Matt Cross Interview: MLW Return, Current Wrestling Landscape, Lucha Underground, More
Given your checkered past in Lucha Underground, what's it been like working with Cesar Duran again in MLW and what have you noticed are the biggest similarities between the vibe at MLW and what Lucha Underground was in its prime?
Cross: Yeah, it was great to see him again. He's just so talented and so amazing and I think he kind of brings you up to his level. A lot of us are talented professional wrestlers and he's a classically trained actor, so it's just a different dynamic. He's so good at what he does. It brings me back to that place, which was genuinely revolutionary. I think people almost realize or pretend to realize or are starting to realize, but I think we're going to have to be 20 years removed on a whole to really look back and say, “Oh my god, Lucha Underground changed everything.” There will never, ever, in my opinion, be something like that again. You had guys like Ricochet who had been given a WWE tryout and were told no. You had guys like myself who had been given a WWE tryout and were told no.
You had these rebels, these misfits, these unbelievably talented people with a chip on their shoulder and thought, “All we need is a platform.” We had something to prove. They threw us all together in an awesome temple and then, bam, we literally created magic. The recipe was, “We think you're some of the best wrestlers. Please go do that.” No one was micromanaged. Everyone was trusted to do what they do best. It seems like such an easy recipe and it was life-changing because you'll never again get guys that can be 10 years in and that frustrated, 20 years in and overlooked. Now you sort of get a buzz.
Again, you'll never get that same recipe to create that magic. That said, the spirit of that resides within me. That flame still burns. I was able to connect with that audience purely on work-rate and desire and sacrifice and that's a part of me. Lucha Underground just gave me a platform and I could regularly be seen. People connected with me and we helped to change the landscape of professional wrestling. Now, with MLW and that fire that still burns, now I have those eyes on me again. I still have that opportunity to connect with an audience and do what I do, so it's so cool to be able to carry that feeling forward again.