We talk to Luchasaurus about where his name came from, his favourite dinosaur, Jungle Boy, AEW and he gives his opinion on how dinosaurs are represented in mainstream media.
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This is one astonishing pro wrestler. [Applause] hi guys I’m Adam well born from what culture very pleased to say I am joined now by lucha soros himself muchas horas thank you so much for chatting to us today hey how you doing man it’s great to be here very good very good how are you oh you know pretty good the see what dad’s what year is it no you know coming off of the all out its you know I’m just training out for TV I was a really great response from everybody everyone student really liked what I did so which I was working on more ideas like that try to keep the crowd excited about me yeah I mean a fantastic performance from you as you mentioned a whole out alongside Marco stand and jungleboy against SC you I’m just speaking about you and jungle boy you are cult favorites among amongst fans that must be amazing for you yeah it’s really cool they’ve taken to our whole idea here and we didn’t you know really think about it we’ve known each other for 10 years and we need to think about TV together and then I want to wrestle up good I do he was local he was trying to to go places and then almost that he got on George and Alice game-changer stuff and he started to blow up and finally you know Joey Ryan brought him in to bar arrest he’s like oh I want to team you guys up so we like think that’s kind of cool John the boy in a dinosaur let’s uh you know let’s try something and then I think a fan may have suggested or something that he rides out on my shoulders and we did it and this is like early February and the reaction that the Barmes advanced are kinda like the PWG fans London’s faces a little bit more of a fun atmosphere or not a serious serious restaurant atmosphere but people do have serious matches there but some of those hardcore fans that would boo me for no reason is because they did that they could even help but smile when they saw the act and we just like wow we right away click the right this could be something that people just take – so we really pushed for it and we’re lucky that our bosses with the young bucks who are just open to such crazy ideas and next thing you know everyone seems to really like which is great no I said an amazing visual when you to come out you work so well together in the ring and I saw the thing on your Twitter awhile back that you were I’m a training count like ten years ago or something yeah that’s where we both kind of first found a wrestling school out in los angeles and he was like 10 and 11 or something that was much much older but uh you know we started at the same time we both kind of went off and did other things I went and finished college and then he was and then I got signed by WB and did a reality show he went to high school believe that but we finally came back around and we kept on real I kind of bumping into each other at different times and when I was doing the underground I bumped into him in some classes and it’s really cool that we finally are able to put it together ten years later you mentioned your degree there of course the thing that a lot of people mentioned has there as yet been speak of a school reunion because I sense that would be rather unique of you know everyone else with master’s degrees going off and doing slightly different things than then wrestling as a dinosaur well they actually right they they actually already put my picture up in the history department of my crazy and they did all article on me in their newspaper there they’re all excited about it cuz you know a historian actually United Kingdom was my my main emphasis is medieval history yeah so I mean I’ve actually still never been but the 12th century literature from the United Kingdom is really what I’ve studied for years and I was a song a medievalist in Los Angeles so that departments already pretty small and there’s not so many history majors doing things like I did anymore so it’s really cool to show that hey you know a history major can make it just in a little different area I’d love to give the commencement speech one year in the mask thing I think that’d be pretty cool so I’m really happy that I’m giving some of this my school some notoriety and also it’s pretty cool to be able transition something like that can to a completely different realm well I’m sure I’m speak for UK fans when we say we’d love to see you over here and you can see some of the sights of the UK as well so those who don’t know how does a dinosaur get into wrestling well you know for for my species it’s been it’s pretty difficult to get into wrestling over the years they’ve kind of marginalized us and kept us in museums on display but when that’s not happening I you know being a dinosaur that’s also a historian getting into wrestling I personally have been a fan of it since I was a child so I always wanted to be in wrestling I just really know Ben’s like 2009/10 I didn’t really know where to go until someone pointed me in the direction