Lucha libre
Encyclopedia
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
that has developed within those countries. Although the term nowadays refers exclusively to professional wrestling, it was originally used in the same style as the English term "freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...
", referring to an amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling is the most widespread form of sport wrestling. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA : Greco-Roman and freestyle. Freestyle is possibly derived from the English Lancashire style...
style without the restrictions of Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...
.
Mexican wrestling is characterized by colorful masks, rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, as well as "high-flying" maneuvers
Professional wrestling aerial techniques
Aerial techniques are maneuvers, using the ring and its posts and ropes as aids, used in professional wrestling to show off the speed and agility of a wrestler. These moves are mainly done by smaller, quicker wrestlers who are unable to do most of the power moves. There is a wide variety of aerial...
, some of which have been adopted in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The wearing of masks has developed special significance, and matches are sometimes contested in which the loser must permanently remove his mask, which is a wager with a high degree of weight attached. Tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
wrestling is especially prevalent in lucha libre, particularly matches with three-member teams, called trios.
Lucha libre wrestlers are known as luchadores (singular luchador) ("fighter(s)"). They usually come from extended wrestling families who form their proper stables. One such line integrated to the United States professional wrestling scene is Los Guerreros
Los Guerreros
Los Guerreros is a Mexican American family that has been involved with professional wrestling for three generations with the patriarch of the family Gory Guerrero making his debut on September 15, 1937...
.
Lucha libre has also transcended the language barrier to some extent as evidenced by works such as Los Luchadores
Los Luchadores
Los Luchadores was a Canadian-American live-action children's television series that played as part of the Fox Kids programming block in 2001 produced by Saban Entertainment and Shavick Entertainment...
, ¡Mucha Lucha!
¡Mucha Lucha!
¡Mucha Lucha! was an animated television series. It premiered on Kids' WB on August 17, 2002. It was created by Eddie Mort and Lili Chin and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is the first animated television series created with Adobe Flash, a program often used for Internet cartoons...
, and Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre is a 2006 comedy film directed by Jared Hess. It is a production of Nickelodeon Movies.The script was written by Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess and Mike White. It was loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta , aka Rev. Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who had a...
.
Rules
The rules of lucha libre are similar to American singles matches. Matches can be won by pinning the opponent to the mat for the count of three, making him submit, knocking him out of the ring for a predetermined count (generally twenty) or by disqualification. Using the ropes for leverage is illegal, and once a luchador is on the ropes, his opponent must release any holds and he will not be able to pin him.Disqualifications occur when an opponent uses an illegal hold, move (such as the piledriver, which is an illegal move in lucha libre and grounds for immediate disqualification, though some variations are legal in certain promotions), or weapon, hits his opponent in the groin (faul), uses outside interference, attacks the referee, or rips his opponent's mask completely off. Most matches are two out of three falls (dos de tres caídas), which had been abandoned for title bouts in North America and Japan in the 1970s.
A rule unique to lucha libre applies during tag team matches, which is when the legal wrestler of a team touches the floor outside the ring, a teammate may enter the ring to take his place as the legal competitor. As the legal wrestler can step to the floor willingly, there is essentially no need for an actual tag to a teammate to bring him into a match. This often allows for much more frenetic action to take place in the ring than would otherwise be possible under standard tag rules.
History of lucha libre in Mexico
Salvador Lutteroth
Salvador Lutteroth was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter of the mid-twentieth century. Lutteroth's promotion, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre , has been the dominant Mexican promotion since its founding in 1933, until Lutteroth left the company in the 1950s...
founded the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
(Mexican Wrestling Enterprise) in 1933, giving the sport a national foothold for the first time.
The promotion company flourished and quickly became the premier spot for wrestlers. As television surfaced as a viable entertainment medium during the 1950s, Lutteroth was then able to broadcast his wrestling across the nation, subsequently yielding a popularity explosion for the sport. Moreover, it was the emergence of television that allowed Lutteroth to promote lucha libre’s first breakout superstar into a national pop-culture phenomenon.
In 1942, lucha libre would be forever changed when a silver-masked wrestler, known simply as El Santo (The Saint), first stepped into the ring. He made his debut in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
by winning an 8-man battle royal
Battle royal (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner...
. The public became enamored by the mystique and secrecy of Santo's personality, and he quickly became the most popular luchador in Mexico. His wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became a folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in comic books and movies
Lucha film
The sport of Lucha Libre became so popular in Mexico, that it spawned a genre of Luchador films starring some of the most popular masked luchadores in the sport. These masked superheroes engaged in battles against a range of characters from spies, to vampires and martians...
, while the sport received an unparalleled degree of mainstream attention.
Other legendary luchadores who helped popularize the sport include Gory Guerrero
Gory Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero Quesada , better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Hispanic professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside of Mexico. He wrestled primarily in Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre between the 1940s and 1960s...
, who is credited with developing moves and holds which are now commonplace in professional wrestling; Blue Demon
Blue Demon
Alejandro Muñoz Moreno , better known as Blue Demon , was a Mexican luchador Enmascarado who was widely considered to be one of the greatest Mexican wrestlers of his time...
, a contemporary of Santo and possibly his greatest rival; and Mil Máscaras
Mil Máscaras
Aaron Rodríguez , best known as Mil Máscaras , is a semi-retired Mexican professional wrestler and actor, who has starred in several films with fellow luchadores...
