Take the weirdest, most outlandish wrestling character you can imagine. They could be supernatural and spooky like The Undertaker, they could be an anxious millennial cowboy like Hangman Adam Page, they could even be a pirate who disappears for a couple of months and then returns to reveal that he is in love with his own sister, like Paul Burchill (that last one really happened by the way). Now imagine that character joins a brand new wrestling company, walks through the door of the locker room, and discovers that they aren't the strangest person in the room, but they are relatively normal by comparison.
The locker room they most likely walked into was the one inside The Temple in Boyle Heights, California, and the company they joined was Lucha Underground. Throughout the mid-2010s, Lucha Underground was quite simply the most insane promotion to have ever made it to a television screen. It took all of the athleticism of a super indie, the Grindhouse aesthetic of a Robert Rodriguez movie (who was also an Executive Producer for the show), and all of the wildest soap opera moments from companies like WWE, and injected that mixture with enough steroids and psychedelic drugs to kill a herd of elephants.
If all of that sounds like something that might pique your interest, you aren't the only one, as the company still has a loyal cult-like following to this day, despite its final season airing in 2018. However, it was the cast of characters that made people fall in love with the show, and that's what we're here to talk about today. So sit back, relax, and join us for another journey to Boyle Heights, California, as we take a look at some of the most bizarre characters in the wild history of Lucha Underground.
We start off our list in a place few people have ever gone before: space.
As of writing, Aero Star is a seasoned veteran with over 20 years in the wrestling business. He made his in-ring debut back in 2003 and would have the distinct honor of being given the final character created by AAA founder Antonio Pena before he died in 2006. The Aero Star gimmick in AAA was a lightning-quick luchador who had an aerial arsenal unlike any other, and had a habit of jumping off the lighting structure whenever he got the chance, making him one of the most exciting luchadors in Mexico at the time. Then he arrived in Lucha Underground, and his gimmick was taken to such an extreme level that he could be heard in his grave saying, "Oh Dios Mio."
Aero Star's journey in Lucha Underground started off in quite regular fashion, having a best-of-five series with Drago that would ultimately lead them to becoming tag team partners, but as time went on, it was clear that Aero Star had some sort of ability no one else had. That ability was that he was an actual astronaut, although some people saw him as a weird rocket-powered alien, and by the start of season two, Aero Star could legitimately travel through both space and time, ultimately landing him in a number of very bizarre storylines towards the back end of the show that saw some of his friends get possessed, and Aero Star himself becoming handy with a pair of nunchucks that glowed in the dark.
Sadly, these abilities remained locked within the world of Lucha Underground as Aero Star was not able to time travel when he appeared at WWE and AAA's World Collide Premium Live Event in June.
We've already mentioned Drago as his best-of-five series with Aero Star truly put him on the map in Lucha Underground, but his striking look made him a fan favorite from the moment he made his first appearance in season one. Just scroll up and look at that mask, it's a thing of beauty! The attention to detail is truly a sight to behold, and he came equipped with a set of dragon wings, as well as a tongue that was so long it made Gene Simmons interrupt a KISS concert and say "Oh Dios Mio" (probably). The thing is, Drago's look wasn't technically a look at all; it was real. That's right, Drago was an actual fire-breathing dragon.
Technically speaking, he was actually a dragon in human form who decided to become a wrestler because why wouldn't he want to become a wrestler? Those wings he had weren't for show either as Drago appeared in multiple backstage segments where he appeared to fly away off-screen, but just to make his matches a little more evenly matched, he would never use his ability to fly, and always succumbed to the laws of gravity whenever he did a dive to the outside. As for the tongue...one dreads to think what he did with it in his spare time, to be honest.
With all that said, Drago did find a lot of success during his time in The Temple. He is one of only six individuals to hold the Lucha Underground Trios Championship twice, teaming with Aero Star and Fenix for one reign before finding a group of like-minded creatures in The Reptile Tribe. Drago still wrestles today on the Mexican indie circuit under the infinitely cool name of Dios Del Inframundo, but he has since lost his dragon-like abilities to time.
If there's one thing that Lucha Underground was known for when it came to its storylines, it was death. You could be killed in the ring, you could be killed off-camera, or you could even be killed in the bathroom backstage if you ended up on someone's bad side. It wasn't exactly the safest working environment, but one man who personified the word "death" a thousand times over was the second-ever Lucha Underground Champion, Mil Muertes.
