Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Luchasaurus
Date: 05/23/19
Your Host: James Walsh

Join us as we welcome “Vibora”, the Luchasaurus who has been a lot of places including WWE NXT as Judas Devlin, Lucha Underground as Vibora of the Reptile Tribe, Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling as Luchasaurus, and a man who will be part of the Casino Battle Royal at AEW Double or Nothing as he looks to show who he is and what he can do on a national if not international scale and hopes to get signed to All Elite Wrestling!

AEW Double or Nothing takes place on Saturday night, THIS Saturday night, May 25th live on pay per view from the sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV! The only way to watch is on PPV and via various streaming platforms.

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LUCHASAURUS:

On taking part in the AEW Double or Nothing Casino Battle Royal:
“I’m really excited to be there. It is a huge event in wrestling. All eyes are going to be on it. I, honestly, have been preparing for a moment like this for the past few years to show everyone who I am and what I am about. I know AEW is going to be really good about letting everybody shine and show what they can do. Right now, I’m not really nervous yet. I might get nervous on the day. But, right now, I’m excited about showing everybody what I’ve been practicing for so long and what I’m capable of doing.”

On the unique Casino Battle Royal concept:
“I like it because I think it is going to open it up to allow us each to have some spotlight on us. Battle royals and rumbles, a lot of times the ring fills up real quick. So, 5 people at a time I think is part of the rules this year. I don’t know everyone who is going to be in it yet. I’m so excited to try some things that haven’t been seen before.”

On his hopes for AEW:
“Obviously, I’m hopeful it pans out to be something that can rival WWE. I think everyone is hoping for that – Some legitimate competition on American television. I remember watching WCW and WWE when I was a kid. Then, for 10 years, there was no competition. When I went and signed with WWE in 2012, I really felt it was WWE or bust and there was no wrestling outside of it. That is just the way it felt at the time. Then, this whole indie boom happened to where you could make a living outside of WWE. And now, this (AEW) happening… It is just a matter of everyone coming together and doing what WCW couldn’t do, I guess – Sustain a product that has some substance to it and has appeal to those outside of the wrestling community. I think this can cross over to the general public as well.”

On appealing to non-wrestling fans:
“I think it is about creating new characters. That is what I hope to contribute… Me and Jungle Boy have been working together and we filmed a little segment that aired on Being the Elite. That is a new dynamic that I think could bring in a lot of new fans and appeal to kids, teens, and people that don’t know wrestling that well.”

On reports he is signed to Ring of Honor:
“No, that isn’t true. I did do a tryout with them – I guess you could call it a tryout. They had the Future of Honor match in Vegas last September. I guess it went pretty well. They started bringing me in and had me working their shows. I had a good relationship with them and I still do. We never really talked about a contract fully. So, we’re kind of just seeing how it goes. My character doesn’t really fit into their storylines right now so they are kind of using me here ad there. And, I’m happy that we haven’t talked about a contract because I’ve had a few opportunities with Impact and now AEW is giving me the shot at Double or Nothing. That (AEW) is kind of my focus. That (AEW) is kind of the place that I’d like to be most.”

On the audience naming Luchasaurus despite the character being called Vibora in Lucha Underground:
“Yeah! The funny thing about that was I was really nervous. I hadn’t wrestled in about 2, 2 and a half years. I had left WWE, I had went and done a reality show (Big Brother), I was injured. I kind of went in as a tryout with Lucha Underground. I didn’t even want to go because I didn’t think I was ready. But, they said, “Hey, we have a character that we think you would be perfect for. Do you want to do it?” I was like, ‘All right, lets do it!” I was very nervous in the ring. I heard the crowd chanting something but I couldn’t tell what it was. I thought they were chanting, “You Just Started” like they thought I was bad… Like, they could tell I am a big guy who can’t work or wrestle. So, I go to the back and I said, “That sucked!” Everyone was like, “No! That was great! They were saying Luchasaurus!” I was like, “Oh, that’s cool! Maybe I could take that and try it on the indies, see what I could do with it.” At that point, I thought Lucha Underground was going to be a lot more sustained with shows season after season. I didn’t think it would go away like it has. So, then, it (Luchasaurus) kind of took on a life of its own and I began to add in my personal interests and things that I like as a person. It started to connect with people. If you don’t see it, you almost can’t get it until you see it.”

