Star,Hernandez,PJ Black,andA. R. Foxfor the vacant Championship. Vacated once Strong cashed in atUltima Lucha Cuatro.
Lucha Underground Trios Championship The Reptile Tribe
(Daga,Kobra Moon,andJeremiah Snake) 		1 March 9, 2018 Boyle Heights, Los Angeles DefeatedThe Mack,Killshot,andSon of Havocin a trios tornado match.

Other accomplishments[edit]

Main article:Lucha Underground tournaments
Accomplishment Last winner Date Episode
Aztec Warfare Pentagón Dark February 24, 2018 El Jefe
The Cueto Cup Prince Puma June 11, 2016 The Cueto Cup
Battle of the Bulls Tournament The Mack April 23, 2016 The Battle Of The Bulls
Unique Opportunity Tournament Son of Havoc January 30, 2016 Ultima Lucha Dos
Trios Tournament El Dragon Azteca Jr.,Prince Puma,andRey Mysterio January 10, 2016 Cage In A Cage

Reception[edit]

Lucha Undergroundwas well received by critics. John Moore, from ProWrestling.net, praised the show for "[knowing] their identity and [weaving] together an amazing universe".[25]Lucha Undergroundhas also gained praise from media sites like Uproxx, which saidLucha Undergroundhad two of the top ten matches of 2015.[26]In 2015, the show was featured onESPN'sSportsCenter[27]and won SoCal Uncensored's 2015 Southern California promotion of the year award, endingPro Wrestling Guerrilla's 12 year streak of winning the award.[28]

In comparison toWWE,Sports Illustrateddescribed the promotion as "vastly different", with the show creating a "cinematic approach with supernatural elements and science fiction that also embeds wrestling psychology and storylines".[20]

Broadcasters[edit]

Country Network
Canada TLN[29]
France La Chaine Action[30]
Germany Tele 5andTNT Serie[31][32]
India 1Sports[33]
Japan Fighting TV Samurai[34]
Southeast Asia KIX[35]
United States El Rey Network[13]

Lawsuit[edit]

On February 6, 2019, it was reported thatJorge Luis Alcantar,who played King Cuerno (now wrestles in the WWE as Santos Escobar), had filed a lawsuit in California against theEl Rey Networkand the Baba-G production company that madeLucha Underground.The lawsuit claimed that Lucha Underground's contracts "illegally restricted" wrestlers from working in their "lawful profession," by blocking them working for other wrestling companies until their multi-year contracts expired. Production of the series ended in less than 4 years, despite producers signing some original cast member wrestlers to 5-year, exclusive contracts.[36][37]Alcantar stated that wrestler pay was usually less than $1,000 per appearance, with some wrestling cast members earning only about $4,000 a year from the show.[37]

Alcantar's lawyer also revealed that he had filed a class action lawsuit against Lucha Underground on behalf of other wrestlers, claiming their contracts, too, were illegal under California labor law.[36]Other wrestlersIvelisse Vélez,Joey Ryan,and Melissa Cervantes (who playedKobra Moon) joined the class, seeking to invalidate their contracts.[38]

As of March 26, 2019, all lawsuits had been settled in the wrestlers' favor, and they were freed from their contracts.[39]

Legacy[edit]

Main articles:Major League WrestlingandMLW Azteca

In the Fall of 2020,Major League Wrestling(MLW) began incorporating story elements fromLucha Undergroundinto an angle on their weekly television series,MLW Fusion.Talent formerly associated withLucha Undergroundwere brought into MLW as part of the "Azteca" stable, withCesar Duran(the former Dario Cueto) and otherLucha Undergroundalumni appearing for the promotion.[40][41]The stable would later become the central focus of MLW's mini-series,Fusion: Alpha,which premiered on September 22, 2021.[42][43][44]

Elements ofLucha Undergroundhave since continued to appear in MLW programming, with the promotion also holding variousAzteca-brandedevents.[45][46][47][48]The Azteca concept has been described as aspiritual successortoLucha Underground.[40][49]

References[edit]