(Man of A Thousand Masks) who is credited with introducing the high flying moves of lucha libre to audiences around the world. He achieved international fame as one of the first high-flyers, something he was not considered in Mexico, where he fell under the mat-power category.
Lucha libre style of wrestling
Professional wrestling aerial techniques
Aerial techniques are maneuvers, using the ring and its posts and ropes as aids, used in professional wrestling to show off the speed and agility of a wrestler. These moves are mainly done by smaller, quicker wrestlers who are unable to do most of the power moves. There is a wide variety of aerial...
than professional wrestlers in the U.S. who more often rely on power and hard strikes to subdue their opponents. The difference in styles is due to the independent evolution of the sport in Mexico beginning in the 1930s and the fact that luchadores in the cruiserweight
Cruiserweight (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a cruiserweight is a wrestler weighing 220 lb and less, sometimes 215. The older term junior heavyweight, which was used to describe the division, is more favored in Japan, where many titles for lighter-weight competitors are called junior heavyweight titles...
division (peso semicompleto) are often the most popular wrestlers in Mexican lucha libre. Luchadores execute characteristic high flying attacks by using the wrestling ring
Wrestling ring
A wrestling ring is the ring stage on which professional wrestlers wrestle.-Configuration and construction:The configuration and construction of the "traditional" ring is very similar to that of a boxing ring, though the wrestling version has three ring ropes...
's ropes to catapult themselves towards their opponents, using intricate combinations in rapid-fire succession, and applying complex submission holds.
Lucha libre has several different weight classes, many catered to smaller agile fighters, who often make their debuts in their mid-teens. This system enables dynamic high-flying luchadores such as Rey Mysterio, Jr., Juventud Guerrera
Juventud Guerrera
Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández , better known as Juventud Guerrera, is a Mexican professional wrestler who is best known for his work in many wrestling promotions worldwide, including all the major American wrestling promotions, such as World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship...
, Super Crazy
Super Crazy
Francisco Islas Rueda is a Mexican professional wrestler, or Luchador, best known by his ring name Super Crazy. Islas is most known for his three year run in the original ECW...
and Místico
Místico
Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the name Sin Cara...
, to develop years of experience by their mid-twenties. A number of prominent Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
wrestlers also started their careers training in Mexican lucha libre before becoming stars in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. These include Gran Hamada
Gran Hamada
, better known by his ring name , is Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro, and All Japan Pro Wrestling, and was the founder of Universal Lucha Libre...
, Satoru Sayama
Satoru Sayama
is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known as the original Tiger Mask. He's wrestled under his real name as well as the names Sammy Lee, and masked Super Tiger, Tiger King, Tiger Mask and The Mask of Tiger...
, Jushin Liger
Jushin Liger
, better known as and later, is a Japanese professional wrestler who primarily works for New Japan Pro Wrestling.He has wrestled and beaten many of the top smaller wrestlers in both Japan and the United States, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most revolutionary junior...
, and Último Dragón. With so many weight classes, Mexico has the largest number of professional wrestlers in the world.
Lucha libre is also known for its tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
wrestling matches. The teams are often made up of three members, instead of two as is common in the U.S. These three man teams participate in what are called trios matches, for tag team championship belts. Of these three members, one member is designated the captain. A successful fall in a trios match can be achieved by either pinning the captain of the opposing team or by pinning both of the other members. A referee can also stop the match because of "excessive punishment". He can then award the match to the aggressors. Falls often occur simultaneously, which adds to the extremely stylized nature of the action. In addition, a wrestler can opt to roll out of the ring in lieu of tagging a partner or simply be knocked out of the ring, at which point one of his partners may enter. As a result, the tag team formula and pacing which has developed in U.S. tag matches is different from lucha libre because the race to tag is not a priority. There are also two-man tag matches (parejas), as well as "four on four" matches (atomicos).
Masks
Wrestling mask
A Wrestling mask is a fabric based mask that some professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 and they are still widely used today, especially in Lucha Libre in Mexico.-History:In 1915 a North American...
(máscaras) have been used dating back to the beginnings of lucha libre in the early part of the 20th century, and have a historical significance to Mexico in general, dating to the days of the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
s. Early masks were very simple with basic colors to distinguish the wrestler. In modern lucha libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, gods
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
, ancient hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
es, and other archetypes, whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance. Virtually all wrestlers in Mexico will start their careers wearing masks, but over the span of their careers, a large number of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in his final bout or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying loss of identity as that character. Sometimes, losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask. The mask is considered "sacred" to a degree, so much so that fully removing an opponent's mask during a match is grounds for disqualification.
During their careers, masked luchadores will often be seen in public wearing their masks and keeping up the culture of Lucha Libre, while other masked wrestlers will interact with the public and press normally. However, they will still go to great lengths to conceal their true identities; in effect, the mask is synonymous with the luchador. El Santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing his silver mask.
More recently, the masks luchadores wear have become iconic symbols of Mexican culture. Contemporary artists like Francisco Delgado and Xavier Garza incorporate wrestler masks in their paintings.
Although masks are a feature of lucha libre, it is a misconception that every Mexican wrestler uses one. There have been several maskless wrestlers who have been successful, particularly Tarzán López, Gory Guerrero
Gory Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero Quesada , better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Hispanic professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside of Mexico. He wrestled primarily in Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre between the 1940s and 1960s...
