Luchasaurus On How He Got His Name, Challenges Of Getting Booked Under The Name Of 'Luchasaurus'

Some wrestling names are created by promoters, bookers or the wrestlers themselves, while others are chosen by the fans. That is the case with AEW performer Luchasaurus thanks to a stop in Lucha Underground.

He talked more about how he got the name of Luchasaurus when he joined the Talk is Jericho podcast.

"It started on Lucha Underground where I got an opportunity to play this character, which I didn't know what this character was going to be until I showed up. They told me that they are going to put me in this giant snake mask and they want me to go out there and just chokeslam people. There wasn't much more direction than that," stated Luchasaurus who was known as Vibora at the time. "I asked them if we can cut the head thing off so that my hair is showing. I wanted to make it kind of cool for me, so I get out there and do my thing and the crowd starts chanting something and I don't know what they are chanting. I am thinking they are chanting, 'You Just Started!' I'm like, great, they think I'm green. I'm like, oh my God, this crowd is brutal, am I that bad?

"I went to the back and my good friend John Morrison was back there and I asked him how it was. I think they hated it, but he said, no man, they were chanting, 'Luchasaurus!' It's ridiculous. I'm like, what? What is that? He said I don't know but I think you should run with it, so that is how it started right there. The fans started calling me Luchasaurus and I was like, you know what? This is so crazy that it might work."

"Whatever reason, the crowd decided that that was going to be the smart and funny thing to chant and I was like, okay, you know what? There is no Luchasaurus wrestling independently and I need to reinvent myself right now at this stage of my career so let's just see what this can turn into."

While the name Luchasaurus was given organically, it has led to some problems in terms of getting booked. When promoters hear that "Luchasaurus" is interested in working for them, they are skeptical at first and thing he's just some comic relief and not a real wrestler. Luchasaurus talked more about issues he's faced while getting booked as "Luchasaurus."

"At first, it was challenging to get bookings because I don't think people were taking it seriously, and in this day and age, there is a lot of back and forth, but a lot of promotions today want serious fighters and the idea of it just sounds absurd. They would ask what this gimmick is and they have the idea that I'm not a real wrestler," said Luchasaurus. "I'm just some type of clown, it's a joke, so I had to fight against that for a while. But luckily I had people in my corner to motivate me with it because there were times that I wanted to give up on it where I was like this isn't going to get over on its own; it's too absurd. But John Morrison was really big on that, Trent Barretta, who works in AEW now always told me to stick with it and that he really likes it and so I did, and slowly but surely it was allowing me to explore who I was performing-wise."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.