of a school and I couldn’t believe there was actually wrestling schools it was still kind of kayfabe in my mind where I didn’t really know and as soon as I got it there I got really excited and three months in to like practice I broke my wrist of course because I think know what I was doing it but that motivated me more motivated me to get into gymnastics it motivated me to get into different forms of combat just to kind of have a well-rounded background because before that I was pretty much with some of the lifted weights and that really changed my whole of movement capabilities and it wasn’t so much later that I figured out how to put those kind of elements into matches as a bigger guy and make it work but it was me kind of despondent getting into that wrestling school because I was a fan my whole life because I found a local one somehow while I was you know busy doing history and it just kind of all clicked and very quickly I got signed and it was too soon for me so it almost kind of ruined it for me and ruin the whole process I’m glad I got a chance to come back to the Indies and my kind of honed my character yeah and I’m not right in thinking that the whole lucha Sora’s character partially came about I know you spoke with Chris Mundy a little bit about it about Dusty Rhodes influence on that but also partially because of a chant that you slightly misheard absolutely yes so it did start so lucha underground gave me a second chance to wrestle after I had left over to be a dinner reality show and really thought there was nothing else out there the Indies hadn’t really hit their boom in 2014/15 like they did the next year at least in my head I didn’t know so I thought it was kind of done lucha underground gave me a shot and they wanted me and I want to do a character that I’ve been working on with dusty I still is holding on to it and this is Judas character that we just didn’t know how to place it but we knew we wanted to use the fact that I’m a historian I have a master’s degree I can talk some coherently at times but also I have an interesting opposing look with tattoos and so we invested been working on this idea that really the only thing missing from Dusty’s vision was the mask I think and then we chatted around getting a mask you it wasn’t a mask that I really liked so immediately I had the giant snakehead with with nothing it was a completely cover in my head and I was like let’s make this like hey I just I love can a big fan of Kane I was like if I’m gonna wear a mask I want to be like Kane so I we cut it up so it’s kind of like this one now this is it’s not the same mask but I was supposed to be a giant snake I come to the ring and I’m very nervous cuz I hadn’t been to the ring in two years the crowd starts chanting something at loot under drugs they always do and I was you know reckon Fool’s kicks and chokeslams and I thought was doing good I heard chant it sounded like they said you just started and I damned through that hardcore here they they realized that I’m haven’t wrestled in a while or that I’m a greenhorn do man I must have really sucked I went to the back and Johnny mundo John Hennigan who’s one of my closest friends he’s like hey man that was great I think you got a new gimmick I’m like we talked about they were chanting Luke just Soros I’m like oh what is that he’s like I don’t know man I guess it’s a wrestling dinosaur but you’re you might as well run with it I’m like yeah you know what we don’t know how much Luke chatter here was still and I want to get back onto the Indies and I want to maybe parlay off of this character somewhat so let’s go for it and I just started to develop it on my own and there’s a lot of bumps in the road to get to where I’m at but ultimately it was because the fans kind of adopted the name for me that I became the lucius Orson it’s funny because they chanted it there in the temple in front of who’s I guess it’s what 500 to a thousand people max in there but everywhere I’ve gone crowds really get behind the chant and I didn’t realize it would transition to ten thousands of people but it’s the same infectious feeling I guess and people just like to chant this and I’ve always thought his name is too cheesy or corny and maybe we need to move on from it as I struggled to get over but you know my friends always told me my close friends like Trent Barreta John anything they told me to stay with it and Ryan too and right yeah it clearly has paid off so you mentioned Kane there who some of your like wrestling inspirations well I wasn’t for Bret Hart actually growing up that was my guy like 9/10 and he was winning championships like I lived and died with his matches such a huge fan so when he kind of when he left wrestling as it was injuries I kind of trailed off like when everyone was super into the Attitude Era I was kind of losing a little interest in getting into other sports just cuz I really liked the new generation the style of Bret Hart Shawn Michaels those were the guys I watched the most and even before that the Ultimate Warrior was the first thing that caught my eye when I was like 7 years old said dad I need