Lucha Underground Championship

The Lucha Underground Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship[1] owned by the Lucha Underground. The championship is the top championship of the promotion and is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than in direct competition.[2] The championship was introduced in episode 8 ("A Unique Opportunity") taped on October 4, 2014, and broadcast on December 17, 2014, with the first champion being determined on episode 9 ("Aztec Warfare") which was taped on October 5, 2014, and broadcast on television on January 7, 2015. The final champion was Jake Strong, who won the title on the last episode of Lucha Underground.

Lucha Underground Championship
Lucha Underground Championship belt
(2014 — 2018)
Details
PromotionLucha Underground
Date establishedOctober 5, 2014
Date retiredNovember 7, 2018

As it was a professional wrestling championship, the championship was not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers.[lower-alpha 1] On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline,[lower-alpha 2] or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship,[lower-alpha 3] or leaving the company.[lower-alpha 4]

History

During Episode 8 ("A Unique Opportunity") of Lucha Underground's first season the storyline owner of Lucha Underground, Dario Cueto, announced that he was introducing the "top prize" in the promotion, the Lucha Underground Championship, revealing the belt to the audience in the arena and viewers at home. He explained that on the following week's show 20 wrestlers would compete in an Aztec Warfare match, featuring a mixture of male, female and Mini-Estrella competitors in the ring at the same time.[7] During episode 8 Mil Muertes defeated Fénix in a match, earning him the number 20 spot, while forcing Fénix to be the first man in the match.[7] Episode 9 ("Aztec Warfare") was dedicated to the championship match and saw Prince Puma pin Johnny Mundo to eliminate him from the match and become the inaugural Lucha Underground Champion.[8][9][10] During the broadcast a couple weeks later ("They Call Him Cage") after Puma defeated Cage by disqualification to retain the championship, Cage tore the championship belt apart in a fit of anger, ripping the leather strap in half.[11] As a result, Dario Cueto introduced a new Lucha Underground Championship belt in Episode 20 ("The Art of War") that was presented to Prince Puma.[12]

Prince Puma retained his championship in many matches for the title against Fénix, Cage, King Cuerno, Drago, Hernandez, Johnny Mundo, and Chavo Guerrero Jr.

On Episode 31 ("The Desolation of Drago") Drago defeated King Cuerno, Cage and Hernandez to earn a match against Prince Puma at Ultima Lucha, Lucha Underground's season finale. Afterwards Cueto announced that Drago would face Mil Muertes on episode 33 for the right to challenge the champion.[13] Episode 33 was taped on April 11, 2015 and had Muertes defeat Drago to earn the match against Prince Puma.[14] At Ultima Lucha Mil Muertes defeated Prince Puma to win the title and end the last episode of the first season as the champion.

Reigns

Overall, Prince Puma and Pentagón Dark hold the record for most reigns, with two. With 622, Pentagón Dark's first reign is the longest in the title's history. Puma's second reign, Pentagón's second reign, and Jake Strong's first reign hold the record for shortest reign in the title's history at less than one day. Overall, there have been 11 reigns shared among 9 wrestlers, with 0 vacancies.

Title history
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
N/A Unknown information
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Prince Puma October 5, 2014 Lucha Underground Boyle Heights, California 1 196 This was a 20–man elimination Aztec Warfare match. Prince Puma lastly eliminated Johnny Mundo to become the inaugural champion. This episode aired on tape delay on January 7, 2015. [15]
2 Mil Muertes April 19, 2015 Ultima Lucha 1 Boyle Heights, California 1 217 This episode aired on tape delay on August 5, 2015. [16]
3 Fénix November 22, 2015 Lucha Underground Boyle Heights, California 1 20 Cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Muertes. This episode aired on tape delay on March 16, 2016. [17]
4 Matanza Cueto December 12, 2015 Aztec Warfare II Boyle Heights, California 1 119 This was a 21–man elimination Aztec Warfare match. Matanza lastly eliminated Rey Mysterio Jr. to win the championship. This episode aired on tape delay on March 23, 2016. [18]
5 Sexy Star April 9, 2016 Aztec Warfare III Boyle Heights, California 1 1 This was an Aztec Warfare match. Sexy Star lastly eliminated Mil Muertes to win the championship. This episode aired on tape delay on November 16, 2016. [19]
6 Johnny Mundo April 10, 2016 Lucha Underground Boyle Heights, California 1 77 Cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star. Aired on tape delay on November 23, 2016. [20]
7 Prince Puma June 26, 2016 Ultima Lucha Tres Boyle Heights, California 2 <1 This was a Career vs. Title match. This episode aired on tape delay on October 18, 2017. [21]
8 Pentagón Dark June 26, 2016 Ultima Lucha Tres Boyle Heights, California 1 622 Cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Prince Puma. This was a "Loser Must Retire" match. This episode aired on tape delay on October 18, 2017. [21]
9 Marty The Moth March 10, 2018 Lucha Underground Los Angeles, California 1 8 Cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Pentagón Dark. This episode aired on tape delay on September 19, 2018. [22]
10 Pentagón Dark March 18, 2018 Ultima Lucha Cuatro Los Angeles, California 2 <1 This episode aired on tape delay on November 7, 2018. [23]
11 Jake Strong March 18, 2018 Ultima Lucha Cuatro Los Angeles, California 1 <1 Cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Pentagón Dark. This episode aired on tape delay on November 7, 2018. [23]
— March 18, 2018 — — Date of the last Lucha Underground show