On his education:
“I talked about the fact that I have a masters degree on Being the Elite. The character itself is absurd but the fact that I have a masters degree is even more absurd. But, it is true! I have a masters degree in History. I specialize in 12th century European History. I did my thesis on 12th Century Romance Literature in Germany, France, and England. I started wrestling while I was finishing my masters program. I wanted to finish that before I totally committed to wrestling. It is funny because as soon as I was done with the degree, I got swept up by WWE. I never really got to do the indies like I wanted to. So, I went right from college to being in WWE. It was very dramatic life change there. But, that is part of the character. I consider myself an existential dinosaur. We’re going to get into that more on Being the Elite.”

On being murdered/killed off on Lucha Underground Season 4:
“Well, it wasn’t supposed to happen. What had happened is I had a match I was really happy with against Johnny (Impact) Mundo. It was kind of the culmination of everything I was working towards for 2 years between season tapings. Then, the next night I do a run in, freak accident, I tear my bicep getting clotheslined out of the ring. So, they had to cover. So, they killed me off. They were going to bring the character back if there was another season. But, it was really disappointing to be killed off right when I felt I was at the height of my career with Lucha Underground. But, it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my entire style in the ring changed after that and I started to incorporate what I do now which is more martial arts and I’ve become known for a lot of the kicks that I do. It has kind of set me apart a little bit. It is one of the reasons AEW is interested. I couldn’t really train the way that I had been training. So, I started kicking, learning the drills until I perfected it. It just opened up new pathways in the ring for me.”

On the injury that ended his WWE run and almost ended his wrestling career:
“Most of the time I was in (WWE) developmental, I was struggling with some pretty severe hip pain. You don’t want to say anything because you would risk losing your spot because there is so much competition down there. So, towards the end, I had a falling out with the coaches and I was ready to leave anyway. I got it checked out. It turned out I had a torn hip labral but also I had torn my abdominal muscles on both sides. So, they had to reconstruct that area, shave down my femur, fix the whole socket. There was a lot of arthritis in there. After a year, there was still a lot of pain. I was still training. But, I wasn’t wrestling. The doctors said, “You might want to consider retiring because you might have arthritis the rest of your life and you may have to have a hip replacement.” At that point, I had the opportunity to do the reality show and get out of my (WWE) contract. I did that. After that was over, I started to go back and did my own research. After I fiinished all that, I went back and started to rehab my hip with my own research. I was able to fully fix my hip. The hip is totally medically cleared. There is no problem. Right now, I’m probably more healthy than I was in WWE Developmental 8 years ago which is crazy.”

On what he learned from WWE Developmental that he still uses:
“How to navigate political waters a little better, maybe. (laughs) It is funny. Everything I was doing back then, I don’t do any of it anymore. I learned some things about timing. There was a lot of veterans that you could learn from and talk. But, it wasn’t until I stopped learning wrestling and started to just be me with a character I created that I kind of found myself. So, after I learned all the basics of wrestling and you learn all that really quickly in developmental, you have to get to the next level and you have to figure that out on your own. That is why you see, a lot of times in NXT, most of the guys that are successful are from the indies and a lot of the guys that are home grown have a hard time finding themselves because it is really hard, when you’re being cut out of a factory, to do that.”

On if there will be a Lucha Underground Season 5:
“For the most part, everyone has given up hope that there is going to be another season. If people ask for their release, they are releasing them from their contracts. I was only contracted through Season 4. I don’t think I would be a part of it if it did happen because I’ve moved on to other things. I don’t expect it. But, you never can say never in this business.”

On his final thoughts heading into AEW Double or Nothing:
“Luchasaurus is going to show the world that life finds a way.”