to see this so like those were the main beginning influences then his time went on we’ve got me back into wrestling actually was the rated-r superstar edge that character when I was in college I really was gravitated toward I could identify was it I thought it was a cool heel I like the vibe I’d always liked the heels I like the cool heel NWO who did it and then I got it became big fan of John Morrison because of his style and he actually was one of the inspirations for me to get into more kicks and martial arts and gymnastics of my matches and we actually met before I even got to WWE had a Joe bastok Center doing parkour and we became best friends he’s always been really influential guide in my career because of that so those are probably the main guys that have like inspired me and then going back and watching tapes as I’ve developed my character Undertaker I think now is maybe the best guy for me of all time to study and the things that he can do it matches the way he could command a crowd and being so stoic and not you know not kind of being too looking at the fans a lot of guys a normal one up to it I think some guys are like too corny with how they weren’t react with the fans and he never did it’s all about his opponent it’s all about the moment and they just come with whatever he does that’s something I really studied out now coach you are part of all elite wrestling what is it like being in there from the beginning and and what do you hope to achieve well I’m really excited to be a part of it from the ground up and I was working with Ring of Honor before that I thought I was maybe gonna sign with that but I’m glad it didn’t work out I really enjoyed that place and I would’ve had a chance to work with jungle boy and the fact that Paula Lee is so open to us just hey we want to do this storyline hey I filmed this today they’re like cool we’d love it let’s let’s put it on there’s no micromanaging there’s no so far there’s been like stifling of our creativity and that’s what I need as a human being as someone that likes to you know simply this passion about their art is I need to feel creative and feel like I can contribute without feeling like mine that I’ll get fired I do something stupid and they have such a great environment right now that my bosses are the young bucks who are doing you know moves on top of moves and matches so if I ever want to do a crazy boot they’re all about so right now being part of the ground floor moving up this is a really exciting time because we feel like we could actually make a change in the rest of the world and hopefully that you know secures me personally in my family going in a company because I ever know I’m 34 now I’m thinking about other things and just rest of it obviously you’re teeming with jungle boy at the moment there any guys you’d like to work whether that be as part of a team or across the ring from you well definitely I don’t see me in general breaking up anytime soon I hope we stay there for a long time because the companies and you know I’m sure they can you can think about millions storylines for us having a break up at some point but I’d love to have a long run with him and I think across three we obviously want Russell the young bucks well kenny omega would be a dream matchup for me to person because his style is really watching his matches it’s really helped me understand a new style of wrestling after I left a double W developmental and how you can be creative and treat completely different matches out of things that I never thought were possible so he’s been a big inspiration obviously PAC would be someone I love to wrestle I think our Styles could blend amazingly and I just love the way he’s working his heal character right now so there’s really a mint Trent Barreta I really want to get back in the ring with him I’ve been reading couple times he’s one of my closest friends and he’s like he’s almost I feel like he’s a Shawn Michaels to an undertaker for me in a way what the way he likes to put matches together is people don’t give him enough credit for how creative and how smart he is and what kind of star he really is and I think it only is about to show that and I someone I would love to have like a long feud with at some point breaking quite a few misconceptions when it comes to big men as well in terms of wrestling I mean we were watching all out here at what culture and you know one of the main things we noticed is you know expect someone of your size to come in especially when your team of the likes of jungleboy and Marco stone and just do the you know archetypal big man moves but you you add intelligent feet to user to use a wrestling expression and you showcase like you say your gymnastic skills well thank you for that I think that it is important for me and my character to really display that there is more to a big man than meets the eye and part of the reason like I part of this character was really a way of kind of rebelling against big man and it was said on a dinosaur mask to show evolution almost and how big men should move and for me though it’s tricky because I feel like I can’t do