Taya Valkyrie reflects on working with Cesar Duran and whether or not she would like more Lucha Underground elements Incorporated into wrestling.
Taya Valkyrie is currently one of the top freelance wrestlers in the industry, working in IMPACT, AAA, MLW, and more. Currently, in MLW, Valkyrie is paired with Cesar Duran. Formerly known as Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground, Valkyrie enjoys working alongside the MLW Matchmaker as it reminds her of the fun times she had in the Lucha Underground temple.
Speaking in a recent interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Valkyrie says it's been really fun working with Duran as well as her husband, John Morrison, and even having Matt Striker on commentary. For her, it's just like old times.
"Yeah, honestly, when I saw him, I was so happy because I hadn't seen him in a really long time. I have a really hard time also saying his MLW name because I knew him for so long as Dario, but we worked that into the story. It's been really fun getting to work with him again, even having Matt Striker on commentary. I'm just like, 'Just like old times, buddy!' It's been really fun. Now that John [Morrison] is there as well, it feels very comfortable and nice. It's flowing altogether," she said.
Speaking about Lucha Underground, Valkyrie credited the promotion as a stepping stone for not only herself but talents like Thunder Rosa, The Lucha Bros, and Jeff Cobb. Valkyrie also credited her time in Lucha Underground with teaching her about what it means to be shooting for television.
"Every single backstage scene was shot how you would shoot regular television shows. So you're doing the scene from the front, from the back, from the side, close-ups, you're repeating the scene several hundreds of times trying to get this right," she said. "It was really fun because I think it really taught us a lot about what it meant to be doing television and what it's like because it was shot so differently. I just really love watching a lot of that back because it was such a really happy time in a lot of people's careers. You look at Fenix, Pentagon, Thunder Rosa, Daga, Jeff Cobb, myself, John, everybody that came from that. It really was, for us all, that first stepping stone to kind of getting that exposure and getting out there."
Asked whether or not she would like to see more of those elements incorporated into MLW programming, Valkyrie says she's torn because, on the one hand, it's hard to top the original Lucha Underground, but she does enjoy reliving those days.
"I think a little bit of both. It's just like when you have your favorite — for example, I just watched the Willow television show on Disney+. Willow was one of my favorite movies growing up. So I was like, 'I don't know, I don't know about this kind of thing,' because I'm just so in love with the original right? So I feel like sometimes I'm just like that with Lucha Underground. I'm like, 'Oh, but I was just so in love with the original' but then it also just makes it really fun. There's really a sense of comfort when we get to do things that remind me of such a good time in my life," Valkyrie said.
One way or another, Valkyrie is headed back to the underground as MLW Underground premieres on REELZ beginning Tuesday, February 7 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Fans can learn more about the new series at this link.
