Tuesday, March 19, 2024
EditorialLucha Underground Is An Alternative Wrestling Needed

Lucha Underground Is An Alternative Wrestling Needed

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Lucha Underground has surpassed every other wrestling show and that will unlikely change for a while. The show is the most consistent wrestling show on television. It is everything a wrestling TV should be and is the alternative wrestling show people have been looking for.

The creator of Lucha Underground Robert Rodriguez develops a roller-coaster-like journey through the lens of a camera, which brings its viewers on an intense journey inside and outside the temple. The show also establishes dark and mystifying vibe that makes it feel as if no one is safe in the temple and that anything can happen.

It cannot be stressed enough how well-done its production values are.

The show goes against the grain, alternatively shooting its show like a TV series. It exquisitely directed and produced and perfectly fits the show’s atmosphere. The unparalleled camera angles, the intense music, the appropriate zoom-ins and zoom-outs, and the way camera shots naturally transition all augment the virtuosity of the show.

Production values do not make-or-break a show, but they can animate the product and make the show more pleasant on the eyes. Lucha Underground’s production is not only pleasant on the eyes, but also innovating, revolutionary and something wrestling has never tired before.

Lucha Underground also breaks through the creative glass ceiling.

For the last 10-15 years, wrestling has been stuck between a rock and hard place. Everyone knows wrestling is scripted, but companies like WWE still present their shows under the impersonation that the show is real. Presenting a show like a sporting event has worked for a long time and still does to this day, but that does not mean it is the only way. Plenty of movies have inner-character perspective, music, narration, etc. yet still suspend disbelief. Nothing has to be presented in a lifelike way to make lifelike to allow viewers to allow themselves to believe something is temporarily untrue.

And, truthfully, the faux MMA/sporting event presentation of wrestling has become quite stale.

The way Lucha Underground presents itself opens up its creative door, as it can do ideas never done before in wrestling. It is more free from restrictions. It can narrate non-linear storylines, give first-person character perspective, use music to intensify scenes, and so forth. Its extramundane characters also open up its creative door. It is all a fresh breath of air, especially since wrestling has mostly been unimaginative and unadventurous from a creative perspective for some time now.

The company also stays true to tradition. It uses smart old school philosophies, which are solely missed in companies like WWE. ‎

Matanza Cueto was introduced as this undomesticated barbarian. Best of all, the camera would never show him, which amplified his mysteriousness and secretiveness. It made viewers intrigued, anticipating when he would be revealed to see what he looked like. After being revealed, he quickly became LU Heavyweight Champion. He is now the longest reigning champion, and no one has come close to defeating him yet.

Pentagon Jr’s finisher is another example of old school philosophy. It is also proof that building up a finishing move is more important than how flashy or inventive it is. His finisher is a basic move, yet it is also the most destructive move in the company because of how it has been built up.

Lucha Underground is using deeply embedded old school wrestling philosophies, and proving that they are still around today for a reason: because they still are effective.

After all, theater’s fundamentals and traditions have not changed much. Today’s theater follows the formula used for centuries. An antagonist doing something evil and then a protagonist giving them the comeuppance they deserve has been the most used basic plot-lines. It hinges on how compelling both the characters and conflicts, so the formula on how to create a conflict (exposition, rising action, conflict, climax, denouncement, and then resolution) does not need change. Wrestling storytelling is about building a conflict’s the tension and drama logically to a climax. Conflicts need something at stake, because without stakes, everything becomes meaningless. When there is no meaning, purpose ceases to exist. Stakes can be concrete or abstract like a championship title or winning to prove oneself.

Refreshingly, Lucha Underground has lots of long-term booking, allowing its storylines to develop. They also do not force its storylines. They give them right amount of time need be. For example: if someone is injured, he or she will be off TV for the proper amount of time. Plus, they do not have wrestlers on the show every week. They switch it up and go back to storylines sometimes from 2 or 3 weeks ago. It puts an equal amount spotlight on all its stories and does not overwhelm people with one overriding story. If a wrestler does not fit on a particular episode or a feud needs more time to settle, it will not be on an episode. It is the luxury of having a one-hour per week show and not chasing ratings. I also like how it promotes its upcoming shows, telling me why I should want to tune in for next week. It is amazing how much the basics of running a good TV show matter.

The show also proves that when Matt Striker acts professional, he can be one the best play-by-play announcers. He does a very good job of explaining wrestling psychology to the viewer. He explains why a wrestler does something or what a certain move does. His announcing brings a strategic feel to the wrestling.

The company is bringing back sheer violence, too, which is a substructure part of wrestling

Wrestling has a rough time standing on its own feet without sheer violence. There needs to be violence in wrestling. It is so hard to tell a heated storyline without it. It is so hard for heels to cross the line without it. It is so hard for babyfaces to get sympathy without it. Violence is a key part of wrestling. Violence creates the adrenaline rush of testosterone, the core reason men from 18-34 love it so much.

Because of its combination of the fundamentals concepts and innovating concepts – Lucha Underground has created the adult-themed wrestling show wrestling fans have been wanting for a long time: a well-produced, well-direction, well-narrated show with robust, defined and relatable characters that have motives, with top-of-the-line wrestling that does not shy away from old-school psychology and storytelling and enough unadulterated violence to intensify conflicts with lots of tension and hatred.

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