Lucha Underground (season 2)
Lucha Underground (season 2) |
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Official poster for season two |
Country of origin |
United States of America |
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No. of episodes |
26 |
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Release |
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Original network |
El Rey Network |
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Original release |
January 27 (2016-01-27) – July 20, 2016 (2016-07-20) |
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The second season of Lucha Underground, a Lucha libre or professional wrestling television show, began on January 27, 2016 and is broadcast on the El Rey Network in the United States. The show chronicles events that take place in the "Lucha Underground Temple". The producers behind Lucha Underground announced that the second season was a reality on September 21.[1] Unlike the first season the second season of Lucha Underground was not picked up by UniMás and thus not broadcast in Mexico. The first episode was taped on November 15, 2015 in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California.
Plot overview
At the beginning of season two, Lucha Underground Temple owner Dario Cueto (Luis Fernandez-Gil) has been absent from the Temple since the end of season 1 and Catrina (Karlee Perez) has taken charge of the temple, leaving it a "much darker place" as Matt Striker comments during the opening scene. Under her management Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes (Gilbert Cosme) and Lucha Underground Trios Champions the Disciples of Death control the operation. In their quest to control everything Catrina hires King Cuerno to take the Gift of the Gods Championship from Fénix. Fénix defeated Mil Muertes to win the championship, only for Catrina to force him to defend the title during Aztec Warfare II. During the match Cueto returns to the temple, unleashing his brother Matanza on the temple, winning the Lucha Underground Championship in the process. Over the next few weeks, running alongside a tournament for the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, The Monster Matanza Cueto would go on to easily dispatch top technicos in the promotion like Pentagon Jr. and Fenix.[2] Matanza's first real challenge came in the form of the former Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes. In their initial encounter, Mil Muertes delivered his finisher, the flatliner, to the Monster which sent both monsters through the roof of Dario Cueto's office. This put both monsters out of commission for several weeks and gave the crowd something that's rare in Lucha Underground, a no-contest finish.[3]
Cast and crew
Episodes
Reception
Critical Reception
Lucha Underground's second season has received a polarized reception critically compared to the first, with more fans and professional wrestling media outlets aware of the product in its sophomore season. Loyal Lucha Underground fans have commended its storytelling and match quality, as well as its portrayal of women's wrestling, which some consider to be revolutionary while others remain uncomfortable with the concept of women wrestling men (particularly when the male opponent is a much larger and more powerful fighter, cf., Taya vs Cage)[7] At Prowrestling.net, journalists Will Pruett and John Moore who were huge proponents of Lucha Underground's initial direction have criticized the second part of Season 2 as being both deflating and unorganized. Will Pruett in particular has stated that "Where Lucha Underground failed in 2016 was their storytelling. They didn’t support these great matches and moments wrestlers created in The Temple. They didn’t honor the experiences they wanted fans to have. The structure of the show felt fragmented, with far fewer episodes naturally leading into the next."[8] PwTorch.com contributor Joel Dehnel has praised Lucha Underground for being "capable of doing some really great things" but "They are going to the well too many times in these matches with having no rules and high spots in the crowd that ultimately lead to nothing." He also stated that "they have gotten away far too many times with stories that make no sense and matches that are about entertaining the fans instead of telling a great story through visuals."[9]
Ratings
Episode |
First run viewership |
Repeat viewership |
Change from previous |
Ref(s) |
s2e1 |
130,000 | 105,000 | n/a | [10] |
s2e2 |
125,000 | 76,000 | -6% | [11] |
s2e3 |
136,000 | 81,000 | +8% | [12] |
s2e4 |
152,000 | 52,000 | +6% | [13] |
s2e5 |
99,000 | 62,000 | -21% | [14] |
s2e6 |
124,000 | 63,000 | +16% | [15] |
s2e7 |
95,000 | 41,000 | -27% | [16] |
s2e8 |
100,000 | 57,000 | +15% | [17] |
s2e9 |
163,000 | 69,000 | +48% | [18] |
s2e10 |
159,000 | 63,000 | -4% | [19] |
s2e11 |
156,000 | 78,000 | +5% | [20] |
s2e12 |
139,000 | 66,000 | -12% | [21] |
s2e13 |
149,000 | 49,000 | -3% | [22] |
s2e14 |
107,000 | 52,000 | -20% | [23] |
s2e15 |
138,000 | 42,000 | +12% | [24] |
s2e16 |
96,000 | 42,000 | -2% | [25] |
s2e17 |
127,000 | 37,000 | -7% | [26] |
s2e18 |
114,000 | 68,000 | +11% | [27] |
s2e19 |
111,000 | 40,000 | -17% | [28] |
s2e20 |
85,000 | 61,000 | -3% | [29] |
s2e21 |
89,000 | 39,000 | -12% | [30] |
s2e22 |
104,000 | 62,000 | +30% | [31] |
s2e23 |
116,000 | 103,000 | +32% | [32] |
s2e24 |
104,000 | 39,000 | -35% | [33] |
s2e25 |
108,000 | 56,000 | +14.7% | [34] |
s2e26 |
180,000 | 43,000 | +8% | [35] |
References
