What is Lucha Underground?
Lucha Underground is a new wrestling promotion and a TV show of the same name. The promotion is lucha libre themed while also including wrestlers from the US. Mexican promotion AAA (which stands for “AAA”), reality TV producer Mark Burnett and El Rey founder Robert Rodriguez are among those collaborating on the product.
The television show is a weekly one hour show. There are definite plans for more than that down the line, but those plans are well down the line. One hour a week is all they’re asking from you for now.
Where can I watch Lucha Underground?
Lucha Underground airs every Wednesday night on the El Rey network at 8pm Eastern. The El Rey network launched in early 2014 and is available on DirecTV channel 341 in SD. The channel is also available on some Comcast and Time Warner channels. The network’s website has a channel finder. (A HD version of the channel exists, but is not wildly available.) The show repeats on the weekends – originally Saturday mornings, now Sunday afternoons – and the previous episodes are shown before each new episode.
Lucha Underground also airs Saturday afternoons on the Unimas network at 4pm ET & PT. The Unimas network, formerly known as Telefutura, is a broadcast network with many affiliates around the United States. A partial list of those local channels can be found here. A national version of Unimas is also available on DishNetwork (271, 830, 831 HD), DirecTV (408) and many cable systems, although it may be placed into a extra priced Spanish language tier. The satellite/cable version is often taken from a west coast affiliate, so programs may be 3 hours later than expected (a 7pm ET airing instead of 4pm.)
The El Rey version of the show is primarily English, with Matt Striker and Vampiro announcing. The Unimas version of the show is primarily in Spanish, with scenes reshot in a second language (after the crowd’s gone) when feasible. Hugo Savonivich and Vampiro handle the announcing for that show, though Striker & Vampiro remain visible at the announce desk.
Univision has their own video platform called uVideos, and it does appear to have a section for Lucha Underground. Full episodes are posted sometime after the show airs on unimas, though you may need a valid cable/satellite login to access them.
As of 11/11, Lucha Underground & El Rey have not announced any plans to distribute the show thru the internet. There continue to be rumors of iTunes and Netflix/Hulu/Amazon distribution at some point.
There will be, of course, various less legal methods to watch the show on the internet.
Who is in Lucha Underground?
A mix of a couple former WWE wrestlers, current AAA wrestlers, and independent wrestlers from the United States. Some familiar names have new names and identities for the show. A list of the key onscreen players is available here.
There is a trailer introducing some of the characters, and the El Rey YouTube channel is rolling out a quick introduction to the secondary characters week by week.
The show is starting from scratch, it’s not expected you’ll know who most of the people are going in, and they’ll being bringing you up to speed.
Why should I watch Lucha Underground?
You’re getting on a Day 1 of a new group with big hopes and name brand talent. It does not have a years of baggage dragging it down. It has national TV in English; the only barrier to watching it is actually having the channel. It could be the launching pad for a lot careers and you’re getting to watch it from the start.
There’s also the idea that WWE is very stale right now and another wrestling program being on national TV might cause things to get better. I generally find most people who are concerned with those sorts of things are going to just stick with WWE anyway, but there are few things WWE has historically been more passionate about than stomping out competition. Supporting something else is as good a way to motivate WWE as any.
The simplest reason to watch is because they have a bunch of good wrestlers, they’re putting those good wrestlers in matches against each other, and they’re largely getting in the way. (I’ve put together a list of those matches here.) It helps me that there’s a bunch of people I’ve followed previously who are getting big chances here, but generally Like wrestling and this seems like it’ll be good wrestling so why not watch?
How do I find out more about Lucha Underground?
There’s not a lot of Lucha Underground info on the internet yet. Their domain redirects to their section on the El Rey network. They have an official Twitter account, @lucahelrey and Facebook. Both will help you find El Rey if you can’t find it yourself. Promotional videos for the show appear on El Rey’s YouTube channel.
The promotion is also running their own Twitter (@luchaundrgrnd), and tumblr accounts, under the gimmick of a superfan who goes to all the tapings and has managed to get the inside scoops on the promotion.
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You pretty much has everything cover. Great stuff
I didn’t know they tape so far in advance, thought the finale would be at the end of December. El Rey been promoting it hard on the channel, hopefully it gets decent ratings.
I don’t think El Rey will get Nielsen ratings until they clear Dish.
Unimas will have ratings immediately and I think we’re all hoping it performs well.
in my location im getting an hour episode Saturday night, November 1st on Unimas
The first show is still two hours correct?
Nope, one hour
Is the Unimas show in spanish?
Yea, that is the plan. Hugo is doing the announcing and Konnan said he did his promos twice, once in each language. Not sure if all were done that way and who else is commentating
I think Vampiro tweeted last week that he did some stuff in Spanish, but I wasn’t sure if he meant promos or announcing.
There’s a good possibility the show would be uploaded on Uvideos.com a website where Univision uploads all their programs the next day their air. They upload all show from Univision, Unimas, Galavision, The El Rey Network and other networks they own. They may upload them on here:
http://videos.univision.com/series/lucha-underground
Saw the Unimas…. they seem to be using the same voice (actors?). Sexy Star sounded wooddener in U+ but ought to get an Emmy from the El Rey version :p
Some commenting stuff, they either translated from the English version, or both had the same script, would rather have a more “natural” commentary.
Off topic- my old analog tv died some 4+ years ago, just got a new tv a few months ago, it seems Unimas programing is based around druglord dramas (no wonder the Colombian version of Breaking Bad got a “meh” reception)
The whole episode in Spanish is on Uvideos.com. You must sign in with a cable or satellite provider though. After a while (usually around a week) you will be able to watch it without signing in.
http://beta.uvideos.com/series/luchaundergorund
I was not impressed by Episode One. If I hadn’t read that the shows got better as the tapings progressed, I wouldn’t watch it again.
In Philadelphia, you get a 3 hour mostly Lucha block as LATV shows older matches from 3-5 ET, Unimas airs Lucha Underground from 4-5 ET and the 2 week old CMLL airs on Azteca from 5-6 ET, though sometimes they start at 4:55 ET, so being sandwiched between CMLL programming won’t hurt them too much.
UniMas running some of promos for LU tonight. Saw one on Contacto Deportivo and two more during the next show.
@LLL: Univision has been bringing in some of the wrestlers as guests. They’re getting good support. I have no idea what it means in terms of numbers but the network is making an effort.