Santos Escobar Highlights Lucha Underground History With WWE SmackDown Opponent

Tonight on "WWE SmackDown," former "NXT" Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar will face off against former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricochet in the finals of the "SmackDown" World Cup tournament. With Escobar representing Mexico and Ricochet representing the United States, the winner of the tournament will receive an opportunity against GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship. Ricochet made it to the finals by defeating Mustafa Ali in the first round and scored a major upset over Braun Strowman in the semi-finals after a distraction from Imperium, while Escobar defeated Shinsuke Nakamura in the first round and The Brawling Brutes' Butch in the semi-finals, with some help from his stable, Legado Del Fantasma.

Ahead of his match against Ricochet tonight, Escobar shared an image on Twitter of he and Ricochet standing across the ring from each other in "Lucha Underground" — a now-defunct wrestling show that aired for four seasons on the El Rey Network from 2014 to 2018. In the tweet, Escobar stated: "Tonight. #History."

Known for its highly stylized and over-the-top telenovela approach to wrestling, "Lucha Underground" saw stars such as Rey Mysterio and Johnny Mundo walk through its doors, and was the first exposure many American fans had to newer talents currently gracing AEW programming, including The Lucha Brothers, Swerve Strickland, Thunder Rosa, AR Fox, Luchasaurus, Sonny Kiss, and Sammy Guevara. Escobar, under the name King Cuerno, did battle with Ricochet, under the name Prince Puma, multiple times in the show's first and second seasons — in their only singles match to date, Puma defeated Cuerno to retain the "Lucha Underground" Championship. which he held on two occasions, in addition to the Lucha Underground Trios Championship alongside partners Dragon Azteca Jr. and Mysterio. Escobar, for his part, is a former "Lucha Underground" Gift of the Gods Champion.