  1. ^abStroud, Brandon (February 12, 2018)."Your First Look At The Ice Cold New 'Temple' For Lucha Underground Season 4".Uproxx.RetrievedMay 19,2018.
  2. ^"411MANIA".Lucha Underground Officially Parts Ways With Hernandez.
  3. ^Johnson, Mike (7 February 2016)."More on issues with Konnan, AAA and others in recent weeks".Pro Wrestling Insider.Retrieved7 February2016.
  4. ^Lambert, Jeremy (18 January 2020)."Vampiro: Lack Of Communication And Accountability Led To The End Of Lucha Underground".Fightful.Retrieved16 October2020.
  5. ^de Moraes, Lisa (12 January 2014)."TCA: Mark Burnett To Launch Lucha Libre AAA League In U.S. With El Rey Network; 'From Dusk Till Dawn' To Premiere In March".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved4 February2015.
  6. ^Caldwell, James (2014-07-10)."AAA news: El Rey announces AAA Lucha Libre show for U.S. TV - timeslot, show title, more details".Pro Wrestling Torch.Retrieved2014-09-16.
  7. ^Queally, James (April 22, 2015)."Learn to speak lucha: The secret language of the squared circle".Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^"El Rey Network announces more details of AAA Lucha Libre project".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.2014-08-27.Retrieved2014-08-28.
  9. ^"Lucha Underground promotion TV debut moved back three weeks".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.2014-09-22.Retrieved2014-09-23.
  10. ^Steinberg, Brian (27 October 2014)."Univision To Use El Rey Wrestling Show To Bolster UniMas".Variety.Retrieved4 February2015.
  11. ^Johnson, Mike (2014-10-05)."Lucha Underground spoiler".Pro Wrestling Insider.Retrieved2014-10-06.
  12. ^""Ultimo Lucha" TV Special Planned for Lucha Underground ".Wrestlezone.March 25, 2015.
  13. ^ab"Believers, are you ready? #LuchaUnderground season 2 is coming in 2016!".Lucha Underground.Retrieved23 September2015.
  14. ^Peeples, Jeremy (January 27, 2016)."Lucha Underground Results: Season 2 Kicks off with an Intergender world title match".Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online.RetrievedJanuary 28,2016.
  15. ^Thomas, Jeremy (January 31, 2016)."Lucha Underground renewed for Season Three".411Mania.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.
  16. ^"Lucha Underground gets picked up for a third season".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.February 2016.RetrievedFebruary 1,2016.
  17. ^"IWS forms partnership with AAA wrestling and Lucha Underground",International Wrestling Syndicate,Retrieved on July 5, 2015.
  18. ^Laprade, Patric. (2016-03-07)"Mysterio at IWS latest in Montreal-Mexico exchange",SLAM! Wrestling,Retrieved on March 07, 2016.
  19. ^"Lucha Underground wrestlers battle at Austin Music Hall at SXSW - The Daily Texan".www.dailytexanonline.com.
  20. ^abGartland, Dan."Lucha Underground Will Return for a Fourth Season".Sports Illustrated.Retrieved10 November2017.
  21. ^"Impact Wrestling Vs. Lucha Underground Event Announced For WrestleMania Weekend".Wrestling Inc.1 March 2018.
  22. ^Nieves, Davey (7 April 2018)."No Spandex Saturday: Lucha Underground is coming back".
  23. ^"Lucha Underground Exec Producer Unsure If Season 5 Will Happen".allwrestling.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-04-21.Retrieved2019-01-26.
  24. ^"Vampiro Says Lucha Underground Paved The Way For AEW, Discusses Why Lucha Underground Failed".411MANIA.
  25. ^"5/20 Moore's Lucha Underground Review: The Crew vs. Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Angelico in a Ladder Match for the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, Marty The Moth vs. Prince Puma, Daivari vs. Texano".Prowrestling.net.Retrieved2015-11-04.
  26. ^"The Beast, The Boss, And The Blood: The 10 Best Pro Wrestling Matches Of 2015".21 December 2015.
  27. ^"Lucha Underground: A new era in wrestling".ESPN.January 27, 2016. Archived fromthe originalon September 15, 2016.
  28. ^Cal, Jay (7 March 2016)."2015 SoCal Year End Awards".
  29. ^"Lucha Underground Secures Canadian Television Deal | Fight Network".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-10-11.Retrieved2017-12-04.
  30. ^"Catch" Lucha Underground "saison 3".www.actiontv.fr(in French).Retrieved2017-12-04.
  31. ^"Lucha Underground".Turner Entertainment(in German).Retrieved2017-12-04.
  32. ^"LUCHA UNDERGROUND".www.tele5.de(in German). Archived fromthe originalon 2018-02-18.Retrieved2017-12-04.
  33. ^"DSPORT bags exclusive broadcast rights of 'Lucha Underground' - Times of India".The Times of India.Retrieved2017-12-04.
  34. ^"＜Lucha Underground＞: Phiên tổ tình báo: プロレス・ cách đấu kỹ chuyên môn ch FIGHTING TV サムライ".www.samurai-tv.com(in Japanese).Retrieved2017-12-04.
  35. ^"KIX's Lucha Underground Premiere Wins its Timeslot in the Philippines - CASBAA".CASBAA.2016-05-06.Retrieved2017-12-04.
  36. ^abRose, Bryan (February 6, 2019)."Two lawsuits filed over Lucha Underground contract issues".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.RetrievedFebruary 6,2019.
  37. ^abSatin, Ryan (1981-11-19)."Lucha Underground Star Files Dispute Against El Rey Network".Prowrestlingsheet.com.Retrieved2019-02-07.
  38. ^Mutter, Eric (February 6, 2019)."EXCLUSIVE: EL HIJO DEL FANTASMA, IVELISSE, JOEY RYAN AND THUNDER ROSA FILE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST EL REY NETWORK AND BABA-G PRODUCTIONS".Lucha Central.RetrievedFebruary 6,2019.
  39. ^Collins, Elle (March 26, 2019)."The Lucha Underground Lawsuits Are Settled, Freeing Several Wrestlers from Contracts".Uproxx.RetrievedOctober 6,2019.
  40. ^ab"MLW confirma su primer combate para Battle Riot III".18 June 2021.
  41. ^"MLW: Court Bauer on Azteca Underground and the company's future".Sports Illustrated.May 13, 2021.
  42. ^Oliver, Iain (July 24, 2021)."MLW Battle Riot III results: A new World title challenger is crowned".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  43. ^"MLW Battle Riot Results: Powell's review of the Battle Riot III match for a shot at the MLW Heavyweight Championship, new MLW series, Fusion returning to a new home in the fall".Pro Wrestling Dot Com.2021-07-24.
  44. ^Mini-series Fusion: ALPHA announced MLW.com
  45. ^"MLW Azteca Premiere Date And Details Revealed".Wrestling Inc. December 7, 2021.
  46. ^MLW AZTECA anthology mini series coming
  47. ^"MLW AZTECA #5".Cagematch.net.
  48. ^Robert DeFelice (February 4, 2022)."MLW Brings Azteca Underground To Dallas During WrestleMania Weekend".Fightful.RetrievedFebruary 5,2022.
  49. ^"MLW: Court Bauer on Azteca Underground and the company's future".Sports Illustrated.May 13, 2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucha_Underground&oldid=1230800380"