Post by LankyLefty17 on Sept 8, 2020 11:21:08 GMT -8
Originally called Lucha Fantastico, the promotion dates back to at least the 1950’s and has always been based in the outer limits of Mexico City. Its owner and head promoter, El Gigante Guapo, was a 6’11’’ thunderous man who would run entire cards pitting himself against multiple luchadores, always come away victorious in the end. The shows and promotion were small, and despite decent crowds failed to attract much in the way of talent (mostly because the company was built around jobbing for El Gigante).
Sometime in the mid 60’s, with Gigante getting older and suffering from degenerative back issues, the promotion was handed over to Gigante’s son, El Guapo Hijo. El Guapo moved away from the freakshow wrestling of his father and looked to establish the promotion as a real home for the local lucha talent. A sudden influx of cash also helped the endeavor, though it was never clear where that cash came from. Despite the upgrade in talent and production, Lucha Fantastico still remained a second tier promotion and without El Gigante Guapo to fall back on, struggled to draw crowds. In a few short years, with mounting debts and a poor reputation within the locker room (primarily from only focusing on putting himself over), El Guapo Nino abandoned the promotion and disappeared. Most reports at the time stated that he simply left the country to avoid paying off the large amount of debt, but rumors exist that the El Guapo’s primary financial backers were in fact the cartel, and his disappearance may have been mob related.
In 1968 El Gigante died of a rare blood disease, and the promotion held on for a few more years before closing down. In 1978, out of the ashes of Lucha Fantastico came Lucha POWER, which was founded by a group of small time promoters that had invested in the previously defuct promotion. They maintained mostly the same roster of talent, but the promotion took off with the rise of Blue Puma. Blue Puma would become one of the most popular Lucha’s in the country, and vault the promotion to national prominence throughout the rest of the decade. In the mid 1980’s, the promotion would continue growing with a new star- El Macho- carrying the mantle. The promotion would expand beyond Mexico, bringing in popular American talent such as Tank McDaniel and Wrecking Ball Allen which would bring international prominence. Unfortunately the increased fame would result in increased costs, and as the wrestling boom waned, Lucha POWER saw its debts again rise. This was compounded by the promotions stars aging and a lack of new talent to carry the promotion into the turn of the century. By 2015 the company was broke and on the verge of shutting down. In 2017, El Macho bought the promotion outright with a goal of refocusing the company around young, up and coming stars. The company opened with a tournament to crown the first champion of the new era, only for the winner, Red Demon II, to suffer a career ending injury just 6 months later.
Sometime in the mid 60’s, with Gigante getting older and suffering from degenerative back issues, the promotion was handed over to Gigante’s son, El Guapo Hijo. El Guapo moved away from the freakshow wrestling of his father and looked to establish the promotion as a real home for the local lucha talent. A sudden influx of cash also helped the endeavor, though it was never clear where that cash came from. Despite the upgrade in talent and production, Lucha Fantastico still remained a second tier promotion and without El Gigante Guapo to fall back on, struggled to draw crowds. In a few short years, with mounting debts and a poor reputation within the locker room (primarily from only focusing on putting himself over), El Guapo Nino abandoned the promotion and disappeared. Most reports at the time stated that he simply left the country to avoid paying off the large amount of debt, but rumors exist that the El Guapo’s primary financial backers were in fact the cartel, and his disappearance may have been mob related.
In 1968 El Gigante died of a rare blood disease, and the promotion held on for a few more years before closing down. In 1978, out of the ashes of Lucha Fantastico came Lucha POWER, which was founded by a group of small time promoters that had invested in the previously defuct promotion. They maintained mostly the same roster of talent, but the promotion took off with the rise of Blue Puma. Blue Puma would become one of the most popular Lucha’s in the country, and vault the promotion to national prominence throughout the rest of the decade. In the mid 1980’s, the promotion would continue growing with a new star- El Macho- carrying the mantle. The promotion would expand beyond Mexico, bringing in popular American talent such as Tank McDaniel and Wrecking Ball Allen which would bring international prominence. Unfortunately the increased fame would result in increased costs, and as the wrestling boom waned, Lucha POWER saw its debts again rise. This was compounded by the promotions stars aging and a lack of new talent to carry the promotion into the turn of the century. By 2015 the company was broke and on the verge of shutting down. In 2017, El Macho bought the promotion outright with a goal of refocusing the company around young, up and coming stars. The company opened with a tournament to crown the first champion of the new era, only for the winner, Red Demon II, to suffer a career ending injury just 6 months later.
The company started another reboot, this time with El Macho taking investments from various contacts in an attempt to stay financially secure, only to be tricked by business partner Sal de Roca and have the promotion sold to La Guerra de Sangre where cartel kingpin Adalberto Bonilla attempted to run the promotion into the ground as a show of strength. Teaming with former La Guerra owner David Harley, El Macho was able to win back his promotion and the company aims to continue its efforts to return the promotion to its former glory...
