Mexican Wrestling on MTV2?

Since mid-July, MTV has been airing “Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors,” which is designed to incorporate the culture and styles of Mexican wrestling and its stars, such as Lizmark Jr., Super Nova and Magno, with American talent the likes of Mark Jindrak, John Hugger and T.J. “Puma” Perkins into a high-flying wrestling bonanza.

The end result however is a haphazard one, courtesy of several small problems, which hamper the overall solid wrestling action.

For one, many of the stars of the company, including Lizmark Jr., Jindrak [now Marco Corleone ] and Hugger [now the masked Relik] are athletes that many hardcore wrestling fans will remember as guys that could never cut it in the States for very long. Lizmark Jr. was a jobber cruiserweight during the late years of WCW, while Jindrak and Hugger were youngsters that were pushed too fast in WCW and were never able to make good on their promise in the WWE, Japan or TNA. Nevertheless, all of these guys are capable in the ring, and perhaps a chance in the spotlight is what they need to finally hit it big in the United States.

The only talent that company has who many Americans will remember super-positively is Perkins, whose tours of TNA as the masked Puma were all highly successful and showcased him as an elite X-Division performer. Seeing this kid go is a huge treat to say the very least.

Troubled former WWE Superstar Carlito Colon is supposed to be on the show as well, but has yet to appear. With his release from the WWE, Colon could use a fresh start with a new company, but his inclusion here seems more like a stop before he heads to TNA or somewhere else than can truly showcase him.

Aside from Perkins AKA Sydistiko, the rest of the in-ring product is solid, but is nothing to call home about. The Mexican rules have already come into play over the course of the first two episodes, as one match was decided after a referee believed a rudo [heel] pulled the mask off of a technico [face]. This could give the show a cool blend, but again, so far, it hasn’t done much to make the product feel different. Aside from this, overall, in spite of some fast-paced action, the wrestling here isn’t as solid as what is seen on the WWE and a far cry from anything on TNA. If that wasn’t enough, many of the camera angles and a shoddy set make you feel like you’re watching an inferior product as well. If these things don’t change and soon, this show won’t be on for very long.

Competition is always good for business and the WWE needs as much as it could get, but with Jindrak as their main star and so-so production values, how long can this show last?

As well, with such a small amount of recognizable stars and miniscule roster, consisting of 12 wrestlers and a few “minis,” it’s going to be difficult to get this promotion off the ground. Another problem is the fact that the show is only an hour, which ruins a solid 9 pm time slot on Friday nights.

Currently, there are tournaments being held for the tag team title and the Heavyweight championship, but with only a few faces in each division, annoying announcers that try too hard and little to no real storyline, how long can this promotion really last?

Add in one female valet/manager on the show in Trenesha Biggers AKA Tigresa Caliente, [who many TNA fans will remember as Rakka Khan, Scott Steiner’s former valet] and it’s fair to say that this show is lacking on so many levels that it can’t be taken seriously yet.

The question remains as if it ever will be.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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