everything a smaller guy could do but it’s not about that and I tried it four years ago one cared I had to learn how to use it in a big man psychology and I had to understand how I can be an undertaker like force and presence and not throw away that character and yet still do the gymnastic stuff at the right times um you know I slowed them down to the top row pretty thick yeah I’m getting a standing moonsault reaction and I never would because that’s like a warm-up flip for me when I go to gymnastics practice but it’s just I’ve learned over time this this is the way you structure because I still have to tell the story I just do this giant dinosaur monster that should be intimidating and should be able to crush people but I can intelligently use acrobatics to my advantage to get into those positions so everything I do has to mean something I’m very cognizant of that I’m really working hard at all time I’m starting everything I do things that people like sometimes I hate and I break it down I want to change these little details one of my best friends is one of the top stunt guys in the world he’s doubled Superman a lot right now he’s working on avatar and he always helped he’s a big wrestling fan and he his ideas and movement is on movement and how to work a character on screen he’s been a tremendous help to me because he can see details that sometimes I can’t see so I try to use every resource I can to continue to demonstrate with what a big man can’t do responsibly because I do want it to make sense I do want to make the old-school people happy because I respect that and I do also want to show that that we could put a new school twist on even a classic story so jungle boy is like my little kind of Xbox to my cane but we’re doing it in a new age way indeed and now on the most recent episode of being the elite and you had your say on Barney the Dinosaur of course you a checkered history let’s say with him I just want to run through a few of the infamous dinosaurs or things or people related to dinosaurs and get your thoughts on that all right okay let’s start off with Yoshi from Super Mario oh well you know actually Yoshi’s man’s best friend and I’m a huge Mario fan myself so the video game console I play as Nintendo that’s my name man go to so you know she’s always been someone that’s been in my good graces he works with his little buddy who’s riding on his shoulders so he’s a little bit of an inspiration Yoshi’s a good age shall we sit okay um Kassius Ohno dressing as a dinosaur in NXT well you know what I’ve never really liked what a man dress with a dinosaur costume I think it’s kind of antiquated think you just don’t want to see that in 2019 but I respect him a lot I’ve worked with him a lot in the past he was there when I was there I think he’s also a guy that I love to study by the way so I’m gonna give him a pass just because of how good I think he is there I called it using dinosaurs as pawns entrance at new beginning of soccer that it’s a double-edged sword cuz I love the fact that you know you have to bring dinosaurs of the spotlight it’s a good thing but it can also be a bad thing to paint or how do you do it I’m okay with that just because once again like let’s spotlight dinosaurs for once I feel like we’ve just kind of brushed aside for so long once they’re in the spotlight then we can start talking about how you should treat them in 2019 how we should look at them how should they be added to society respected what are their values and ideals so I’m glad that it’s just becoming a topic a hot topic online and in the media now I know you’re a big fan of Jurassic Park we do your opinions of Jeff Goldblum in particular oh he’s one of he’s one of the main role models and that’s somebody actually if we could ever set that up to get him at one of the shows no God you know I’m not sure that could be done I don’t want to I want to talk about a turn or sound like marker I mean but like if he could come out and just do a life line it’s the way things for me or that I might just retire right there he’d go back to the tar pitch that’s all I mean I don’t think I past that but it wasn’t for it wasn’t for him I don’t know if I would have had the the emotional intelligence to really become a full-fledged dinosaur in modern society just a few more the TV shows dinosaurs and the Land Before Time I never really wanted dinosaurs but Land Before Time I was a big fan of that so I gotta say I enjoyed that one I think once again those are well done there’s nothing wrong with those it’s just you know the one I have a problem with honestly is the Barney would and that’s the one the sticks in my craw and I think we’ve kind of worked it out I got it off my chest the other day and I think as long as people just understand that dinosaurs you know be to it you can’t be you just need to cast real dinosaurs play dinosaurs that’s all you know if you want a dinosaur educating our children that’s great but let’s just have a real dinosaur I won’t fun I want to show you which you may not be aware of Arsenal Football Club here in the UK have a mascot which I’m gonna try and show you now called