Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Three Lucha Underground stars WWE should keep their eyes on

Lucha Underground is probably my favorite piece of weekly wrestling television. It offers a far more compelling narrative than anything WWE, TNA and ROH put on with a deep roster of talented stars and some amazing backstage segments shot with a filmmaker's touch rather than a stark old school wrestling producer's. But rumors are already floating that the company may be in trouble. El Rey Network doesn't have the funds to keep a 40+ episode a year weekly series going and the company's Spanish language partner Unimas is still on the fence about their investment. While the folks running Lucha Underground want it to continue for years to come, they may not be able to prevent Ultima Lucha in a few weeks from being their final show.

But even if that should happen, it is far from the end for the great talents that populate the Lucha Underground roster. Several new stars have made a name for themselves with the company while several older stars have reinvented themselves in new and exciting ways. But I just wanted to focus on three stars I think WWE should go after should Lucha Underground fade into the ether.

Image credit: Profights.db
Angelico

Folks that follow me on Twitter have heard me talk about Angelico more than once. He went from a complete unknown in the US to a name to watch through his actions on El Rey. The South African wrestler is the guy WWE wanted when they hired PJ Black, a charismatic young guy with a great look, a great accent and some of the most amazing wrestling moves on the Earth. He's got a daredevil style that would make Jeff Hardy blush and could easily fill the role Rey Mysterio left vacant in WWE. Plus he has the added advantage of giving many a fan some male eye candy. He has given Lucha Underground some of its finest moments, and I don't think the kick-heavy flyer has even got started in his Trios title run with Son of Havoc and Ivelisse. If Lucha Underground does expand into a second year, I expect him to get an even bigger push, but if it doesn't, I can only imagine every major American company will rush to hire him.



Image Credit: AAA.
Drago

Like Angelico, Drago is also highly active in AAA, which might make him a harder get. But WWE could make a lot of money by just keeping Drago's current gimmick in place. As a real life dragon taken luchador form, Drago has a fun gimmick that he clearly lives in the ring. He's got a natural in- ring charisma that draws fans in even if they rarely hear him cut a promo. With very simple booking, he could become a huge babyface star without ever having to say a word. Drago has 17 years of experience already under his belt in wrestling, but even at nearly 40 he certainly can move like a twenty year old. And heck, when you hail from El Inframundo, it isn't hard to draw a connection to other figures with a supernatural edge.


Image credit: Lucha Underground
Dario Cueto

My final name isn't an obvious choice, but he might prove to be the easiest get for another wrestling promotion. Lucha Underground made a smart choice by hiring someone outside the wrestling world for their storyline owner, long time but little known actor Luis Fernandez-Gil. But Dario Cueto is a character that oozes malice in his every move on every episode of Lucha Underground. He's a fun figure to hate and he has a dark past and a dark secret in the form of Matanza. Even if the role of Cueto disappeared with the show, I could see tons of positives if WWE could convince him to come on the road one or two days a week as the company's new authority figure. We all know The Authority angle is running out of steam, so it might be interested to have a new figure come in and take control to shake up the roster. His Hispanic heritage creates an easy way to bring in new luchadores to the promotion while his ability to easily play cowardly or manipulating open up a world of great story points for WWE.


So what do you think? Are these three names that you would want to see in WWE? Or are there other Lucha Underground stars that you hope to see even if the promotion fails? Let me know in the comments section!

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