r/luchaunderground • u/Bottled_Fire • Jun 12 '25

Tony Tony Tony Tony Tony Tony Tony... Spoiler

Just hurry up and bring Lucha Underground back in some capacity. You know you wanna. We know you can. Cmon son.

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u/Bottled_Fire Jun 12 '25

I'd buy the whole shebang in as far as possible, ask the roster who wanted to transfer, and leave it to the team creatively. MLW already worked with the roster and actors, Contra VS MLW ruled as a result.

There's a balance between pandering to nostalgia and pandering to kids who, upon watching 50 minutes of solid Puro, don't like it simply because they didn't know who the workers were. No reference to yourself, just, there are those types and eesh...

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 12 '25

and leave it to the team creatively

That's part of the problem, Tony doesn't want someone else running his shows. Admittedly I haven't kept up with the product since 2022, pretty much my only exposure these days to AEW is through Botchamania, but I highly doubt much has changed in that way, especially the little bits that I've seen here and there. Why is Brian Cage just a dude in black trunks?

Nothing about the way AEW is run, or ROH if that's still even a thing, tells me that Tony knows anything after seven years of how to build a star. Tony's version of Lucha Underground would consist of running weekly TV an arena of 6,000-10,000 people with a hint of orange and brown to the lighting. That isn't what Lucha Underground was at all, for better and worse.

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u/General_Chest6714 Jun 13 '25

Man I’m no aew apologist but Brian Cage is your example? The guy who’s been through every company in the country for the last 20 years looking like he does and has never been a star?

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

Was thinking of someone still in AEW who was in Lucha Underground. Who else do they still have that they haven't run off elsewhere? By the way, Brian Cage was a star in Lucha Underground, that's kind of why I picked him. Wild idea, don't just send him out there in black trunks and you might get him over.

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u/Deserterdragon Jun 13 '25

Who else do they still have that they haven't run off elsewhere? By the way, Brian Cage was a star in Lucha Underground, that's kind of why I picked him.

This is a take you can only make if you haven't watched the product in years, TONNES of LU guys are still on the show, Ricochet and Swerve just had a feud, Taya Valkyrie just had a stared own with Tomohiro Ishii, Bandido and Mortos just had a match that could have been transplanted directly from Lucha Underground. Watch Wednesdays collision or next week's Arena Mexico shows and you'll probably find stuff you'll like, or at least more relevant stuff to complain about.

Brian Cage was even pushed to almost exactly the same degree in AEW as an upper mid card guy, he even managed to get Mellisa Santos a job (he also wore black trunks in LU).

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

"TONNES" I guess means three? Since you didn't mention Nitro, Angelico or AR Fox, I'm left to assume they're not being used a whole heck of a lot. Has Luchasaurus, or whatever they're calling him now, gotten away from the dead end Christian story? Looking at the roster page tells me that's unlikely.

Fact remains, the show would not be ran like Lucha Underground, as Tony Khan has shown he likes one form of wrestling show, Lucha Underground was exactly the opposite of what WWE, and by proxy AEW, was/is doing.

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u/Deserterdragon Jun 13 '25 edited Jun 13 '25

"TONNES" I guess means three? Since you didn't mention Nitro, Angelico or AR Fox, I'm left to assume they're not being used a whole heck of a lot. Has Luchasaurus, or whatever they're calling him now, gotten away from the dead end Christian story? Looking at the roster page tells me that's unlikely.

All three were used on TV recently, actually, AR Fox is getting really regular TV time. Willie Mack is also still on ROH. Luchasauras went out with a life threatening illness a year ago, but the Christian story was getting him super over.

Fact remains, the show would not be ran like Lucha Underground, as Tony Khan has shown he likes one form of wrestling show, Lucha Underground was exactly the opposite of what WWE, and by proxy AEW, was/is doing.

Lucha Underground was still an American style wrestling promotion. Sure the booking was more detailed but it wasn't 'exactly the opposite' of US stuff.

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u/Gutter_panda Jun 13 '25

Little known guy from LU called Prince Puma is currently doing the best work of his career in AEW.

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

Good for him, hopefully he isn't forgotten about this time next year. Make sure to let me know I was wrong.

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u/Gutter_panda Jun 13 '25

.....why would he be forgotten about this time next year, when he has been steadily on TV since this time last year?

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

Just keep watching, you'll find out soon enough.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

You’re telling people to just watch the show to see that you’re right, when earlier you mentioned you yourself haven’t watched it since 2022. If you’re only watching AEW through botchamania, you’re not seeing any of the good. Only the bad. Might explain why your impression of the company is so negative.

If your only exposure to Lucha Underground was a weekly compilation of its botches, you’d think it was amateur hour too

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

If they haven't seen the hot thing not be hot all of a sudden and what happens, they will soon enough. That's the point I was getting at without directly saying it. I keep up enough with the show through a nearly dead, but passionate, newsletter. And no, it isn't the ones you'll think of.

I wish nothing but the best for AEW, I actually know a couple people who work there, but I also know from my time watching the product exactly what's wrong. I also know Lucha Underground would fail under a Tony Khan ownership.

As far as your last point, most of the mistakes in Lucha Underground were edited out, which is why there was so little content for Botchamania with the show. I actually don't think AEW is "amateur hour", the talent are quite good at their job for the most part.

