With its death-defying matches and cinematic style, the cult hit series Lucha Underground is sure to go down in history as one of the most influential wrestling shows of the 21st Century. Even though it only lasted four seasons, Lucha Underground presented a new, innovative way to showcase wrestling on television, and introduced English-speaking wrestling fans to exciting new talent like Pentagon Jr., Fenix, and King Cuerno, many of whom wrestle for promotions like WWE and AEW today.
In addition to featuring instantly recognizable talent like John Morrison and Alberto Del Rio, Lucha Underground boasts many wrestlers that you know now that you didn’t realize fought under the authority of Dario Cueto in the Lucha Underground Temple.
10 Luchasaurus
It’s tough to imagine a wrestler who owes more to Lucha Underground than Luchasaurus. In NXT he made sporadic appearances under the name of Judas Devlin until his release and played around with various ring names and personas (Austin Draven, Just Judas) until he showed up in Lucha Underground as Vibora, a member of the stable known as Reptile Tribe alongside Drago, Daga, Kobra Moon, and others. He brought the gimmick to the indies and started calling himself Luchasaurus, a persona that brought him to All Elite Wrestling, where he and his stable Jurassic Express are super popular with the fans.
9 Matt Cross
Otherwise known as “M-Dogg 20,” Matt Cross has been in the professional wrestling game for nearly two decades, appearing on MTV’s Wrestling Society X and WWE’s Tough Enough in his younger days and, more recently, wrestling for the newly rebooted NWA as well as in the opening match of the proto-AEW event All In, where he defeated MJF. But he got his biggest break wrestling for Lucha Underground as the Sons of Anarchy inspired luchador Son of Havoc, where he had a tumultuous relationship with his onscreen girlfriend Ivelisse -- that is, until Angelico entered the mix and they enjoyed a fun run as Trios Champions.
8 Sonny Kiss
Sonny Kiss, one of the few openly gay wrestlers on television, is doing great things for LGBTQ representation in pro wrestling. He may regularly appear on AEW Dynamite and AEW Dark, but before that, he showed up in the fourth and final season of Lucha Underground. Using the ring name of XO Lishus, Kiss had a feud going with Jack Evans as well as a couple of attempts to grab the Lucha Underground Trios Title. The best part of his stint in the Temple, however, is that the only difference between XO Lishus and Sonny Kiss is the name.
7 Chelsea Green
Before signing with NXT and becoming the star client of the Robert Stone Brand, Chelsea Green wrestled for loads of women’s indie promotions such as SHINE, SHIMMER, RISE, and Queens of Combat, all while also working under the name of Laurel Van Ness for Impact Wrestling. After leaving Impact, Chelsea Green showed up late in the fourth season of Lucha Underground as the villainous, spider-themed Reklusa. Affiliated with Marty “The Moth” Martinez, Reklusa is responsible for (possibly) killing Sexy Star with an army of spiders and took on Pentagon in the main event of Season 4, Episode 18.
6 Cheerleader Melissa
Debuting in 1999, Cheerleader Melissa is one of the seminal and influential women’s indie wrestlers of the 21st century. She still performs today, but on television, she’s often wrestled under different names and personas. In TNA she worked under the names Alissa Flash and Raisha Saeed (don’t ask), and in Lucha Underground’s second season she donned a mask to portray Mariposa, the butterfly-themed and frankly creepy sister of the equally creepy Marty “The Moth” Martinez. Together, the pair terrorized characters like Sexy Star -- until, of course, they eventually fought each other.
5 Isaiah “Swerve” Scott
One of Lucha Underground’s underrated wrestlers was Killshot, a former soldier turned fighter who was basically “what if the Punisher was a luchador?” It turns out the masked wrestler who had some brutal matches with Marty “The Moth” Martinez and Dante Fox (a.k.a AR Fox) was portrayed by Shane Strickland, indie high flyer who’s held major championships in Combat Zone Wrestling, EVOLVE, and Major League Wrestling. After leaving Lucha Underground, he would eventually sign with WWE in 2019, performing on NXT and 205 Live as Isaiah “Swerve” Scott.
4 Thunder Rosa
You may know Thunder Rosa from her appearances in World Wonder Ring Stardom or on NWA Powerrr where she unseated Allysin Kay for the Women’s Championship, but before that, she was the snake-themed luchadora Kobra Moon on Lucha Underground. Debuting in the show’s second season by defeating Bengala in singles competition, she would soon come to lead the stable Reptile Tribe, where she would hold the Trios Championship with Daga and Jeremiah Snake. She even brought the gimmick over to Women of Wrestling, originally under the Kobra Moon name before changing it to Serpentine.
3 Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, and Mayu Iwatani
Did you know Pentagon Jr. fighting all three pillars of top joshi promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom is a dream match that actually happened on American cable television? That’s right, Lucha Underground brought over Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani, and Kairi Sane (then known as Kairi Hojo) as the villainous Black Lotus Triad -- renamed Hitokiri, Yorei, and Doku, respectively -- and had Pentagon take on each of them in the same night. Iwatani still wrestles for Stardom, but Shirai and Sane were a heartbeat away from signing with WWE at the time.
2 Ricochet
In the early days of Lucha Underground, Prince Puma -- the masked wrestler from Boyle Heights -- was positioned as the main protagonist of the show. That is, until fans really took to talent like Pentagon Jr. and Fenix. You might be surprised to find out that Prince Puma was portrayed by Ricochet, the exciting high flyer who regularly shows up on WWE main roster television. At the time, Ricochet was still one of the top talents of the independent scene, showing up in promotions like PWG, Dragon Gate, and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
1 Jeff Cobb
A former Olympic wrestler representing Guam, Jeff Cobb has enjoyed success wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as indie promotions such as Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He even made a surprise appearance taking on Jon Moxley on an episode of AEW Dynamite. But his big TV debut happened years before on Lucha Underground when he portrayed Matanza, the carnivorous monster brother of promotion owner Dario Cueto. Making his debut in Season 2, he quickly captured the Lucha Underground Championship from Fenix in Aztec Warfare II.