Sam Adonis spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard ahead of the Heroes Of Lucha Libre premiere on Crackle. Adonis, best known for his work with CMLL, is one of the castmembers of the new show that was filmed during a live arena show prior to the pandemic.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that this production has been in the works for a long time, for the better part of two years now. It’s been a little bit of a secret, and when we were approached about this project it basically came out of nowhere. We were all contacted by a firm in Los Angeles and no one knew anybody, it was very secretive. They announced the first show at the US Bank Arena in Ontario, California and when we got there,” Adonis said, “every last one of us had our jaws drop to the floor because this project is massive.”
“I would say their production quality is that of, if not more than AEW, WWE or IMPACT. It’s just out of this world as far as presentation and production goes and these were pre-taped episodes, so it’s back when there was a live audience. I don’t know how familiar [this audience] is with Lucha libre, but Lucha libre fans are much more very passionate,” Adonis said, “almost like an ECW-level of energy. The episodes themselves came together really well and there’s been a lot of these TV tapings, and I just can’t wait for the world to see it because it’s completely different than anything else out there these days.”
Adonis talked about how Heroes Of Lucha Libre sets itself apart from “traditional” wrestling, noting that they aren’t looking to compete with WWE and really want to get an audience that’s more for kids like Marvel Universe Live! or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“We live in a certain wrestling bubble and follow certain protocols of what wrestling has been for all of these years. They told us from day one that they don’t want to be a wrestling company, they don’t want to compete with WWE or IMPACT or AEW. They want to compete with Ninja Turtles and Marvel, a brand for children,” Adonis explained, “and I think it’s important for people to look at it through those eyes. Not necessarily watch it and critique it like you would a normal wrestling show—you need to escape into it and embrace it [in the context]. Appreciate the characters and the storylines because it’s not necessarily about the people under the masks, it’s about what you’re watching and I think it’s so different than anything else out there right now that I really believe that this could be something special here in the United States.”
Heroes Of Lucha Libre is now available to watch for free on Crackle; check out our full interview at the top of this post.
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