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There's a gritty warehouse in Boyle Heights where masked luchadores throw down.The El Rey Network's Lucha Underground is a show featuring Mexican luchadores and ex-WWE wrestlers body slamming each other in the name of good and evil. It's filmed in an industrial warehouse known as 'The Temple' on Anderson Street near the 4th Street Bridge in Boyle Heights, KPCC reports.
Lucha commentator Vampiro told KPCC that American wrestling used to sell out baseball stadiums in the early 1900s. However, a notorious fixed fight pushed the sport into more a "carnival" or vaudeville style. These became popular at military bases near the border and Mexican promoters got involved with arranging fights. The masks caught on in L.A. due to a series of '60s films revolving around around luchadore El Santo. There was a bit of a resurgence at the infamous Grand-Olympic Auditorium until it was overshadowed by WWF in the '80s.
The setup sounds like something out of a movie. You walk into an abandoned, rundown warehouse and get plunged into a world of dramatics and violence. The warehouse was built in 1915 and was initially used to service trains, with tracks still lacing throughout. The added grittiness comes from production designer Kelly Van Patter (she also designed Survivor's Tribal Council), who scoured flea markets and scrap yards for set pieces. These pieces were either roughed up or painted to look older and grungier.
And for something a little more sensual, we of course love L.A. staple Lucha Va Voom, the show that combines luchadores with burlesque.
