Lucha Underground’s Queen of Death on Licking Faces and Kicking Asses

While WWE seems to have only recently rediscovered women’s wrestling, Lucha Underground has made powerful females a priority since it premiered in 2014 – and none may be more powerful than Catrina, who has ascended to the top of the Temple and left a path of destruction in her wake.

Whether she’s leading Mil Muertes or the Disciples of Death to top titles, dueling with Dario Cueto or delivering her trademark “Lick of Death” to fallen foes, Catrina – or Karlee Perez when she’s operating outside the business – has become one of the most compelling characters on wrestling’s most thrilling show. Despite her mysterious origins, the Queen of Death has established herself as a primary focus of the show’s second season, and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.

But even as Lucha Undeground has grown in popularity, Perez is still able to enjoy a bit of anonymity. In fact, when Rolling Stone spoke with her during WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, we watched Perez compliment one fan’s LU T-shirt – then laugh as the guy thanked her and kept right on walking, unaware he had just spoken with the woman who unleashes death and destruction on the Temple.

Of course, if Perez has her way, she’ll be a household name very soon, and she has big plans to branch out into acting. Here’s what she had to say about her move beyond the Temple, the rise of Lucha Underground and why she feels the wrestling business needs a kick in the ass.

The past two years have been quite a ride for Lucha Underground – it started small, built a devoted following, survived the network chopping block and is now bigger than ever. What has that been like for you?
It’s so crazy. The fanbase has quadrupled so quickly. I don’t think anyone was expecting that. You can see how far it’s come ­– we just started filming season 3, and it’s already been extended. I’m not totally sure how many more episodes we have, but I think it’s around 14 more. It just shows what the future could hold for Lucha Undergound. The way that it’s growing is tremendous. We’re taking over, in a way that hasn’t been done before. I’m really excited to be a part of that.

What were your initial thoughts when you were approached by the show?
Chris DeJoseph, who is amazing, came to me about this character, Catrina. He said that I was the first one on his mind, and there wasn’t really another person on the list behind me. When they called me up, I didn’t quite get the character, and I wasn’t really sure about everything. So I asked who was a part of [Lucha Underground], and they said Robert Rodriguez and Mark Burnett. Anybody who knows anything about entertainment knows those names. The main reason I left WWE was because of acting – Lucha Underground gives me that ability to act, both in the company and outside of it. I wasn’t totally sure about the character or the organization, but as soon as they mentioned Robert Rodriguez, I jumped on the opportunity.

So it was the non-wrestling side of things that really drew you to the company?
That’s what it is to me. I love wrestling. I love entertainment. I work with some extremely talented people. But my passion is in the characters. You can do so much in the ring, and that’s great, but to have fans really connect, you need the storylines and characters. We’ve lost that in this industry; everybody is so worried about doing the double flips that they’ve forgotten the connection you can make with the fans if you have a good character. Less is more sometimes. That’s why I jumped on it. They gave me the ability to do that.

One of the best things about the show has been the rise of Catrina – she’s really come into her own as a character, but there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding her. How would you describe her development, and what can we expect to see next?
Catrina is obviously incredibly manipulative. There’s more to her, though. Over the past two seasons, we’ve seen layers start to come out. She started as simply a valet for Mil Muertes, and started season two owning the Temple and Lucha Underground. You see what she’s capable of, but she’s stayed so cool for so long that eventually there’s going to be a boom. People will eventually learn more about her and her backstory – people tell me she’s secretly an old woman, or a ghost, or whatever, and I just laugh. I just love that they are so into it that they can come up with these theories about her.