Former WWE Manager Jim Cornette Goes Off On Lucha Underground Product

If you’re a fan of the amazing Lucha Underground product, you may want to keep that fan-hood under wraps if you talk with Jim Cornette. Cornette is known for being an old school type of guy. He has some good ideas, and has had some success as a booker, but he does tend to rub many people the wrong way in a world where things are changing a variety of ways.

He recently spoke out about Lucha Underground and their Season 2 debut on his podcast. He said the following regarding them.

“THIS F***ING LUCHA UNDERGROUND HORSE S***. THAT IS THE MOST HEINOUS HORSE S*** THAT I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. WE JOKED OFF THE AIR AND I SAID, “WELL, I’LL PROBABLY LIKE THE MATCH, BUT I WON’T LIKE THE CONCEPT OF THE SHOW BECAUSE IT HAS WRITERS… I DIDN’T LIKE NOTHING. THIS IS MORE EMBARRASSING THAN ANYTHING I COULD HAVE DREAMED OF. IT’S A TV SHOW. IT’S A MOVIE. IT’S NOT WRESTLING. IT’S NOT A SPORT. THEY MAKE NO PRETENSE OF EVEN ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THIS S*** BELIEVABLE.

“THE PRODUCTION IS INCREDIBLE. IT LOOKS LIKE SCORSESE DIRECTED IT. THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IS WONDERFUL. IT LOOKS LIKE A JOHN FORD WESTERN, WHATEVER THE FUCK. I CAN’T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE PRODUCTION. AND IT’S ANOTHER NAIL IN THE COFFIN OF WRESTLING TO BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS A SPORT OR ANYTHING THAT’S NOT COMPLETELY PREDETERMINED. THERE’S NOBODY ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET THAT COULD WATCH THIS S*** AND BELIEVE THAT THERE IS ANY LEGITIMACY TO IT WHATSOEVER. IT SHOULDN’T BE CALLED PRO WRESTLING AT ALL. IT’S A MOVIE AND THEY’RE WRESTLING IN THE MOVIE. THAT’S ALL IT F***ING IS. THAT BACKSTAGE HORSE S*** THAT OBVIOUSLY TAKES MULTIPLE TAKES TO SHOOT SOMETHING LIKE THAT. NOBODIES BELIEVING THESE PEOPLE. IT’S A SCRIPTED PERFORMANCE OF A MOVIE OR A TV SHOW. THAT’S ALL THAT S*** IT. [sic]”

What Cornette seems to be missing the entire time is that it is an open secret that pro-wrestling is predetermined. This isn’t 1975, Jim. Anyone watching is going to be in on the secret, and it is most likely going to be a hardcore fan who sees the product to begin with. El Rey Network is not one you’re going to happen across for pro-wrestling content. Even if you are, you probably already know it is predetermined.

The creators of the show obviously knew this going in. They didn’t want to insult people’s intelligence. They wanted to go in and basically tell you, this is a television show. We’re making it a television show with a live stunt performance to make sense of the story going on away from the ring. It is absolutely stunning from a cinematic point of view.

The wrestling matches are also very fun to watch, so the product in the ring is just as high as the cinematic part away from it. The product is very different from what we’re all used to seeing, which is why the internet wrestling fans seem to love it and discuss it as the next big thing. We like seeing when people do things different, and when it works, it really works.

It was so good, the promotion was nominated for an Emmy Award. This is the first time a pro-wrestling company got an Emmy nod. That alone is impressive enough for Lucha Underground, but on top of that they just told their crew that Season 3 will be going down as well. It is thought that the company might go ahead and film most of Season 3 right after they get done with Season 2.

Due to Lucha Underground being more of a television show, spoilers really do not matter. You want to watch because the experience of watching the entire show makes it fun. While Jim Cornette might believe the product is dumb, it is at least a watchable show from beginning to end. This is something a lot of companies can learn from right now if nothing else.

[Image via Lucha Underground]