Johnny Mundo: “There’s always resistance [towards Lucha Underground]” – Sporting News Interview Highlights, Plus New Film ‘Church’

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Mundo Taya LU S2E13

Johnny Mundo of Lucha Underground (also known as John Morrison and Johnny Nitro) recently did an interview with Sporting News! Sporting News does featurettes and interviews weekly with one prominent figure in pro wrestling. In this one, Mundo discusses the future of LU, the fanbase and its “resistance,” his recent film projects, and much more! Check out the interesting highlights and bits below. The full interview is available at the link above! Enjoy, Believers! (And fangirls.)

Regarding how Mundo feels about Lucha Underground Season 2 thus far, he said: “I think something that rarely happens in sequels is that the second of Lucha Underground is even better than the first. The people in front of the camera and behind the camera have gotten better, they’re very polished and the talent is literally one-upping themselves and competing with each other in a good way.”

Mundo also addressed the “resistance” towards LU, and how it can be tough to describe the promotion and show to those who have never seen it: “There’s always resistance. Jim Cornette did an interview about how he’ll never understand what Lucha Underground is. There’s traditionalists and longtime people that are mostly in the business that have the most resistance towards Lucha Underground. The way that I convince or explain to anyone what Lucha Underground is is to just say you need to watch it. It’s self-explanatory. If you’ve never been to a live wrestling show, you need to go to one. To understand Lucha Underground, you need to watch it.” AMEN!

He also discussed some of his new movie roles and other related projects: “Being able to do that stuff for me, personally, has added a lot to who I am in the ring as a performer. All the stunt training and the parkour training and the time that I’m putting in learning fight design an stunt choreography has been applicable to what we’re doing at Lucha Underground. And also just mentally, it’s good. If all you are is a pro wrestler, on some level you eventually become, I feel like a mindless drone. It’s tough man, if you’re on the road and you’re doing 200, 250 shows a year. It starts to take a toll on your personal life and who are you as a human. Ultimately, entertainment is about emotion and relating to other humans and if all you are is a pro wrestler, it starts to become hard to relate to people.” Ugh, Mundo. Making us feel the feelings.

Mundo is also going to be in another film, Church, along with fellow wrestlers Shelly Martinez and Maria. Here is an Eventbrite page for a meet-and-greet with the whole production team that was held this past March.

Photo credit: Lucha Underground

Kate witnessed the Litasault and has been hooked on wrestling ever since. She covers lucha libre and the independent circuit. She holds a B.A. from University of Maine at Machias in English, Art, and Communications, and assists at an indie publishing house in Maine.