, Perro Aguayo
Perro Aguayo
Pedro Aguayo better known as "Perro Aguayo" and El Can de Nochistlan , was a famous Mexican wrestler through 1970s to 1990s. His son also wrestles as Perro Aguayo, Jr. or El Hijo del Perro Aguayo . He is one of the biggest box office attractions in lucha libre history and was the last major rival...
and Negro Casas
Negro Casas
José Casas Ruiz is a Mexican professional wrestler and trainer currently working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre under the ring name Negro Casas. He is the son of former wrestler, turned referee Pepe Casas and brother of professeional wrestlers El Felino and Heavy Metal...
. Formerly masked wrestlers who lost their masks, such as Satánico, Cien Caras
Cien Caras
Carmelo Reyes González is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Cien Caras...
, Cibernético
Cibernético
Octavio López Arreola is a Mexican professional wrestler who is best known under the ring name Cibernético, currently working for the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion in Mexico...
and others, have had continued success despite the mask losses.
Luchas de Apuestas
With the importance placed on masks in lucha libre, losing the mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult, and can at times seriously hurt the career of the unmasking wrestler. Putting one's mask on the line against a hated opponent is a tradition in lucha libre as a means to settle a heated feudFeud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
between two or more wrestlers. In these battles, called luchas de apuestas ("matches with wagers"), the wrestlers "wager" either their mask or their hair.
"In a lucha de apuesta (betting match), wrestlers make a public bet on the outcome of the match. The most common forms are the mask-against-mask, hair-against-hair, or mask-against-hair matches. A wrestler who loses his or her mask has to remove the mask after the match. A wrestler who loses their hair is shaved immediately afterward." If the true identity of a person losing his mask is previously unknown, it is customary for that person to reveal his real name, hometown and years as a professional upon unmasking.
The first lucha de apuestas was presented on 14 July 1940 at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago (Velásquez) was so much lighter than his challenger (Octavio Gaona
Octavio Gaona
Octavio Gaona was a Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler, known for his participation in the first ever high profile Lucha de Apuesta, or wager fight, against Murciélago Velázquez. Gaona held both the Mexican National Middleweight Championship and the Mexican version of the World...
), he requested a further condition before he would sign the contract: Octavio Gaona would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio Gaona won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to a tradition in lucha libre.
Variants
- Máscara contra máscara ("mask versus mask"): two masked luchadores bet their masks, the loser is unmasked by the winner.
- Máscara contra cabellera ("mask versus hair"): a masked wrestler and an unmasked one compete, often after the unmasked one has lost his mask to the masked one in a prior bout. If the masked luchador wins, the unmasked one shaves his head as a sign of humiliation. If the unmasked luchador is the winner, he keeps his hair and the loser is unmasked.
- Cabellera contra cabellera ("hair versus hair"): the loser of the match has his head shaved bald. This can occur both between unmasked wrestlers and between masked wrestlers who have to remove their mask enough to be shaved after the match.
- Máscara o cabellera contra campeonato ("mask or hair versus title"): if the masked or haired luchador loses, the champion unmasks him. But if the champion loses, the luchador is crowned the new champion. An example of this occurred in the WWE, where Rey Mysterio the masked luchador beat the Intercontinental ChampionWWE Intercontinental ChampionshipThe WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
Chris Jericho at WWE The Bash. - Máscara o cabellera contra retiro ("mask or hair versus career"): if the masked or haired luchador loses, his opponent must resume his career. But if he wins, his opponent must retire
- Carrera contra carrera ("career versus career"): Loser must retire.
Weight classes
Since Lucha Libre has its roots more in Latin American professional wrestling than North American professional wrestling it retains some of the basics of the Latin American version such as more weight classes than professional wrestling in North America. Lucha Libre has a detailed weight class system patterned after boxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. Each weight class has an official upper limit, but examples of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to hold their title can be found. The following weight classes exist in Lucha Libre, as defined by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission), the main regulatory body in Mexico:
| Name (English) | Name (Spanish) | Weight Limit | Titles in division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flyweight | Mosca | 52 kg (114.6 lb) | None |
| Bantamweight | Gallo | 57 kg (125.7 lb) | None |
| Featherweight | Pluma | 63 kg (138.9 lb) | Mexican National, UWA UWA World Featherweight Championship The UWA World Featherweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Universal Wrestling Association from 1983 until the promotion closed in 1995... |
| Lightweight | Ligero | 70 kg (154.3 lb) | Mexican National, UWA UWA World Lightweight Championship The UWA World Lightweight Championship is an inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Universal Wrestling Association from 1975 until some time around 2000 when Kato Kung Lee, Jr. stopped defending it... , WWA, IWRG IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship The IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship is a singles professional wrestling championship promoted by International Wrestling Revolution Group since May 2008... |
| Super Lightweight | Super Ligero | 73 kg (160.9 lb) | CMLL CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship The CMLL World Lightweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling-based promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre... |
| Welterweight | Welter | 77 kg (169.8 lb) | Mexican National Mexican National Welterweight Championship The Mexican National Welterweight Championship is a Mexican professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. . While the commission sanctions the title, it does not promote the events at which the title is defended... , NWA NWA World Welterweight Championship The NWA World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence, the title has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Welter de... , CMLL CMLL World Welterweight Championship The CMLL World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . The official definition of a Welterweight in Mexico is a person between and but is not strictly adhered to these days... , UWA UWA World Welterweight Championship The UWA World Welterweight Championship is a championship in professional wrestling that is primarily contested for in various Lucha Libre promotions in Mexico. In 1993, the championship was recognized by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion Michinoku Pro, following Super Delfin's victory... , WWA, IWRG IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship The IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship is an inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group since 1998... |
