8 Things Lucha Underground Did Better Than WWE

5. Spectacle

Angelico Dive
Lucha Underground

When it was confirmed that Shane McMahon was to do battle against Kevin Owens inside Hell in a Cell, certain sections of the WWE Universe rolled their eyes. It was inevitable that Shane-O Mac was going to jump or fall from the top of the cell. WWE thought it was creating a moment, but moments cannot be forced.

The same goes with the two separate murders of Braun Strowman in 2017. WWE has thrown away any goodwill it may have had, and these high drama bouts of movie-style entertainment come across as cheesy and lame. WWE likes to believe it is creating spectacles, but the reality is it is embarrassing itself.

Compare this with the major jaw-dropping spots from the three seasons of Lucha Underground. Granted, it is naive to expect WWE to allow something as violent as Killshot and Dante Fox’s match that was accurately billed as a Hell of War match, but that isn’t the point. Some of Lucha Underground’s most memorable spots were based on the athleticism of its performers, like Angelico’s daredevil leaps from the top of Dario’s office.

Lucha Underground frequently created moments that made the believers in the temple, wrestling fans who had seen everything before, jump out of their seats and put their hands to their mouths. Lucha Undeground created a spectacle, by accentuating the strengths of its performers and giving them the freedom to do what they do best - put on a show.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.