Lucha Underground Executive Producer Eric Van Wagenen Thought TNA Was Mocking Them With Final Deletion

– Lucha Underground Executive Producer Eric Van Wagenen recently spoke with Sports Illustrated, here are the highlights…

On Lucha Underground Being Different:“[El Rey Network creator] Robert Rodriguez did not want to copy anything,” said Van Wagenen. “His vision was to create something that had not been created before, and that turned into a post-production show that did not embrace the traditional ‘kayfabe’ and went full theater. Robert would rather fail trying something different than survive copying the WWE.”

On TNA’s Final Deletion: “I thought TNA was mocking us with ‘The Final Deletion,’” said Van Wagenen. “And that is not to criticize the Hardys. I would never take a shot at what they do for a living. My complaint was from the technical producing standpoint. If they’re going to take a page from us, I just wanted it to be better. There is so much editorial care that goes into our show— the editing, the post-production process, the color correction process, the audio design and the building of the music—that is not an easy thing to replicate.”