"They didn’t want to spend the money to grow it" - AEW's Swerve Strickland discusses why popular wrestling promotion folded
AEW's Swerve Strickland has found his way in many wrestling promotions over the course of his career. In a recent interview, the star looked back on Lucha Underground and suggested that the promotion failed due to not investing in itself.
Lucha Underground was a wrestling promotion that first established itself in 2014. The promotion was known for its heavily scripted episodes that focused on cinematic delivery and even fantasy. Unfortunately, after four seasons, the promotion folded, even with the likes of John Morrison and Chavo Guerrero.
Appearing on Talk is Jericho, the AEW star detailed what he believes Lucha Underground wasn't investing in.
“It was growing in popularity, but I don’t feel like the studio wanted to grow along with it. They didn’t want to spend the money to grow it. We should have been touring with that roster. You can’t see those characters anywhere else. I feel like merchandising, they didn’t want to spend the money on that,” Strickland said.
I miss Lucha Underground. https://t.co/FBwR9wXdld
The star continued, comparing Lucha Underground to AEW, as both promotions prized creative freedom.
"That was another place where the creativity just flowed. They were so open to ideas. It was a little tricky because they can’t modify or change too much direction because it was written seasonally," the star noted. (H/T: 411Mania)
While Lucha Underground is no more, luckily wrestlers may still find creative freedom in All Elite Wrestling.
Need to catch up with the latest results of AEW Rampage? Check them out via this link.
The AEW star broke down the thought process behind creating his Lucha Underground persona, Killshot
During the same interview, Strickland shared exactly how he came up with the masked persona, Killshot, he had during his Lucha Underground run.
“I came up with Killshot, a military character and all the stuff. I was writing my character to be able to interact with other characters, and they liked that, so they took all of it and formed something. People really gravitated towards that character because it was a person. A lot of the characters were Mayan, Aztecan [monsters] – it was very fantasy," Strickland pointed out. - (H/T: 411Mania)
I just realized that Isiah Scott and El Hijo de Fantasma know each other very well. Swerve was Killshot in Lucha Underground and Fantasma was King Cuerno.
"I need that last SHOT"
#WWENXT https://t.co/C4wTl9PQYw
Strickland was eventually unmasked during his run, revealing his identity to the fans. But could fans see the return of Killshot to AEW? Only time will tell, as the star currently has no need to rebrand himself.