Mexicanal Sets Season 2 of ‘El Rayo Vida de Lucha’

Mexicanal has given the green light to a second season of an original production that shines the spotlight on a famed lucha libre wrestler, promoter and family man in Mexico.

El Rayo Vida de Lucha, a “docu-reality” series airing on niche pay TV network Mexicanal, wrapped up its first season in late July. New episodes are set to air on Mexicanal in the first quarter of 2015.

The series focuses on Juan Padron Luna, known to fans as “Rayo de Plata.” Set in San Luis Potosi and in Mexico’s Bajío region, the series’ first 13 half-hour episodes chronicled the strong ties and often blurred lines in Juan Padron’s relationships with loved ones, employees and wrestlers, as he manages an arena and family dynasty of luchadores.

According to network executives, the program not only delivered strong ratings for Mexicanal but also saw a hefty volume of video-on-demand views among Comcast subscribers. “The number of downloads tripled,” a network representative said.

“To see this original Mexicanal series come to fruition and garner rave reviews has been extremely gratifying for us,” said Luis Torres-Bohl, president of Mexicanal and parent company Castalia Communications, which launched the network nearly a decade ago. “Fans have identified with Juan Padron, his dynasty and his struggles, and they’re invested in his story. We’re very happy to give them more with an all-new season going into production now.”