List of combined reigns
Rank Team No. of
reigns		 Combined
days
1 Pentagón Dark 2 622
2 Mil Muertes 1 217
3 Prince Puma 2 196
4 Matanza Cueto 1 119
5 Johnny Mundo 1 77
6 Fénix 1 20
7 Marty the Moth 1 8
8 Sexy Star 1 1
9 Jake Strong 1 <1
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See also

Footnotes
  1. Hornbaker (2016) p. 550: "Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win/loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities – but on now much, or how little they were pushed by promoters"[3]
  2. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 271, Chapter: Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [World Class, Adkisson] "Championship held up and rematch ordered because of the interference of manager Gary Hart"[4]
  3. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 20, Chapter: (United States: 19th Century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IW, ECW, NWA) NWA/WCW TV Title "Rhodes stripped on 85/10/19 for not defending the belt after having his leg broken by Ric Flair and Ole & Arn Anderson"[5]
  4. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 201, Chapter: (Memphis, Nashville) Memphis: USWA Tag Team Title "Vacant on 93/01/18 when Spike leaves the USWA."[6]

References
  • Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling - 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York, New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.
  • Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  1. "Lucha Underground on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved July 16, 2020. A look at #LuchaUnderground World Champion Johnny Mundo ...
  2. Ed Grabianowski. "How Pro Wrestling Works". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  3. Hornbaker 2016, p. 550.
  4. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 271.
  5. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 20.
  6. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 201.
  7. "A Unique Opportunity". Lucha Underground. Season 1. Episode 8. December 17, 2014. El Rey Network (US), UniMás (MX).
  8. "Aztec Warfare". Lucha Underground. Season 1. Episode 9. January 7, 2015. El Rey Network (US), UniMás (MX).
  9. Johnson, Mike (October 5, 2014). "Lucha Underground spoiler". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  10. Dehnel, Joel (January 8, 2015). "Dehnel's Lucha Underground report 1/7: First Lucha Underground champion determined in Aztec Warfare". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  11. "They Call Him Cage". Lucha Underground. Season 1. Episode 12. January 28, 2015. El Rey Network (US), UniMás (MX).
  12. "The Art of War". Lucha Underground. Season 1. Episode 20. March 25, 2015. El Rey Network (US), UniMás (MX).
  13. "The Desolation of Drago". Lucha Underground. Season 1. Episode 31. June 10, 2015. El Rey Network (US), UniMás (MX).
  14. Boutwell, Josh (April 18, 2015). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly for 4/18/15". WrestleView.
  15. "Lucha Underground Spoiler".
  16. Boutwell, Josh (April 26, 2015). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly for 4/26/15". Wrestleview. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  17. "Lucha Underground Season 2 Episode 8 Taping". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  18. "Lucha Underground TV taping results 12/12: Aztec Warfare match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  19. "Big Lucha Underground Aztec Warfare 3 spoiler". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  20. Meltzer, Dave (April 18, 2016). "April 18, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Blackjack Mulligan and Balls Mahoney pass away, NJPW Invasion Attack review, plus tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 35. ISSN 1083-9593.
  21. Meltzer, Dave (July 4, 2016). "July 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: NJPW G1 tournament preview, Ali vs. Inoki anniversary, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 28–29. ISSN 1083-9593.
  22. "SPOILERS: Lucha Underground Tapings For 3/10 & 3/11: BIG Title Change".
  23. "Major Spoilers For Lucha Underground Season 4; Top Star Sacrificed to the Gods & New Champions Crowned". ProWrestling.com. March 29, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
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