Mikey Rukus talks about the Lucha Brothers' special entrance from AEW All Out 2021.
Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix captured the AEW World Tag Team Championship from Matt and Nick Jackson at AEW All Out 2021 inside a steel cage.
On their way to the ring, they had an entrance that paid homage to their heritage as they were played live to the ring. Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp, Mikey Rukus explains how that all came together last minute.
“It actually came together very last minute. Just to give you an idea of what was happening that week—that was the week Bryan Danielson debuted, Adam Cole debuted,” Rukus said. “So I was working on Adam Cole’s theme a couple days before All Out and I was working on a rendition of Flight of the Valkyries also just in case. I hadn’t gotten word. In the midst of this I get a text from Alex that says, ‘Hey, you wanna perform with us?’ I was like, ‘Sure.’ Me, personally, I’m not a real big proponent of live performances during the show. For me I feel like it’s time that the talent should have. But, in certain settings and certain situations, it works. I got asked, and I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ I had no idea what we were gonna do until I got to the hotel the night before. I saw Alex and Alex was like, ‘Okay, this is the ideas that I have. But I have a different business engagement and I’m not gonna be able to be there until four o’clock in the afternoon. So you’re gonna have to go down and run this whole thing.’ I was like, ‘Well, I’ve never met the Lucha Brothers before. I don’t know which one speaks English.’ Luckily Jose was there to help.”
Mikey had help from other members of the AEW locker room as Sonny Kiss help choreograph the whole special entrance for the future Tag Team Champions.
“Sonny [Kiss]and Ashley, DMY, were the two dancers in the back with the masks on. They actually choreographed their own dance routine,” he continued. "They pulled some of the extras in to do the thing. I don’t remember who they were, but I know I thought [Sonny] was gonna bust someone’s head open for not doing this right. It all came together hours before the show. Dude, by like three o’clock in the afternoon, we were still figuring out what was gonna happen. We were supposed to go up and rehearse and we were like, ‘Where’s this? Where’s that?’ Alex comes up and gives me a robe and says, ‘I gotta go.’
“So I put the robe on and Sandra Grey, our seamstress, she was like, ‘I know you ain’t going out there all wrinkled. Give me that thing.’ I was like, ‘Alright, man.’ I gave it to her and she’s like, ‘You come back and see me in a little bit. It’s gonna be right for you. You ain’t going out there wrinkled.’ I was like, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ We rehearsed it and when we did the rehearsal, I just pretended like the entire place was full. We had the talent around and other people were rehearsing and getting set. When we did it the first time, I heard a bunch of, ‘Oh, shit. Oh, shit.’ Like it was just back and forth. They said run it again, so we ran it again. That’s when Jericho came up, gave me a hug and said, ‘Dude, you’re on fire.’ I was like, ‘We’re gonna be alright.’ So we just let it fly from there. I enjoyed it. I’m really glad that the fans enjoyed it. I’m glad the talent enjoyed it.’ That’s what it’s all about—taking the audio footprint and expanding it. Just creating connections within the gaps of the storylines.”
Sonny Kiss spoke about choreographing this entrance and said that he appreciates being able to help in any capacity and wants to do more behind-the-scenes. Read more here.
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