Lucha Underground Losing Massive Money, Season 4 In Major Doubt

Lucha Underground has been a very good program since its debut. It was a unique take on the world of pro-wrestling, and it has caught the attention of not just fans but people in WWE and TNA as well. They have managed to get into the minds of people there so much that the companies even met with Lucha Underground officials to see if they could have some sort of working relationship.

The program is run exactly like a television show, with wrestling involved as a blow off to the rivalries that happen in the ring. It is a unique take that gives fans something new and different. Clearly, that is going to be looked at. Most who have seen the show believe it is fantastic and it was even nominated for an Emmy Award. No other wrestling show can say that right now.

The problem is that in order to make a show as great as they want to, they have to spend money. They are not making a ton back either, which is an issue. According to the Wrestling Observer, Lucha Underground is in financial danger. Right now, they will have to raise money or sign better sponsorship deals to fund a fourth season. They simply do not have the cash to supplement a fourth season at this point, which makes a lot of sense.

They put a lot of money into the product as well as the talent. They reportedly offered Rey Mysterio a major deal alone, and he is not happy with them as the pay has not been coming the way he was assured. This is why there have been reports of him leaving them, as well as AAA Wrestling, due to financial issues with them.

Lucha Underground does have enough money to finish up Season 3 tapings, which are set to run through Mid-May. The plan is to have all television material finished through the summer of 2017 once those tapings are over with, which would be helpful for them. They are also trying to get a movie ready to go with the Lucha Underground crew set for 2018 at some point.

When it comes to the money end of things, the Observer claims they have lost “slightly less than half” of what TNA lost through ten years of operation. Lucha Underground did this in only two years basically, which is saying a heck of a lot for them and the money they are spending right now. A lot of it is money that they truly do not have. It is not a wonder why people like Rey Mysterio do not care for how things are being done financially.

What is interesting is that WWE reportedly met with Lucha officials in December of 2015. This was done to see if a working relationship could happen, but the report on this said that WWE did not come to an agreement with them and the meeting was said to have “not gone well.” Now that it is known Lucha Underground is suffering financially, a WWE could come in and supply money to the promotion to help them stay afloat. In exchange, we could see some talent from the company come to WWE.

WWE is going to be doing a Global Cruiserweight Tournament this summer, and Lucha Underground has a ton of people that fit the bill. There is a good shot that WWE can come to some sort of financial agreement with LU to help. What is so interesting is that tapings for LU will be done by the end of May, and the tournament for WWE starts in July. That said, it is not out of the cards for this to occur.

[Image via El Rey Network]