Lucha Underground isn’t just one of the best wrestling shows on television; it’s one of the best shows period. Started in 2014 by Mark Burnett & Robert Rodriguez, this one hour weekly on the then little-known El Rey Network, began by featuring the best of Mexico’s AAA promotion, as well as many from the American independent circuit.
Ex-WWE star Johnny Mundo was arguably the biggest star upon inception and since the beginning, wrestling greats such as Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Patron, have made this show home.
The action in The Temple in Boyle Heights is imaginative and daring; braving to be vastly different from any other wrestling promotion of the current era. An expanding universe has unfolded featuring characters; whose histories tangle back for what is, in some cases, mythical amounts of time.
This world of underground fighting is most definitely not intended for the entire family, a direction few promotions are trying to go anymore.
Many of these topics, as well as a couple of the standout characters, will be featured in this article highlighting several of the reasons wrestling fans need to watch this show every week. By no means is this list exhaustive, it’s merely a short collection of highlights from a show that deserves unending kudos.
#5 Looks unlike other wrestling shows
Professional wrestling has always been a predictable genre, as far as how the action is presented on screen. This predictability is apparent whenever a wrestler engages in a backstage promo.
Conversations between Superstars and authority figures always require those involved to line up, like they're on a stage, facing the camera. It's very unnatural.
Lucha Underground went in a completely non-wrestling direction, in regards to the out of the ring portion of their stories, opting instead to shoot these moments more in the style of a television drama. The wrestlers are now free to face each other directly, which is as innovative, as it is gripping.
The backstage interactions also allow the storytelling to take a more supernatural turn when needed because, sometimes, Mil Muertes has to extract the soul of a former Disciple of Death. Lucha Underground tells stories in a very different way, and the promos have become a notably unique deviation from the norm. It's refreshing.
#4 Not PG At All
Unlike WWE, Lucha Underground does not market their product to your children. There are no brightly coloured little towels with inspirational slogans being marketed, nor are there any marshmallow-packed cereal boxes with cartoon versions of the babyfaces.
Maybe that’s all because Dario Cueto doesn't have a wife or daughter who has long-term political aspirations. Regardless of the reason, Lucha Underground comes at you in a very unfiltered manner. There is definitely blood and even extreme cases of simulated violence.
Cortez Castro was recently made to compete after breaking his arm only for Matanza Cueto to brutally break it again. There was even an extra "crunchy" sound effect added in. People have been violently murdered and even cannibalised. Siniestro Del Muerte once ripped out the still-beating hearts of his former Trios partners, in an effort to prove himself to Catrina.
Things get real in Boyle Heights.
Language is also a boundary that gets pushed farther than on other wrestling promotions. Sexy Star once competed in a “No Mas” match against her former kidnapper and tormentor, Mariposa. When the ref asked her if she wanted to give up, she repeatedly told her to have sex with herself...but with the F word – you know the word I’m referring to.
WWE lets foul language slip every now and then, but they'd never allow that word.
This wrestling promotion is clearly not for young minds. But for those of us who are all grown up, it's all good cutting edge entertainment.
#3 The next step in the women’s revolution
Professional wrestling has become more and more of a welcoming place for women, who strive to be more than mere eye candy. TNA's Knockouts Division in the mid-2000s and the NXT Women's influence over the past few years up to today have proven, that ladies that want to actually wrestle, have a place on screen alongside the men.
Lucha Underground takes the women's revolution to a place it's never been before, and that's right up to the men. Athletes like Sexy Star and Ivelisse aren't just figuratively battling the men for the main events; they're literally going blow for blow against them.
Ivelisse has carried the Trios Championship along with a couple of her male buddies, and Sexy Star very recently held the Lucha Underground Championship. Sexy won the title during Aztec Warfare and had to battle the monstrous Mil Muertes in the closing moments of that contest.
Sure, it's not realistic at all that someone like Ivelisse or Sexy Star, could defeat massive heavyweights like Mil Muertes and Olympic competitors like Jeff Cobb, but Lucha Underground doesn't claim to be realistic. It's a supernatural realm with heroes and villains.
The women are sometimes the perfect heroines to conquer their mighty foes and given their presentation; it usually works very well.
#2 Pentagon Dark
“Cero Miedo.”
That's the most over catchphrase from one of the most buzzing talents in all of Lucha Underground. Pentagon Dark (formerly Pentagon, Jr.) has no fear, and if there were ever a criticism to be offered to this wrestling promotion, it would be that they've never given him their top title.
Of all the storylines told in this company, one of the best has to be when Pentagon started breaking people's arms and dedicating his work to a mysterious "Master." This strange storyline led him to a match with announcer Vampiro, at the very first Ultima Lucha.
The "Cero Miedo” match was incredibly violent, culminating in Vampiro ordering his opponent to break his arm after he lost. Pentagon obliged, then learned that the man he just defeated was his true Master all along.
Especially after the win over Vampiro, Pentagon Dark has become larger than life. He's become a big star in English speaking rings north of Boyle Heights, including at his appearances in the famed PWG Battle of Los Angeles. Lucha Underground has had several stars rise up their ranks, but none quite so high as Pentagon.
#1 The best boss ever, Dario Cueto
A very common complaint among wrestling fans toward virtually every promotion is an overuse of authority figures. The point of a wrestling show is the action happens in the ring, so if a General Manager or a Commissioner gets more time on screen, there is usually less for action. Less is more for these characters... except in the case of one man.
Dario Cueto is the man that runs Lucha Underground and he's a character that we can never get enough of. He has a lust for violence and an adoration for his baby brother because he's a family man. A red bull statue can be found atop his desk, which was used by Matanza Cueto to crack their abusive mother's skull when they were both children.
The red bull still has usefulness, being used as the method for the murder of Mr Cisco by Dario himself, when he realised that the former came into his office wearing a police wire.
Cueto is more than just a murderous ringleader of an underground wrestling promotion; he's the vital character in a grand story of a looming apocalypse that's slowly unfolding before us. Whether he should ultimately be cheered or reviled is a conclusion that will be arrived at, when the story comes to its finale one day.
In the meantime, he remains one of the most intriguing and well-acted characters not only in wrestling but all of television.
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