Heroes of Lucha Libre made their debut on October 1st, running at the Citizen’s Business Bank Arena in Ontario. I wasn’t originally going to make it out to the show, but I was curious about how such an ambitious undertaking was going to turn out. WWE held Monday Night Raw at the same venue just six days earlier, and only drew about 6,000 fans. There were some people asking if Heroes of Lucha Libre was going to be able to outdraw Raw with their on average lower ticket prices. They didn’t really come close.
I’d estimate the attendance to be around 2,500. The upper section of the arena, with tickets priced at $18, was mostly full in the center of the arena, with less fans as you moved away from the center. The more expensive floor seats were much more sparsely populated, with some sections having no more than five people. After the first match, it looked like a lot of people in the upper decks moved to the floor, as the upper deck became less crowded and parts of the floor filled up (some sections were still virtually empty).
The production values were excellent. The show had the most professional setup I’ve seen in years outside of WWE. It looked like they had a full video production crew filming the matches and airing replays on the jumbotrons. They also had backstage interviews that were shown and Mil Mascaras came out to join the commentary team at one point.
They used a six-sided ring, but it looked a little small with really large ring posts. The entrance ramp was as long as two-thirds of the floor. I should note that everything was in Spanish as well, so I didn’t pick up most of what was said in any of the interviews.
The setup at Heroes of Lucha Libre in Ontario. #LuchaLibre pic.twitter.com/PHMsKNMfF9
— SoCal UNCENSORED (@socaluncensored) October 1, 2017
Pierrothito & Demus 3:16 over Mini Rey Misterio & Octagoncito
Demus and Pierrothito were the rudo team in this.This was probably the most exciting match on the show. Mini Rey Misterio showed a lot of really flashy offense and I thought his interactions with Demus were really good. Oddly the rudos won the first two falls and that was the match. Off the top of my head I can’t think of the last time I saw lucha match only go two falls.
Mascara Sagrada & El Oriental over Pirata Morgan & Hijo de Dos Caras
Rick Knox was the referee for this. Buggy Nova and Laura James came out as valets for Mascara Sagrada. At one point Pirata Morgan was chasing them, and when they got into the ring Buggy and Laura took Morgan out with a double drop kick. That was really the highlight of the match. Oriental and Hijo de Dos Caras did the lion’s share of the work in this, though most of the match was brawling.
Canek Jr. & Fishman Jr. over Hurican Ramirez Jr. & Hijo de L.A. Park
They were really going after Hurican Ramirez Jr.’s mask in this, at one point pulling it completely off. Hijo de L.A. Park brought a trash can into the ring, and it was just a random trash can from the arena, not something setup in advance, so when he threw it trash went all over the ring, and you could tell it was a lot of food trash. Indio Mendoza was the referee for this (and the opener) and I’m not sure if he was playing heel or has just gotten slow, but his counts took forever. It seemed like this only went one fall.
Blue Demon Jr., Tineblas Jr., & L.A. Park over Trumposo, Sam Adonis, & Russian Hacker
Earlier in the show Russian Hacker cut the feed to a Mil Mascaras interview. Trumposo (who was “The Hardkore Kidd” Aaron Aguilera under the mask) came to the ring with an Ivanka look-a-like. Adonis had an American flag with Trump’s face on it. They got a ton of heat in this, especially when Adonis tried to sing the National Anthem. Alushe was with Tineblas Jr. of course. They did the spot where Alushe head butted each of the rudos in the crotch. L.A. Park managed to whip Adonis and Trumposo with his belt and did his normal comedy spots. There was tons of heat for this, but the match itself consisted of mostly brawling. It only went one fall as well.
With only four matches the show ended up lasting less than two hours once it started, and that includes the down time between matches and every wrestler being introduced separately. The atmosphere was fun, but none of the matches were really that good. I’m not sure where the promotion goes from here. They are going to have a hard time filling up that venue (though it might be a great place for New Japan to try and run next year) and there isn’t a whole lot of options for venues that are half that size that are easy access for families, which is a very important demo for this type of lucha show.
They haven’t announced a next show, but if they do run again and you are a fan of lucha and in the area, it might be worth checking out.
Alushe can do it all. pic.twitter.com/lUiLy4A0IM
— SoCal UNCENSORED (@socaluncensored) October 1, 2017