| Super Welterweight | Super welter | 82 kg (180.8 lb) | IWRG IWRG Intercontinental Super Welterweight Championship The IWRG Intercontinental Super Welterweight Championship is an inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group... |
| Middleweight | Medio | 87 kg (191.8 lb) | Mexican National Mexican National Middleweight Championship The Mexican National Middleweight Championship is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by a "National title" controlled by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." , which regulates all matches where the title is defended... , NWA NWA World Middleweight Championship The NWA World Middleweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship, promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato... , CMLL CMLL World Middleweight Championship The CMLL World Middleweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre... , UWA UWA World Middleweight Championship The UWA World Middleweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship originally created and sanctioend by the Mexican lucha libre promotion Universal Wrestling Association from 1976 until the UWA closed in 1995... , WWA, IWRG IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship The IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship is an inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group... |
| Super Middleweight / Junior Light Heavyweight | Super medio / Semicompleto Junior | 92 kg (202.8 lb) | UWA UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship that was originally promoted by the Mexican lucha libre Professional wrestling) promotion Universal Wrestling Association... , WWA |
| Light Heavyweight | Semi completo | 97 kg (213.8 lb) | Mexican National Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship controlled by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.... , NWA NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato... , CMLL CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship -External links:* at Wrestling-titles.com... , UWA UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a singles professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling based promotion Universal Wrestling Association from 1975 until the UWA closed in 1995 and since then been defended on the Mexican independent circuit... , WWA |
| Junior Heavyweight / Cruiserweight | Completo junior / Crucero | 105 kg (231.5 lb) | UWA UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a now inactive title that was originall promoted by the Mexican lucha libre Professional wrestling) promotion. After the UWA closed in 1995 the title was defended on the Mexican and Puerto Rican independent circuit. The last known champion was Andy... , AAA |
| Heavyweight | Completo | 105 kg (231.5 lb) | Mexican National Mexican National Heavyweight Championship The Mexican National Heavyweight Championship is a Mexican Lucha Libre championship created and sanctioned by "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." . While the Commission sanctions the title, it does not promote the events in which the Championship is defended... , CMLL CMLL World Heavyweight Championship The CMLL World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and has been in existence since 1991... , UWA UWA World Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally promoted by Universal Wrestling Association until it closed in 1995 and since then been defended on the Mexican independent circuit... , WWA, IWRG IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship The IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship is a singles Championship in the Mexican lucha libre promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group and was introduced in 1997. It has since been defended throughout Mexico, primarily in Naucalpan, but also in Japan as well... , AAA AAA World Heavyweight Championship IWC World Heavyweight Champion GPCW SUPER-X Monster Champion Mexican National Heavyweight Champion UWA World Light Heavyweight Champion-External links:*... |
Other characteristics
Luchadores are traditionally divided into two categories, rudos (lit. "tough guys", who are "bad guys", or "heelsHeel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
", literally "rude ones"), who bend or break the rules, and técnicos (the "good guys", or "faces
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
", literally "technicians"), who play by the rules and their moves are much more complex and spectacular. Técnicos tend to have very formal combat styles, close to Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...
and martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
techniques, whereas rudos tend to be brawlers. Técnicos playing the "good guy" role, and rudos playing the "bad guy" role is very characteristic of Mexican lucha libre, which differs from U.S. professional wrestling, where many technical wrestlers play the role of heels (e.g., Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
), and many brawlers play as "faces" (e.g., Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
). Although rudos often resort to using underhanded tactics, they are still expected to live up to a luchador code of honor. For instance, a luchador who has lost a wager match would prefer to endure the humiliation of being unmasked or having his head shaved rather than live with the shame that would come from not honoring his bet. Rudos have also been known to make the transition into técnicos after a career defining moment, as was the case with Blue Demon
Blue Demon
Alejandro Muñoz Moreno , better known as Blue Demon , was a Mexican luchador Enmascarado who was widely considered to be one of the greatest Mexican wrestlers of his time...
, who decided to become a técnico after his wrestling partner, Black Shadow
Alejandro Cruz (wrestler)
Alejandro Cruz Ortiz was a Mexican Luchador , known worldwide as Black Shadow. Cruz's mask vs. mask match against El Santo in 1953 is generally considered one of the most important matches in the history of Lucha Libre...
, was unmasked by the legendary Santo
Santo
Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta , more widely known as El Santo , was a Mexican Luchador enmascarado , film actor, and folk icon....
. Tag teams are sometimes composed of both rudos and técnicos in what are called parejas increibles (incredible pairings). Parejas increibles highlight the conflict between a luchadors desire to win and his contempt for his partner.
