Sam Adonis Addresses Controversy Around AAA And CMLL Talent Competing In New Promotion

Former CMLL star Sam Adonis was on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where he and Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman discussed the new series that Adonis will feature in "Heroes of Lucha Libre". The series was taped years in advance back when Adonis was iconic for his Donald Trump loving character. Adonis discussed the dynamic of his character waving a MAGA flag alongside another character by the name of The Russian Hacker in a program geared towards children.

"I had no input on my character. I had no input on any of that," Adonis noted. "I was a top draw in Mexico as a heel. The basis of this luchador program is for highly Hispanic demographic in Southern California. So I was just brought in to do my job. I was just brought in, and I did my character. And I asked the same question. 'You really want me to have the flag?' And they're like, 'Yeah, just do your thing.' They haven't really altered the in-ring product that much.

"They've almost just re-edited it and added the presentation that's completely out of left field. So my character, just being a heel. Do what I do. Winding people up but I think it's kind of cool that it's just a completely different, unique way to look at it. At the end of the day, I am proud of the fact it's a testament to myself.

"My character is very over-the-top and comic book related as it is. I like people to suspend their disbelief and see me as a crazy guy that you're not going to see on the street or in your next door neighbor's house. So if that's why they chose me, I'm cool with that, but yeah, it's definitely been fun hearing all the feedback on it."

HOLL features many masked wrestlers honoring the traditions of lucha libre. However, Adonis pointed out that he is the only non-masked American on the show. He talked about the the dynamics of that along with how HOLL quickly became a hot topic.

"It's funny because I'm actually the only non-masked wrestler on the program or non-masked American," Adonis pointed out. "I don't know how many actual Americans have been on these shows. So it's been kind of fun because I've been helping them with a lot of press, and as far as the American media goes, I'm one of the only guys having these spots. I think it's something cool because it came out of left field.

"Nobody heard anything about it for the last two years of production and how it's been going, and now all of a sudden its, 'Holy cow! What is this?' It came out of nowhere, and we've all put the work in to make sure that it does turn into something special. So I highly advise everybody to download Crackle as soon as they get off this podcast and watch all 11 episodes of Heroes of Lucha Libre absolutely for free. You don't even need to create an account."

HOLL was taped years before meaning they were able to have Rey Mysterio on their show before he signed back with WWE. Adonis said that there won't be much controversy around that but the bigger controversy is the fact that CMLL and AAA talents will be on the same show.

"There's another issue that's pretty controversial is that certain episodes feature CMLL wrestlers and AAA wrestlers, and this is one of the only places you'll see that. I don't know how they could pull this off and whatnot, but it's awesome," Adonis admitted. "You'll never be able to see a AAA wrestler on the same TV show as CMLL wrestlers, but these guys have pulled it off. It's groundbreaking. It's different and it's something fun."

Hausman asked Adonis what the ultimate goal for HOLL is. Adonis expressed his hopes for another season or something bigger noting the large crowds that HOLL has been able to attract.

"I would love for there to be [another] season. I'd love it to be full time," Adonis admitted. "Again, it's been so long in the past. I don't know what their endgame is, but they have the capabilities of live wrestling shows at a large capacity. Like I said, the first three shows were filmed at the U.S. Bank Arena in Ontario, CA and the Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles. All three shows had over 6,000 people.

"I guess by definition, this would be considered an independent group. It's independent of WWE and Impact. If an independent has the resources to pull something like that off in the beginning, I'd like to think they're capable of doing a lot of great things."

Sam Adonis can be seen as part of Heroes of Lucha Libre on Crackle. It is free to stream and all season one episodes are now available! Sam's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.