JOHNNY MUNDO TALKS LUCHA UNDERGROUND, HIS RUN IN WWE, MORE
- 02/26/2016 (1:35:28 pm)
- Bob Mulrenin
…
Today Outer Limits Hot Sauce presents The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling
as they are joined by the true face of El Ray Network's Lucha Underground as the
enigmatic, Johnny Mundo is the latest star to chat with John and Chad. Formerly
known as John Morrison in the WWE Universe, Johnny Mundo has carved out quite
the niche for himself since departing WWE and as Lucha Underground continues
it's second season Mundo gives a great look into how the unique product of Lucha
Underground is an alternative to traditional pro wrestling.
Johnny Mundo Says Brian Cage Can Emerge As The Face Of Lucha
Underground:
John Morrison Talks Becoming Johnny Nitro & Working w/ Eric
Bischoff:
Being the face of Lucha Underground and what makes the difference in
creating a world outside of traditional wrestling:
One of the cool things about Lucha Underground is since day one everyone
involved has done a really good job creating a world that feels self contained,
free of some of the constraints that wrestling shows have. So being this larger
then life and somewhat supernatural world of Lucha Underground it feels as if
the characters are multi faceted and have more layers and depth than any
wrestling show. The characters are darker also and that accompanies the feel of
the production of Lucha Underground being almost like a gritty action film. It's
really cool for me to be a part of and I like that you called me the face of
Lucha Underground because I'm one of the only dudes not wearing one of those
funky masks.
The Temple being the key environment for the Lucha Underground
product:
I think so. I got the chance to work in the warehouse where we shoot
Lucha Underground a few years back while doing a movie with Danny Trejo and in
that movie we were shooting the warehouse and it was supposed to be beneath the
subway system in New York. There was no set then and at the time it was a really
dirty, gross, dingy warehouse and it felt like it was a good double for the
subways of New York and with the Lucha, it's still a dirty, dingy warehouse but
that is how it's supposed to feel and I feel like that vibe permeates "The
Temple" and it almost comes across through the camera the feel and the energy of
the place.
Seasons of wrestling being the next step for pro wrestling:
I don't know. I always felt that live wrestling is one of the coolest
things about wrestling. There are pros and there are cons to everything. The
look of Lucha Underground requires post production and you can't have a live
wrestling show in that way that Lucha does. As far as the evolution of wrestling
from my standpoint as a pro wrestler, the seasons are great. If there is a
season that means there gets to be an off season to recover and have a little
bit of a personal life which you don't get if you are working year round. It
also presents the option of both who will become champion storylines or who
screwed who to become number one contender. The options with the seasons of
Lucha Underground open up and have become like a TV show where we can have much
more personal history for each wrestler and between wrestlers and much much more
back story that can be developed and that is something that I feel people
watching Lucha Underground are really identifying with. Wrestling fans aren't
stupid, wrestling is a very sophisticated thing and this is the first time that
these layered characters are presented in this way and that I feel is the future
of wrestling.
How his feud with Prince Puma renewed his love for wrestling:
Prince Puma / Ricochet is I think athletically the most talented
wrestler performing currently. To be able to feud with him is amazing. It really
has made me passionate about wrestling again. Being apart of Lucha Underground
has given me the opportunity with King Cuerno and Phoenix, Son of Havoc, Helico
and a lot of the roster to think about wrestling in a way that I never did with
WWE. Because of that I feel like my idea of wrestling and psychology has been
affected for the better.
Looking forward to working Rey Mysterio again and their history together
dating back to MNM's debut in WWE:
That's one of those questions that is hard to describe with words. He is
one of the guys that when you are standing in the ring and his music plays you
get goosebumps. When I was in MSG and MNM debuted and him and Eddie (Gueerero)
were walking to the ring, I can barely describe the mix of excitement and
adreniline and a little bit of anxiousness and nervousness that washes over you
and I still feel that when I am in the ring with him. He is maybe the most
famous, well known "Luchador" of all time and everybody that has worked with him
praises his talent in the ring and just who Rey is outside the ring
too.
Immediately being thrust into working with legends like Eddie Guerrero
and Mysterio and being in awe of his position:
A lot of my WWE career you find yourself standing in the ring when Eddie
Guerrero's music plays or the Undertaker's music hits or Shawn Michaels music
hits and every once in a while you think, I remember watching WrestleMania's and
Summer Slam's with my friends when I was a kid and going nuts when that music
hit and now I am standing in the ring with Undertaker or here comes Eddie. It's
to me all about being a pro wrestler and having that be my life.
Advice he received from his tag team partner Joey Mercury and how
Mercury was a mentor of his:
A lot of times your mentors are people that are much older than you. But
Joey and I are about the same age and the only difference is he started
wrestling when he was 14 and by the time our paths crossed he was almost a ten
year veteran. His mind for the business of wrestling and the psychology of
wrestling even then was on another level. There was one TV taping that we were
at in OVW where he laid out his idea and Bill Demott dropped his papers and said
Joey you should just run this place and that was 2004. Being able to be around
that and learn from Joey and see what he thought about and learn from Joey about
telling stories in the ring and figure out the business of a match and working
for the pop. He used to use different metaphors and one was about a piggy bank.
Every time you crack open a piggy bank you start from zero and to build a story
during a match you are building a piggy bank and you have to decide when it is
time to break it open and get a reaction and the more full the piggy bank is the
more of a reaction you will get from the crowd. He had dozens of different
metaphors and analogies to wrestling like that.
Johnny Mundo also discusses his singles run in WWE, working as an actor,
what he loves about Independent Wrestling, What is next for him in Lucha
Underground and his favorite matches thus far in his career.
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