dinosaurus ooh well I think that’s a perfect reason actually you should fly me in to to confront that guy I think that’s what they do know I that this spinning hook kick comes really fast yeah you know maybe there’s another job after if this doesn’t work out I can come over there the mascot I think that definitely a feud I would love to see very quickly gonna run sweet through some Twitter questions I got some when I said I was gonna be interviewing you Peter asks dinosaur on mother or father site or perhaps both well it’s been so long it’s hard for me to actually remember I have to go check the records I guess I just know that uh did the there is you know half of my blood is dinosaur and the other half is lucha but you know DNA records for us seem to be very scarce so you know I’ve taken a lot of concussions over the years so I can kinda I can kind of remember there being a motherly dinosaur figure in my life and expect probably say his mother but I don’t want to get it wrong in case I have said the the ancestors I’d have to honestly have to ask my homey what I’m estranged from him and he lives up and leg Locker so if I’m ever up there I might have to go visit the leg and see but I just haven’t talked to him in so long we will we’ll have to try and organize that Jonathan Roya aka j-rock says other than history and wrestling what other hobbies or activities do you enjoy other than history in wrestling well I really like I said I’m a big fan of gymnastics and martial arts actually and does I mean my time is pretty much 24/7 wrestling these days I’m not wrestling I’m watching it and or a train for it and my training schedule is pretty strict and most of the time I’m working on different types of Taekwondo kicks specifically for wrestling that I kind of turn into you know wrestling strikes and then also I’m at the gymnastics there’s a lot working on my body my mobility and the things I do in the ring so those are the main other things I’m doing on daily basis I like movies a lot scary movies actually you know so that’s that sometime they’ll do with uh when I’m not doing any thing related to wrestling I suppose like a Josh you mentioned that Josh L asks what your favourite movie is there isn’t Jurassic Park haha that’s a good question my favorite movie that isn’t Jurassic Park a few the crow I love is a big me randomly was a huge inspiration Vanilla Sky actually was a big inspiration to me my college years I really liked the movie sunshine which is kind of like a horror sci-fi film yeah 28 days later which I know it takes place up at know England so there’s a there’s a bunch of horror movies I like taxi driver was one of my favorite classics of all time what else big into 80s movies at the neverending story I think yes that relates to our I think myself a jungle boy I like to consider ourselves Atreyu and Valcour and Markos stunt is now the little boy reason the book that’s bringing us to the human world if you want a deep reference so we’re gonna play on that thing going forward and then also Conan the Barbarian it’s a huge inspiration on my belt you see the double snake head which is a little Easter Egg tribute to Conan the Barbarian Josh Town has a very interesting question Josh asks Josh asks if glacé of Glacia beat you will you be extinct only be hit me with the meteora okay finally what do you think the future holds not just for you but for all the elite wrestling ideally it’s a long future it’s one that is you know competitive and taken seriously right alongside of WWE if not surpassing it a lot of people talk about this more that’s happening and that’s it’s fun to have competition I don’t look at the war necessarily I think it’s anymore wrestling is good for everyone and it elevates competition and hopefully it’s that ALW creates jobs for register wrestlers in the future over you know the next decade twenty years thirty years and it just becomes a staple in the wrestling world I think my best way of analyzing it is you know with not only with WWE but with New Japan impact and now of course all the elite wrestling is just a very exciting time to be a wrestling fan in a wrestler say you know this is that something ten years ago it wasn’t a possibility it wasn’t possible to have this opportunity so I definitely am very thankful for it and I’m taking it very seriously well least shorty it’s been a pleasure chatting one final question what do you call a one-eyed dinosaur I don’t know what he got do you think he saw us I don’t know how I feel about that joke but I’m if it’s okay I’ll let it go it’s early over here I’m holding on to my little this is a source this is his child he’s been good during this interview King Charles with a nice little first name so we’re gonna be nice okay that’s very kind of you muchas horas he’s been absolutely pleasure to chat see you best-looking all elite wrestling we will hopefully see you over in the UK very soon but for now thanks so much for chatting to us thanks I’m a big fan and we’re the health seven
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Luchasaurus On AEW, Jungle Boy And The Representation Of Dinosaurs In Media