Luchadores, like their foreign counterparts, seek to obtain a campeonato (championship) through winning key wrestling matches. Since many feuds and shows are built around luchas de apuestas (matches with wagers), title matches play a less prominent role in Mexico than in the U.S. Titles can be defended as few as one time per year and wrestlers usually only wear their belts during big events and title defenses.
Lucha libre uses a more specific weight class system to classify titles. Popular weight classes include: heavyweight, light-heavyweight, welterweight and middleweight. Lightweight and super-lightweight titles are also used. The Cruiserweight
Cruiserweight (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a cruiserweight is a wrestler weighing 220 lb and less, sometimes 215. The older term junior heavyweight, which was used to describe the division, is more favored in Japan, where many titles for lighter-weight competitors are called junior heavyweight titles...
division is often associated with the lucha libre style of wrestling, even though in Mexico, the term light-heavyweight (peso semicompleto) is used due to a different weight class system. In recent years, weight classes have been mostly nominal and there are occasions when a wrestler will have titles in two different weight classes. However, title matches are still major events and many shows are built around them.
The two most popular lucha libre promotions are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
(CMLL), which was founded in 1933, and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico...
(AAA).
Lucha libre is currently experiencing a boom in popularity due to the emergence of a new generation of stars, most notably, a masked wrestler named Místico
Místico
Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the name Sin Cara...
now known as Sin Cara
Sin Cara
Sin Cara is a professional wrestling character in the WWE, which has been portrayed by two different performers:*Luis Urive, the original Sin Cara a.k.a Sin Cara "Azul"...
, whose high-flying style and technique attracted record crowds in Mexico before he signed with WWE.
Female professional wrestlers
Female wrestlers or luchadoras also compete in Mexican lucha libre. The CMLL World Women's ChampionshipCMLL World Women's Championship
The CMLL World Women's Championship is the top female professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre...
is the top title for CMLL's women's division; while the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship
AAA Reina de Reinas Championship
The AAA Queen of Queens Championship is a singles professional wrestling females championship promoted by Asistencia Asesoría y Administración . The Championship has been in existence since 1999 and is the only females only championship currently in AAA, though it is currently held by a man...
is a championship defended in an annual tournament by female wrestlers in AAA
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico...
. AAA also recognizes a World Mixed Tag Team Championship
AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship
The AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship is a tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración . The Championship is exclusively for teams composed of one male wrestler and one female wrestler...
, contested by tag teams composed of a luchador and luchadora respectively. In 2000, the all female promotion company Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) was founded.
Mini-Estrellas
Lucha Libre has a division called the "Mini-Estrella" or "Minis" division, which unlike North American midget professional wrestling is not just for dwarvesDwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
but also for luchadores that are short, originally the limit for the Mini division was 5 feet but in recent years wrestlers such as Pequeño Olímpico
Pequeño Olímpico
Pequeño Olímpico is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler. Pequeño Olímpico is a part of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's Mini-Estrella, or "Mini", division and holds the record for the longest CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship reign, 1,442 days...
have worked the Minis division despite being tall. The Minis division was first popularized in the 1970s with wrestlers like Pequeño Luke and Arturito (a wrestler with an R2-D2
R2-D2
R2-D2 , is a character in the Star Wars universe. An astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character throughout all six Star Wars films. Along with his droid companion C-3PO, he joins or supports Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga...
gimmick) becoming noticed for their high flying abilities. In the late 1980s/early 1990s CMLL created the first actual "Minis" division, the brainchild of then-CMLL booker Antonio Peña
Antonio Peña
Antonio Hipolito Peña Herrada was the founder of the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración in 1992, which today is the largest wrestling promotion in Mexico. Peña's promotion reached its height of popularity in the early 1990s before the downturn of the...
. CMLL created the CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship
CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship
The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha libre wrestling-based promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . The championship is exclusively competed for in the Mini-Estrellas, or Minis, division...
in 1992, making it the oldest Minis championship still in existence today. Minis are often patterned after "regular sized" wrestlers and are sometimes called "mascotas" ("pets") if they team with the regular sized version.
Luchadores in the U.S.
In 1994, AAA promoted the When Worlds Collide pay-per-viewPay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
in conjunction with the U.S. promotion company World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(WCW). When Worlds Collide introduced U.S. audiences to many of the top luchadores in Mexico at the time.
In recent years, several luchadores have found success in the United States. Notable luchadores who achieved success in the U.S. are Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Juventud Guerrera
Juventud Guerrera
Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández , better known as Juventud Guerrera, is a Mexican professional wrestler who is best known for his work in many wrestling promotions worldwide, including all the major American wrestling promotions, such as World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship...
, La Parka
Adolfo Tapia
Adolfo Margarito Tapia Ibarra is a Mexican Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler. For years he has worked under the ring name L.A. Park, but is best known throughout the world as La Parka, especially from his many years in World Championship Wrestling . He was forced to change his...
, Super Crazy
Super Crazy
Francisco Islas Rueda is a Mexican professional wrestler, or Luchador, best known by his ring name Super Crazy. Islas is most known for his three year run in the original ECW...
and Psicosis.
Lucha libre shows are broadcast weekly in the U.S. on the Galavisión and LA TV Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
cable networks.