The back story of the man whose name literally translates from Spanish as "A Thousand Deaths" was a tragic one. As a young boy living with his family in Mexico City, Mexico, he was the sole survivor of a giant earthquake that hit the city and killed his entire family, but one person was there to help him: Catrina. She would be his valet on-screen, as well as his girlfriend, but like all great women in the modern era, she would be in control of her man at all times thanks to a piece of rubble from the earthquake that she carried around, which Muertes used to harness all of his power, and made him one of the most formidable names in Lucha Underground's first season.
After killing Prince Puma's mentor Konnan early on, Muertes himself was actually killed multiple times after losing a number of Grave Consequences matches to Puma and Fenix, but thanks to Catrina, he was able to be resurrected each time. That was until King Cuerno killed him for real in season four, and given Cuerno's gimmick as a hunter, Muertes was displayed in a big glass coffin as a trophy. Muertes still wrestles for AAA to this day as El Mesias, and even forced Alberto El Patron to leave the promotion after beating him at a recent event.
These days, the man formally known as King Cuerno in Lucha Underground has been unmasked for many years, and at one point in time was the man Carlito blamed for everything that went wrong in his life, other people's lives, and your life as well. Santos Escobar has been with WWE for six years at the time of writing, meaning that there is most likely a whole wave, or even a generation, of new fans who don't know what he was capable of as the big game hunter in Lucha Underground.
Cuerno was presented as one of Lucha Underground's major stars from the moment he set foot in The Temple. A no-nonsense killer who would hunt anyone in The Temple who looked to get in his way. He would collect luchadors like trophies, all while his trademark headgear, the head of a deer with a humongous set of antlers, sat on the ring post as a way to intimidate his foes. Cuerno didn't just limit himself to luchadors, as he would hunt birds (sort of), a big part of why his feud with Fenix was so critically acclaimed by fans at the time.
We've already mentioned that he claimed one of his biggest scalps in the form of Mil Muertes and displayed him to the world, but the scalp King Cuerno ended up taking in the long run was Lucha Underground itself. He was one of the main stars who sued the company over their contracts and how they essentially prevented him from making a living due to their restrictions, and once he was released from his deal, many others got out of theirs, and the company effectively ceased to exist by 2019 as nearly all of the roster moved on to work for companies like WWE, TNA, and AEW.
While Lucha Underground introduced fans around the world to several wrestlers who would go on to be some of the biggest stars in the industry today, there were a few familiar faces hanging around The Temple that older fans could latch on to. Two of those names were sitting behind the commentary desk as the two men tasked with calling the action were former WWE Superstar Matt Strikerand former WCW Tag Team Champion Vampiro. Striker was lucky enough to not get sucked into the shenanigans that went on in the promotion, and if anything, he got the chance to let loose when it came to his commentary style, but Vampiro was deep in the lore of Lucha Underground thanks to one man in particular.
WWE and AEW fans have seen Penta on television for years at this point, but back in Lucha Underground, he would routinely break people's arms in order to sacrifice them to his dark master, who turned out to be none other than Vampiro. This was revealed after their brutal "Cero Miedo"match at the end of season one, and from that point on, Vampiro would appear to push Pentagon Jr. to more and more violent levels, with the Dark Master getting more and more pushy as season two went on. However, when Penta failed to dethrone Matanza Cueto for the Lucha Underground Championship, he turned on Vampiro, which actually turned him face, considering how volatile Vampiro had gotten by this point.
Vampiro and Penta would reunite by season four after the former WCW star mentored Prince Puma throughout season three, but the idea of having a commentator be one of the most violent men in the entire promotion is just one example of how extreme and bizarre Lucha Underground could be at times.
Who would of thought that a fan who interfered in a match all the way back in season one would end up becoming one of the staples of the show, and even be involved in the final officially scheduled match in Lucha Underground history. Marty Martinez was originally brought to the promotion with the idea of being a magician, with his lovely assistant "Beautiful Brenda" by his side, but that was scrapped when Marty suffered an injury. This led to a change in direction for him, and it's safe to say that it was probably the best thing that could have happened to his career at that time, as The Magician became The Moth, and he was all over the company.
If you were to ask anyone who watched Lucha Underground what Marty "The Moth" Martinez's character actually was, most people would simply say "he was a massive creep who liked to torture women" and be very close to being 100% accurate. The creepiness of Martinez shone through during his feud with Sexy Star, who possessed one of the Aztec Medallions that went towards the Gift of the Gods Championship that he wanted because it had a moth on it. When Star didn't give it up, she got kidnapped and tortured by Martinez and his sister, Mariposa.
