My favorite part of working with 'Lucha Underground' is learning more Lucha, combining that with my WWE psychology, and taking wrestling to a place we've never seen before in the evolution of wrestling.
'Lucha Underground' really is the first episodic professional wrestling show. There are storylines in every promotion, but the way 'Lucha Underground' is crafted really is more of a TV show than your traditional wrestling show.
'Lucha Underground' is the evolution of wrestling. It's high-style, high-flying, fast-paced hybrid style wrestling, and we're actually paying homage to lucha libre for the first time.
'Lucha Underground' is like a combination of Lucha Libre, American Pro Wrestling, and gridy action films. It's got a lot of things I like - action, wrestling, and really good storytelling.
'Lucha Underground' is a combination of new psychology, new moves, and a new take on wrestling: an evolution of wrestling. In my opinion, it is entertaining. It is the kind of wrestling I want to watch. It is the kind of stories I want to tell, which is why I intend to be part of it.
All the people who were on WSX Season 1 are the life blood of the alternative wrestling business, and now the mainstream wrestling business as well. That is what Lucha Underground is doing.
Wrestling ultimately comes down to what happens when the bell rings, and it comes down to athleticism, storytelling, and characters - and what we're doing in 'Lucha Underground' is the highest-quality wrestling out there.
I was just lucky to be there ahead of the curve to be the driving force behind bringing this amazing style of wrestling from Japan that combined Lucha Libre, American professional wrestling, Canadian professional wrestling and Japanese wrestling all into one beautiful mix that fans worldwide absolutely can't get enough of.
If you've never been to a live wrestling show, you need to go to one. To understand 'Lucha Underground,' you need to watch it.
Hopefully, when people watch 'Lucha Underground' and WWE, Ring of Honor, New Japan, AAA, and any other promotion out there, they fall in love with pro wrestling. Pro wrestling, as it affects pop culture, is bigger than any one promotion.
I've been pushing and training for Lucha Underground and AAA, as well as parkour and stunt training for my movie, and I've blended those styles together for my wrestling.
You go from Olympic wrestling into pro wrestling, and it's a very difficult transition, but if you make it, you can earn a great living while at the same time giving amateur wrestling a lot of exposure by being on TV every week. Fans know where you came from.
I go to Mexico quite often, and wrestling the Lucha Libre style, the pageantry - those experiences, you truly have to live. Television or social media doesn't do it justice.
Wrestling can be anything... There's some forms of wrestling that I'm not too big a fan of, but I'm not going to say it's not wrestling because it is wrestling.
There's a lot on my plate, but the cool thing is everything that I'm doing I'm really into. I love 'Lucha Underground.' I love Impact. I love wrestling every weekend all over the world.
Lucha libre culture was part of my wrestling upbringing. I'm Filipino, so it wasn't a part of my normal upbringing, but it's what gave me my start. I get a lot of my technical and high-flying wrestling from that.