Additional information
In Peru the term "cachascán" (from "catch as can") is used. Wrestlers are called cachascanistas. In ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, in addition to lucha libre, professional wrestling is also referred to as "catch", or catch as catch can
Catch wrestling
Catch wrestling is a style of folk wrestling that was developed and popularised in the late 19th century by the wrestlers of traveling carnivals who incorporated submission holds, or "hooks", into their wrestling to increase their effectiveness against their opponents...
. In Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n Lucha Libre, wrestling Cholitas
Fighting Cholitas
The Fighting Cholitas are a group of female lucha libre wrestlers who perform in El Alto, Bolivia. The Cholitas were the subject of an award-winning 2006 short-subject documentary, The Fighting Cholitas....
— female wrestlers dressed up as indigenous Aymara — are popular.
Mexico
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha LibreConsejo Mundial de Lucha LibreConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
(CMLL) - Asistencia Asesoría y AdministraciónAsistencia Asesoría y AdministraciónAsistencia Asesoría y Administración is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico...
(AAA) - International Wrestling Revolution GroupInternational Wrestling Revolution GroupInternational Wrestling Revolution Group is a Lucha Libre promotion based in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico. Founded in 1996 by Adolfo Moreno and since Moreno's death in late 2007 has been controlled by his sons Alfredo and Marco Moreno...
(IWRG) - Universal Wrestling AssociationUniversal Wrestling AssociationThe Universal Wrestling Association was a Mexican Lucha Libre or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995...
(defunct) - World Wrestling AssociationWorld Wrestling AssociationThe World Wrestling Association is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora, Jr....
(Promociones Mora) - Universal Wrestling Entertainment (UWE)
- Alianza Universal de Lucha Libre (AULL)
- Xtreme Latin American Wrestling (XLAW)
- PROLLM
- Lucha Libre Feminil (LLF)
- Nueva Generación Extrema (NGX)
- Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU)
- Arena Club Deportivo Unidos De Lucha Libre (DULL)
- Arena Club Deportivo Anahuac De Lucha Libre
- Arena Club Deportivo Amigo Jr De Lucha Libre (DALL)
- Arena Club Deportivo Bombero De Lucha Libre
- Arena De Lucha Libre Tigre Espanol
- Arena Club Deportivo Las Torres De Lucha Libre
- Arena De Lucha Libre Ben-Hur (Red Line Promotions)
Japan
- Michinoku Pro WrestlingMichinoku Pro WrestlingMichinoku Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded by The Great Sasuke in 1993. Michinoku Pro was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather in Morioka, Iwate...
- Osaka Pro WrestlingOsaka Pro WrestlingOsaka Pro Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1998 by Super Delfin.-Current champions:-External links:**...
- Pro Wrestling KAGEKI
- Toryumon / Dragon GateDragon Gateis a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers are graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling,...
- Universal Lucha LibreUniversal Lucha LibreUniversal Lucha Libre was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1990 to 1995...
(defunct)
United States
- Chikara
- Incredibly Strange WrestlingIncredibly Strange WrestlingIncredibly Strange Wrestling was a San Francisco-based professional wrestling promotion, heavily influenced by masked Mexican Wrestling or Lucha Libre...
- Lucha Libre USALucha Libre USALucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors was a television program on the MTV2 broadcast channel, chronicling the rise of Mexican-style wrestling, or lucha libre, in the United States. The first episode was aired on July 16, 2010. The second season premiered October 1, 2011. However, after only four...
- Delgado Promotions
- Ocean Pools Promotions
- Felix Promotions
- GALLI Lucha Libre Chicago
Puerto Rico
- World Wrestling CouncilWorld Wrestling CouncilThe World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
(WWC) - International Wrestling AssociationInternational Wrestling AssociationThe International Wrestling Association is a wrestling promotion in Puerto Rico, started in Japan in 1994 by promoter Victor Quiñones. The Hispanic division was created in 1999. The company was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance until 2001, but again became a member in 2007...
(IWA) - Capitol Sports Promotions (became WWC)
Lucha libre in popular culture
Lucha libre has crossed over into popular culture, especially in Mexico where it is the second most popular sport after Football (soccer). Outside of Mexico Lucha Libre has also crossed over into popular culture, especially in movies and television.Movies and television
The motion picture Nacho LibreNacho Libre
Nacho Libre is a 2006 comedy film directed by Jared Hess. It is a production of Nickelodeon Movies.The script was written by Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess and Mike White. It was loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta , aka Rev. Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who had a...
, starring Jack Black
Jack Black (actor)
Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black is an American comedian, actor and musician. He makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D. The group has two albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally...
as a priest-turned-luchador was inspired by the story of real life Priest turned Luchador Father Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez who wrestled as Fray Tormenta
Fray Tormenta
Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez is a Mexican priest who supported an orphanage for 23 years as a lucha libre wrestler. While performing, he wore a red and yellow mask and used the ring name Fray Tormenta. He made only sporadic in-ring appearances in the 2000s before retiring completely from wrestling in...
to make money for his church. The American horror movie Wrestlemaniac is centered around the story of an insane luchador with abnormal strength; the titular villain is played by luchador Rey Misterio, Sr.
Rey Misterio, Sr.
Miguel Ángel López Díaz, better known as his ring name Rey Misterio, Sr. is a Mexican professional wrestler, trainer and actor. He is the uncle of well-known luchador Rey Mysterio, Jr. His name directly translates to "Mystery King" in English...
