Lucha libre-style wrestling association launches in Nashville

A new Nashville-based professional wrestling promotion will make its maiden voyage on Sunday evening with a show at the fairgrounds.

Aro Lucha seeks to fill a void in the United States for Lucha libre-style professional wrestling emanating from Mexico. The company was founded by the owners of Aroluxe Media, which handled the television production for Impact Wrestling for several years.

The company is also emphasizing that its events will be family friendly, which could help distinguish Aro Lucha in the independent wrestling landscape, which can sometimes feature blood.

Although the goal is to take Aro Lucha on the road, and to find digital and television partners, the company will be solidly headquartered in Nashville, co-founder Jason Brown said.

In addition to Brown, Aro Lucha was co-founded by brothers Ron Harris and Don Harris, veterans of the professional wrestling industry who had tours in the WWE. Bill Campbell and Kathy Campbell are also invested in the company, Brown said.

"My brother and I over the last four or five years have always looked at the Latino market and we've seen a void in the marketplace as far as providing wrestling content," Ron Harris said. "The Lucha Libre is such a big part of the culture in Mexico and the only real content they have here is through WWE."

Some of the most prominent independent wrestling promotions int he world are based in Mexico - AAA and CMLL. But while many of their wrestlers compete in the U.S., the content is not widely distributed here yet. Featuring masked performers and high-flying maneuvers, Lucha libre style wrestling goes back generations in Mexico.

One of the most celebrated Lucha libre wrestlers, Rey Mysterio, a former WWE champion will be headlining Sunday's event at the fairgrounds.

Another highly regarded wrestler, Konan, will help lead Aro Lucha's creative direction. Konan has deep ties to wrestling industry in Mexico, which will help Aro Lucha identify top talent.

Another key tenet of Aro Lucha is to be family friendly. Brown said the company wants parents to feel comfortable bringing their kids to Aro Lucha shows.

"We feel like there's a need out there for good family content," Brown said. "We're very family oriented and we watched wrestling go through the attitude era, where there was crotch grabbing and people getting slammed through thumbtacks and cussing.

"It won't be Chuck E Cheese. If you're wrestling fan you're still going to get to see Rey Mysterio go up against John Hennigan, and Rush and Pentagon. But you won't find cussing or barbed wire. We want it to be safe for a 5- or 6-year-old to watch and as a parent you won't have to cringe."

The company doesn't have television or digital distribution yet, but those talks are in the works, Brown said. The goal is also tour Aro Lucha across the country. Another promotion, Lucha Underground, has had television distribution but did not produce live events.

"We're trying to do it on a much bigger level and build it into a much bigger company," Ron Harris said.

Aro Lucha ponders where content will live

The Harris brothers enjoyed long careers as professional wrestlers before working on the business side. In the WWE, they were known as the Disciples of the Apocalypse. They began wrestling after college basketball careers at Austin Peay State University.

When their careers ended, they got into the video production business and began working for Nashville-based TNA.

Brown said Sunday's show will be taped for marketing and external use, including unveiling the content for possible investors. He said the plan is for Aro Lucha to be firmly entrenched in Nashville.

"We're still trying to find out where it will live, whether that's with a television partner, (on-demand streaming), Facebook live, YouTube. We've had some initial discussions with a couple different partners," Brown said.

Aro Lucha seperate from Aroluxe Media

Aroluxe Media, which is co-owned by the Harris brothers and Brown, served as the video production company for Impact Wrestling for several years. When Impact Wrestling's finances went south, Aroluxe Media financed several television productions for Impact and was listed as a creditor in public documents.

Brown said Aroluxe Media is completely separate from Aro Lucha even though the companies share three owners.

Brown said Aroluxe Media's relationship with Impact, which is now owned by Anthem Sports, ended in January. Aroluxe is a sister company of Aroluxe, LLC., which is an advertising agency that Brown recently sold.

If you go

Aro Lucha's debut program will take place on Sunday at the Nashville fairgrounds at 5:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and can also be purchased through Eventbrite.

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and nrau@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tnnaterau.