My Monday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was written from the Temple in Los Angeles and is a memo to Jim Cornette from his recent comments made about Lucha Underground. Here’s an excerpt:
LOS ANGELES — As I lean my head out a side door of the Lucha Underground Temple, I hear a chant, in unison, from 500 fans expressing the dislike for Jim Cornette and his comments made about the Wednesday night show on El Rey Network.
The long-time wrestling manager and promoter went on one of his profanity filled rants he’s become famous for in the latter half of his career about Lucha Underground not being professional wrestling. You can read the full transcript here at your discretion.
The line that sticks out to me from Cornette is “And it’s another nail in the coffin of wrestling to be taken seriously as a sport or anything that’s not completely predetermined.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. If it didn’t take place in one of the original Confederate states and the pace of the match goes up 5 mph, then it’s not real professional wrestling to him.
Jim, what year do you think this is?
The depth of a character like Prince Puma is too much, and we need to keep it simple with characters like the Dirty White Boy? Is this all part of your shtick and you just wanting to get a rise out of people? I sure hope so, at least you would have a profitable publicity explanation for what’s otherwise pessimistic ignorance.
Lucha Underground is a special flavor. Lucha Underground isn’t for everyone. ROH isn’t for everyone. WWE isn’t for everyone. It’s all a matter of what you’re wanting to get out of what you’re watching. I don’t think there’s anything out there that can satisfy Cornette because we’re in 2016 and everything evolves, unlike him.
The secrecy of the art and the expectations of the viewing audience isn’t what it was in 1985. It’s become part of the definition of professional wrestling to being a live theatrical encounter with athleticism. More simply stated, it’s widely accepted and acknowledged that outcomes are predetermined.
Having said that, professional wrestlers today still show respect to the industry with their performance in front of an audience. They’re not any less committed to their craft just because many of the secrets are out, but they understand you need to work different ways to get the audience lost in the entertainment and forget what they know. That, to me, is Lucha Underground.
More on Cornette’s thoughts and what’s so appealing about Lucha Underground to me—CLICK HERE