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
's animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto is a 2009 animated comedy exploitation film that also combines elements of horror and thriller films. It is based upon the comic book series created by Rob Zombie that follows the character of El Superbeasto and his sidekick sister, Suzi-X, voiced by Sheri...
stars a Mexican luchador named El Superbeasto. The candid, heart-wrenching tale of Carmen Rosa, a Bolivian luchadora, is told in Betty M. Park's 2009 documentary 'Mamachas del Ring'.
Television has also seen shows inspired by Lucha Libre, especially animated series such as ¡Mucha Lucha!
¡Mucha Lucha!
¡Mucha Lucha! was an animated television series. It premiered on Kids' WB on August 17, 2002. It was created by Eddie Mort and Lili Chin and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is the first animated television series created with Adobe Flash, a program often used for Internet cartoons...
, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
also produced an animated mini-series based on luchador El Santo. The world of Lucha Libre has also been used as inspirations for episodes of television series, most notably the 200th episode of CSI, "Mascara" centered on the investigation of visiting luchadores with connections to a murder. The WB television series Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
episode entitled "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco" told the story of a family of luchadores called "Los Hermanos Números" who also fought evil. Angel must help the remaining brother, Numero Cinco, defeat the Aztec warrior-demon that killed his four brothers. Lucha Libre has also inspired television shows outside of the United States; In the British TV show Justin Lee Collins
Justin Lee Collins
Justin Lee Collins, commonly known as JLC, is an award-winning English comedian and television presenter.A Bristolian, he's well known for his strong West Country accent, shaggy appearance and colourful shirts....
: The Wrestler, Colins competes as the rudo El Glorioso, or The Glorious One, against the exotico Cassandro
Cassandro
Saul Armendariz is a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler, who works as an exotico for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración and several independent promotions all over the world under the ring name Cassandro. He is the current NWA World Welterweight Champion and a former UWA World...
in The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
, London, ultimately losing and being de-masked.
Games and print media
Many fighting video games have featured characters based on luchadores, featuring both the masked aspects and the different wrestling style of Lucha Libre compared to traditional professional wrestling. In Tekken the characters KingKing (Tekken)
is the name of two characters in the Tekken fighting game series. The characters were inspired by the pro wrestler Satoru Sayama, as well as Mexican wrestler Fray Tormenta, a Catholic priest who became a masked wrestler in order to support an orphanage...
and Armor King both wear the "Jaguar Mask", while the latest trailer for Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
is a fighting game in the Tekken series and the successor to 1999's Tekken Tag Tournament. The game was released in Japanese arcades on September 14, 2011 and will be released on the PlayStation 3 sometime in 2012...
showed a female luchador, with similarities to Rey Mysterio. In other fighting games characters are luchadores fighting in the tournaments for a living such as: El Fuerte from Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter IV
is a fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom since . The coin-operated arcade game was released in Japan on July 18, 2008, with North American arcades importing the machines by August...
, Ramon, Tizoc, and Raiden from The King of Fighters, Lisa from Dead or Alive and El Blaze from Virtua Fighter. A Japanese wrestler, Takuya Sugi
Takuya Sugi
Takuya Sugi is a Japanese professional wrestler from Shizuoka. He currently wrestles as a freelancer in the Japanese independent circuit; he uses many aliases, most commonly Yoshitsune and El Blazer...
has actually wrestled as "El Blazer" in Japan.
The 2D wrestling arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
"Saturday Night Slam Masters
Saturday Night Slam Masters
Saturday Night Slam Masters, known in Japan as , is a 1993 pro wrestling arcade game released for the CP System by Capcom. The game features character designs by manga artist Tetsuo Hara, famous for Fist of the North Star....
" released by Japanese game company Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
in 1993 featured a final boss character called "El Escorpión" (The Scorpion), whose appearance was inspired by a legendary Mexican "Luchador" called Tinieblas
Tinieblas
Manuel Leal , better known as Tinieblas , is a Mexican luchador.-Professional wrestling career:Tinieblas began as a body builder and stunt man who was spotted by luchadores Black Shadow and Dory Dixon. Impressed by Leal's physique they convinced him to begin a career as a "luchador"...
. The character's name in the original Japanese edition of the game was "The Astro" (アストロ, Asutoro). One of the regular characters, El Stingray, is also a luchador.
In the Music/Rhythm Game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
DJ Hero
DJ Hero
DJ Hero is a music video game, developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision as a rhythm game spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise. It was released on October 27, 2009 in North America and on October 29, 2009 in Europe...
, a playable character named "Jugglernort" is a buff ex-Luchador Disc Jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
originating from Mexico. The game description explains that he got thrown in prison for "throwing beats" and he learned from then on how to "spin beats". It also states that he still has a strong suplex
Suplex
A suplex is an offensive move used in professional sport wrestling . The move consists of one wrestler picking up his or her opponent off the ground and then using a large portion of his or her own body weight to drive the opponent down on the mat. Nearly all suplexes have the attacker going down...
he can perform on anyone who crosses his path.
