The Reason Why Lucha Underground Went Out Of Business, Explained
The pro wrestling industry has seen better days and currently, the business just sort of exists and goes through the motions day in and day out, without too much of a deviation.
The last boom period was over twenty years ago and while WWE is enjoying record revenue due to various television deals and the partnership with Saudi Arabia, viewership and tickets sales have seen a sharp decline for a number of consecutive years.
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The industry is in a slum and while Tony Khan and his promotion are doing well for themselves, the inclusion did not ignite a revolution as many had predicted. The overall formula of pro wrestling, the very essence of the sport, has gotten stale.
We Are Far Away From A Boom Period
That being said, sometimes, a novel inclusion into the pro wrestling culture captures the imagination of the fans but unfortunately, said concept fizzles out due to one reason or another. That brings us to the topic of conversation, a revolutionary concept by the name of Lucha Underground.
Die-hard fans of Lucha Underground still cherish the fond memories, but the more casual fans are unaware that the promotion even existed. Lucha Underground was certainly a thing and for a short while, said television series was a breath of fresh air and something to look forward to.
Lucha Underground was founded in 2014 and the first season ran for 39 episodes, drawing rave reviews from fans and experts alike as the programming was vastly different from what WWE had to offer. The program combined pro wrestling and soap opera genres as there was a lot of supernatural influence rooted in the storylines.
Some of the storylines were over the top and downright insane but regardless, the television series was well-received as the concept was a novel idea and the production team went all out, adding a bunch of special effects to add another layer of intrigue to the programming. The suspension of disbelief was almost non-existent but somehow, Lucha Underground worked. In fact, the series worked wonders for a short amount of time.
Moreover, the roster was not lacking in overall star power as many notable names took part in the series such as Jack Hager, Karrion Kross, John Morrison, and Rey Mysterio. Sadly, Lucha Underground could only manage four seasons and while the initial installment maintained good viewership, the subsequent seasons failed to capture the lofty exceptions set beforehand. The last season aired in 2018 and fans have wondered ever since: What exactly happened to Lucha Underground?
The promotion pretty much imploded from within as financial management was atrocious, and the company was bleeding green. A number of wrestlers ended up suing the company to get out of the exclusive contracts as the pay was pretty substandard and according to a former competitor, Sonny Kiss, the contracts were awful.
The median salary was around four grand per year and with the contract being exclusive, wrestlers could not sign anywhere else. The executives were looking to lock down the competitors but taking the salary into account, the wrestlers were bound to start up a riot.
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The entertainment value was high, but the revenue was always going to be an issue as the company did not host live shows. Without tours and merchandise, the only stream of revenue was advertisement money, and given the amount of effort and capital that went into producing the show, the formula was not sustainable in the long run. Those special effects were expensive, after all.
The Financial Side Was Poorly Managed
Lucha Underground quickly burned through the coffers and this left the company with no means of paying the employees. This led to many of the wrestlers suing the promotion to get out of their contracts and while this was going on, other personnel saw the writing on the wall, packed their bags, and went home.
Sadly, the once red-hot promotion died a quiet death and while there have been rumblings about an eventual season 5 sometime down the road, it might as well be called a pipedream at this point.
Lucha Underground was even more of a niche product than pro wrestling itself. The narrative and storytelling were volumes above what the WWE regurgitated on a monthly basis but without a truckload of money, this concept was never going to work in the long term. Moreover, the show was featured on the El Ray, and said television network was pretty obscure to begin with.
WWE could manage this sort of venture (No, RAW Underground does not count) as the company is a global brand with a lot of money to burn through but Lucha Underground was not going to remain on television for long.