- ↑ "Believers, are you ready? #LuchaUnderground season 2 is coming in 2016!". Twitter. September 21, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
- ↑ Moore, John. "4/6 Moore's Lucha Underground TV Review: Matanza Cueto vs. Fenix for the Lucha Underground Title, Prince Puma says his first words, Sexy Star strikes back – Pro Wrestling Dot Net". prowrestling.net. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ↑ Moore, John (April 20, 2016). "4/20 Moore's Lucha Underground TV Review: Matanza Cueto vs. Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Championship, The Disciples of Death vs. Fenix, Jack Evans, and PJ Black, AeroStar vs. Drago for an Aztec Medallion – Pro Wrestling Dot Net". prowrestling.net. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
- ↑ Peeples, Jeremy (January 27, 2016). "Lucha Underground Results: Season 2 Kicks off with an Intergender word title match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- ↑ Dehnel, Joel (January 27, 2016). "1/27 Lucha Underground Report - Season 2 returns with LU Title match, new champion, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- ↑ Peeples, Jeremy (March 24, 2016). "Lucha Underground Results: Rey Mysterio, Matanza debut at fun Aztec Warfare II". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ↑ Alexandra Irving. "Masks Not Mascara: Lucha Underground Revolutionizing Women's Wrestling | Bleacher Report". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "Pruett's Blog: Falling out of love with Lucha Underground – What went so wrong with season two? – Pro Wrestling Dot Net". prowrestling.net. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ↑ "7/20 Lucha Underground Results - Dehnel's Report on "Ultima Lucha Dos" conclusion - Rey Mysterio vs. Prince Puma, LU Title match, new Trios champs -". 2016-07-21. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (February 2, 2016). "1/27 Lucha Underground Season Premiere viewers & DVR Update". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (February 11, 2016). "2/3 Lucha Underground Viewers & DVR Update". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (February 11, 2016). "2/10 Lucha Underground Viewers – Week 3 matches season premiere". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (February 18, 2016). "2/17 Lucha Underground Viewers – Week 4 up & down". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (February 25, 2016). "2/24 Lucha Underground Viewers – big tumble following Impact". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (March 3, 2016). "3/2 Lucha Underground Viewership – Week 6 rebounds, but ranks #2 least-watched". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (March 10, 2016). "3/9 Lucha Underground Viewers – Week 7 falls to 2016 low-point". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (March 17, 2016). "3/16 Lucha Underground Viewers – improvement from year-low". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ↑ Caldwell, James (March 24, 2016). "3/23 Lucha Underground viewers – audience surges 48 percent for Rey & Aztec Warfare". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ↑ "3/30 Lucha Underground Viewers - Audience ranks #2 behind last week's record show -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "4/6 Lucha Underground Viewers - new total audience record -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "4/13 Lucha Underground Viewers - Streak snapped, but remains above average -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "4/20 Lucha Underground Viewership - mixed bag result -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "4/27 Lucha Underground viewership falls 20 percent -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "5/4 Lucha Underground Viewership - rebound from last week, mixed bag overall -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "5/11 Lucha Underground Viewership - big shift in how LU arrived at nearly same audience as last week -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "5/18 Lucha Underground Viewership - mixed bag performance -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "5/25 Lucha Underground Viewership - most total viewers in one month -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "6/1 Lucha Underground Viewership - Wed. show falls to three-month low -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "6/8 Lucha Underground viewers - was LU affected by the "NXT Takeover" special? -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "6/15 Lucha Underground Viewers - how did the one-match show fare? -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "6/22 Lucha Underground TV viewers - most total viewers in one month -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "6/29 Lucha Underground Viewers - big surge in this week's audience on El Rey Network -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "7/6 Lucha Underground Viewers - "Ultima Lucha Dos" off to slow start -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "7/13 Lucha Underground Viewers - Week 2 of "Ultima Lucha Dos" improves, plus DVR audience -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ↑ "7/20 Lucha Underground Viewership - Audience for "Ultima Lucha Dos" conclusion -". pwtorch.com. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
External links
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Championships | |
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Seasons | |
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Miscellaneous | |
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Partnerships | |
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