In other games Luchadors are not part of the game but the cultural inspiration is still seen, for instance in the video game No More Heroes
No More Heroes (video game)
, is an action video game for the Wii video game system. It was directed by Goichi Suda , developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Marvelous Entertainment Inc., Ubisoft and Rising Star Games...
for the Nintendo Wii, the main character, Travis Touchdown occasionally finds luchador masks through-out the game, which re-teach him wrestling moves that you can use from then on. The game also features trading cards that feature the masks of past, legendary luchadores. Suda 51, game developer and head of Grasshopper Studios is known for his fascination of Lucha Libre and often includes them in his game, such as the character MASK de Smith in killer7
Killer7
is an action-adventure video game for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. It was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Capcom. The game was written and directed by Goichi Suda, also known by the nickname Suda51, and produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi...
and was responsible for the collectible Lucha Libre masks in No More Heroes.
In April 2010, Konami announced Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring, which is the first major wrestling video game solely focused on Lucha Libre.
While Luchador comics are a well known phenomenon in Mexico, featuring wrestlers from El Santo to Cibernético
Cibernético
Octavio López Arreola is a Mexican professional wrestler who is best known under the ring name Cibernético, currently working for the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion in Mexico...
, comics outside of Mexico also draw on the images and culture of Lucha Libre. The comic Sonambulo
Sonambulo
Sonámbulo is a fictional character from the American independent comic book series of the same name created by Rafael Navarro....
revolves around a crime fighting luchador who possesses supernatural powers. In the rock and roll comic series The Amazing Joy Buzzards El Campeon is a luchador genie who is summoned by using a magic amulet by those in need. Doctor Eggman
Doctor Eggman
, also known by his alias , is a fictional video game character, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Sega. Dr. Eggman is a rotund, mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who plans to conquer the world in order to build his Eggman Empire and is the archenemy of Sonic the Hedgehog...
, the main antagonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, wrestles as "El Gran Gordo" (Spanish for, roughly, "The Big Fat One") in the Sonic X comic
Sonic X (comics)
Sonic X was an ongoing comic book series published by Archie Comics, based on the English dub of the Japanese anime of the same name. Like Archie's other title, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic X features SEGA's mascot video game character Sonic. It began in September 2005 and was originally meant to be a...
series. The martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Tenjho Tenge
Tenjho Tenge
is a Japanese manga authored by Ito "Oh! great" Ōgure. The story primarily focuses on the members of the Juken Club and their opposition, the Executive Council, which is the ruling student body of a high school that educates its students in the art of combat...
includes a character named Kōji Sagara
Koji Sagara
is a character in the manga and anime series Tenjho Tenge. He is a member of the Executive Council, and the founder of the Lucha libre pro-wrestling club.-Character outline:...
who fights in the lucha libre style. The anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Air Master
Air Master
is a seinen manga created by Yokusaru Shibata and serialized in Hakusensha's Young Animal. The story focuses on Maki Aikawa, an ex-gymnast turned street fighter. A 27-episode anime adaptation was produced by Toei Animation. The manga ended in 2006 after a 28 volume run.Geneon had signed an...
features a luchador style character called Lucha Master.
In the 2011 video game Saints Row: The Third, one of the three gangs you tackle is a group of heavy weapon wielding Luchadores. One of your allies is an ex lucha libre wrestler, quitting after being unmasked by his former tag-team partner Killbane - the leader of the Luchadore gang.
Lucha libre inspirations
NikeNike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
has designed a line of lucha libre inspired athletic shoes. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
developed a Blue Demon Full Throttle
Full Throttle (drink)
Full Throttle is an energy drink brand produced by The Coca-Cola Company. It debuted in late 2004 in North America.On April 24, 2008, it was announced that Coca-Cola would change sponsorship of the National Hot Rod Association professional classes from POWERade to Full Throttle.In November, 2009,...
energy drink named after the luchador Blue Demon, Jr.
Blue Demon, Jr.
Blue Demon, Jr. is a Mexican luchador and professional wrestler. He is the allegedly adopted son of the legendary original Blue Demon and is the first Mexican and the second masked wrestler to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Blue Demon, Jr.'s real name is unknown.-Origins and heritage...
who is also the spokesperson for the drink in Mexico. Coca-Cola also introduced "Gladiator" in Mexico, an energy drink that sponsored CMLL events and who featured CMLL wrestlers such as Místico
Místico
Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the name Sin Cara...
and Último Guerrero
Último Guerrero
Último Guerrero is a Mexican currently working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where he is also part of the booking committee and former CMLL World Heavyweight Championship...
.
The Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
-based Anglo
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
band Los Straitjackets
Los Straitjackets
Los Straitjackets is an American instrumental rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1988. Originally comprising guitarists Danny Amis and Eddie Angel and drummer L. J. "Jimmy" Lester under the name The Straitjackets, the band split up soon after forming and reunited as Los Straitjackets...
adopted personalized luchador masks as part of their stage show in the mid-1990s, and have since acquired a large Mexican following.
External links
- luchalords
- Lucha Wiki
- Lucha Libre Video
- From Parts Unknown - Pop-culture resource for Mexican wrestling
- Pro-Wrestling Title Histories of Mexico
- SuperLuchas Top Mexican Lucha Libre Magazine
- Super Libre Mexican Lucha Libre On Line Magazine
- http://www.iwapr.tv
- http://www.luchalibreonline.tv
- http://www.rockandrollwrestlingbash.com