Later on in the show, he would develop an obsession for ring announcer Melissa Santos, and he even fought his own sister after she was pulled into the line of fire by Martinez during his feud with Fenix. However, this would all lead to success as he was the Lucha Underground Champion heading into the final episode of the show in 2018, but he would lose the title to Pentagon Dark, who then lost it to Jake Strong immediately after.
Long-time wrestling fans will know Paul London from various places. He broke through as part of the generation of indie wrestlers that made companies like Ring of Honor and TNA stand out in the early 2000s. He was then signed to WWE in 2003,where he would go on to have one of the most memorable Royal Rumble eliminations of all time, form a hugely successful tag team with Brian Kendrick, and look so happy about the fact that Vince McMahon was about to get blown up in a limo. From London returned to the Indies, where he would find success in places like PWG, but when he got to Lucha Underground in 2016, he became a shining example of why you should stay away from LCD and PCP.
London debuted in Lucha Underground during season three as the leader of The Rabbit Tribe. The promotion had a number of different tribes with various motivations, and along with Saltador and Mala Suerte, London tripped everyone out while he was on screen. He was essentially The Mad Hatter from "Alice In Wonderland" but with more psychedelic drugs running through his character than a version of Woodstock '69 where the only band playing was The Grateful Dead, and everyone who was allowed in had to drink a pint of acid and talk to a cow.
The tribe would consider iconic mini wrestler Mascarita Sagrada to be their God, but he would eventually be killed by London in season four by London after The White Rabbit, played by none other than WWE's Karrion Kross, ordered him to for bringing Sagrada to his secret lair. London would get away with murder, though as after a short-lived retirement, he returned to wrestling in 2021, and is still an active performer to this day.
Angela Fong has long since retired from professional wrestling, and is primarily focused on being a mother to her two children. With that said, if her kids ever grow up and ask about what she did before they were born, she would be able to say that she killed people on television and had a group of Japanese ninjas to do her bidding for her.
In Lucha Underground, Fong played "The Black Lotus," a woman hellbent on looking for a man named Matanza who supposedly killed her parents. However, Lucha Underground owner Dario Cueto convinced her that it was in fact El Dragon Azteca who was responsible for their deaths, something that was revealed to her while imprisoned by Cueto who was just trying to protect his murderous family. This led to Lotus killing Azteca and fleeing The Temple in the process, before returning as one of Dario's bodyguards, which he definitely needed as he was as wanted as the people he would go after.
As for her ninjas, they appeared in season three during her feud with Pentagon Dark, who tried to break her arm while facing El Dragon Azteca's top student, El Dragon Azteca Jr.. Together, they were known as The Black Lotus Triad, a group of Japanese women who Lotus had called in to help take care of Pentagon, and the reinforcements she called upon have all gone on to be some of the most dominant women in the industry. Those women were Hitokiri, played by former WWE Women's World Champion IYO Sky. Doku, played by former NXT Women's Champion Kairi Sane, and Yurei, played by former IWGP Women's Champion Mayu Iwatani, and together they actually did take care of Pentagon Dark by interfering in Aztec Warfare III, and beating him in a gauntlet match.
There's no better place to finish a list like this than with the family behind all of the madness: the Cueto family.
While we never got to meet any third cousins or long lost relatives, if they were anything like Dario Cueto, perhaps it was for the best that fans didn't get to meet the rest of the Cueto clan. Raised with an unhealthy desire for blood and violence, Dario used his money to start Lucha Underground, turn a warehouse in Boyle Heights into The Temple we all know and love, and let everyone rip each other limb from limb, all while he sat somewhat comfortably in his office that was situated about eight feet from the ring itself. Dario was actually killed at the end of season three by a hitman, who was later revealed to be hired by his own father, Antonio, who always saw Dario as the weakest of his kids, despite Dario arguably being more insane than his much more dangerous brother.
The brother in question was "The Monster"Matanza Cueto, played by a man who has somehow found himself in even more family drama since signing for WWE earlier this year, Jeff "JC Mateo" Cobb. Supposedly possessed by an ancient god, Matanza was the murderous, unstoppable final boss of Lucha Underground who Dario would let loose on all of the promotion's top babyfaces, before taking him back to his cage, where he had to be kept due to how dangerous he was, and how many people he had killed. One member of the family that fans never met was Matanza and Dario's mother, but that was due to Matanza apparently killing her when he was young, an action that came about after their father forced Matanza into various underground fighting tournaments.
