Easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever had the opportunity to do during any SXSW Film Festival was attending the Lucha Underground live event held at the Austin Music Hall. Packed with rabid Lucha fans, a palpable sense of electricity was in the air as Austin Warfare began, and not once did the action ever let up throughout the two-hour show.
The night kicked off with a Lucha-themed band getting the audience pumped and the first match of Austin Warfare was the excellent four-way match between Drago (who may have had my favorite mask of the night), Aerostar (who nearly destroyed himself during the match by jumping off the second-floor balcony), Son of Havoc, and Pentagon Jr., who took the win.
The legendary Vampiro came out next to cut a promo about Lucha Underground leaving “The Temple” for the first time ever to come to Austin for the 2016 SXSW Film Festival, which resulted in a few bodies being strewn about (the dude is just amazing), and he also set up the next match between Mil Muertes and Fenix, which ended with Fenix stealing a win and solidifying his shot at Muertes’ title.
An incredible women’s match also took place between Taya and Ivelisse that was every bit as physical as the guys’ matches that evening, and Austin Warfare was capped off by a six-man tag team match that pitted Johnny Mundo, PJ Black and Jack Evans against “The Machine” Cage, Prince Puma (who I have followed for a few years on the indie wrestling circuit under another moniker, Ricochet) and easily the most popular guy of the night, Rey Mysterio Jr.
I know I generally don’t get opportunities to cover wrestling—and quite honestly, it isn’t something we generally do here on Daily Dead—but with Lucha Underground taking their show on the road for a truly unforgettable experience, I could not resist. The action was great, everyone was in top form, and that crowd could not have been more stoked to watch these athletes perform. Just an incredible experience all-around.
Here are just a few stills from the Austin Warfare event!
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Lucha Underground can be watched on the El Rey Network. For more information, visit:
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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