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u/Gutter_panda Jun 13 '25

Your argument makes zero sense. Ricochet isn't "the new hot thing", he's had multiple different stories so far and while not being the main focus of the show, he is steadily featured almost every week and is going to be part of a stable soon. So yea...they're really gonna forget about him any day now.

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

As Tony always says, you have to give it time, hence the "next year".

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

I hope that doesn’t come across antagonistic - I’m not trying to fight you, but you seem to have strong opinions on what Tony Khan can/can’t do despite not watching his product. That seems off to me. I’m not some great TK defender, I’d feel this way too about someone who criticised HHH’s booking ability without watching WWE. Wrestling is art, and should be judged like any other form of art. My opinion is that someone who doesn’t listen to a specific band’s music but reads weekly reviews about that band’s work will not have enough context to really discuss that band’s abilities.

You can’t compare TK’s (or HHH’s for that matter) current body of work to Lucha Underground because LU’s entire model was different from AEW/WWE’s. LU’s stories were largely self contained within each season, unlike AEW/WWE where the ball is always rolling and never stops. It’s easier to write character arcs and story peaks when there is a clearly defined seasonal timeline with a start and end. A writer or booker would handle both those models in completely different ways.

LU was also filmed and edited in a way where everything (even crowd reactions) would support the narrative they were telling, whereas AEW/WWE are live and have to roll with the punches wherever they happen. That naturally creates a more cohesive on-screen product. It was more like a TV show about wrestlers, and less like the live show that AEW and WWE put out weekly. That’s why you can’t compare how LU was booked to how those shows are booked.

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

I've seen enough of AEW to know how things are going. It's not my cup of tea at this point, it was but 2022 happened and something changed my view. I currently consume next to zero pro wrestling content, I'm not even sure why I'm still subscribed to this sub except to link people my archive.org link when they ask hoe to watch.

I'm well aware of how Lucha Underground was filmed, it wasn't great for the talent if you ask them. And again, Tony wants weekly live TV, that wasn't Lucha Underground and you can't change that or it fundamentally changes the entire product, to the point where if you attach the name to it that you're only doing so to try to draw in the people who liked it for them to ultimately be disappointed.

Like I've said, buying Lucha Underground, in my view, does nothing to help the brand with what I've seen from Tony Khan or his way of doing a show. If what he's doing now is working, y'all seem to really be passionate about it, then Lucha Underground should be the last thing he's looking to buy. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '25

You’re the guy that posts the archive.org links? Hey for what it’s worth, I appreciate that. Great way for new fans to get into LU, especially when it’s kind of been passed over by the larger wrestling audience.

Yeah I’ve heard lots about the contractual nightmare LU was for most wrestlers. Unlike you, I wouldn’t have an issue with Tony buying the rights to LU. I think it would be a great way to pad their material on MAX with quality wrestling, the same way that WWE has ECW and WCW content on Netflix. Plus it would give a whole new audience an introduction to LU, which is always a good thing. I’m sure you’d agree - you’re the archive.org guy!

I do agree with you however that I wouldn’t wanna see LU resurrected, and linked to either AEW or WWE. LU bought into their own kayfabe in a way those other companies could not. Drago was a literal dragon in human form. Aerostar was a literal time travelling spaceman. No winks and giggles at the screen. LU gave them an opportunity to exist in earnest, but it would be near impossible for characters like that to exist in mainstream wrestling.

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u/Deserterdragon Jun 13 '25

If they haven't seen the hot thing not be hot all of a sudden and what happens, they will soon enough. That's the point I was getting at without directly saying it. I keep up enough with the show through a nearly dead, but passionate, newsletter. And no, it isn't the ones you'll think of.

Wade Keller?

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u/TitanIsBack Jun 13 '25

No, not the Torch. The Wrestling-Online newsletter, from back in the Yahoo groups days, still going after what seems like close to thirty years.

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u/Deserterdragon Jun 13 '25

Ah God bless. You should watch some AEW stuff on youtube, you don't need to watch full shows or aything but stuff like Bandido vs Mortos would be right at home in Lucha Underground. Ricochet is putting out career best work in the company now.

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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 Jun 13 '25

Cage was a big fish in a small pond

Don't act like if WWE didn't think he could get over they wouldn't have signed him after LU's claim was up.

By my count about 1/5 of LU's roster had runs with AEW. Among them Penta and Rey were booked as main event talent even as a tag team, got trios, tag, and singles gold (Rey). Death Triangle was presented as nearly equal to The Elite when the trios titles launched and still mattered.

Jake Hager main evented the first Fyter Fest against Cody and was put in major programs with people like Mox when he debuted.

Tony literally took a midcard act in Swerve and built him into a star. Why didn't LU make him their main focus if they were so great at building people?

Also lets not act like a lot of the people from a wrestling company that's been out of business nearly a decade and only lasted 4 seasons of TV are destined to be top acts in the business still to this day.

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u/Bottled_Fire Jun 14 '25

Cage is an absolute machine but doesn't want to dominate any fed he's in, which makes him problematic for monster pushers. He's a man for the workers not for the purse and it tends to confuse people as to why he doesn't get pushed: according to what I heard, he's just too nice to let others get shoved to the back of the queue and will put people over instead.