I went to a Lucha Libre fight last night, and let me tell you, it was an experience like none other. I think I'm still in shock a little. The event was held in a baseball stadium, and despite the fact that we paid general admission, we had great seats where we could see everything. And in the end, I was thankful that we weren't any closer. The first three fights were between local luchadores and they were entertaining, but you could tell they weren't especially good. As these fights were going on, the "super estrellas" were arriving and being swarmed by the crowd for autographs and photos. The last two fights were between these superstars in the lucha libre category. They were not only more impressive with their moves, but there was a lot of drama that went on at the same time as the fight.
Apparently, each lucha libre has his own story that is on-going in his personal life. They have lovers and enemies - basically it's like a violent version of the telenovela. The fights are the lucha libre's way of defeating his enemy or staking his claim on a particular woman. This was apparently manifested last night in one fight where two fighters who were on the same team hated each other and one ended up betraying his teammates to win the fight. (They fight in pairs or triples.) It was all very weird.
There were several highlights of the evening. One of the luchadores was a transvestite, and had the crowd roaring when he kissed the referee. It was quite creepy to have a man dressed as a woman fighing in a ring. Another highlight was a really famous lucha libre who wore probably the skimpiest speedo I have ever seen and who played up his "sexy" vibe to the crowd's delight. The women went berserk. There was also a lot of chair throwing and hitting. Of course, this whole time, I had no real idea of what was going on or what the point of any of this was. So, I looked up lucha libre on wikipedia to get a better idea of what this was all about.
Basically what happens is the luchadores fight in threes. They can defeat the other team by pinning either the captain or both of the other team members. They fight in three rounds and each round has a different characteristic. For example, in the first round, they fight one at a time, the second round they can tag-team the other team, and the third round consists of a slapping fest and a competition to see who can get the most applause from the audience. (At least, this seemed to be the pattern last night.) The luchadores rely on a lot of aerial moves and use the ropes to catapult themselves toward the other luchadores.
My favorite part of the evening was watching the crowd. They all had obvious favorites and they really got into the action by yelling at and even flicking off the luchadores that they hated. The kids all bought masks and were wearing them. There were people selling popcorn, churros, chips, sodas, masks, and all sorts of noisemakers. The stands were loud and full of energy. There were all kinds of people, too: little kids, teenagers, women, men, old men, tourists. In all honesty, I don't really understand what the fuss was all about. The fights appear very staged and it is all very melodramatic. The fighters were big, but they weren't toned, and I felt like there were many that I could have defended myself against. I'm not positive, but I think that a lot of the lucha libre is about making a stand for social change, and that many of the luchadores use their free time to speak up for reforms. Maybe that is why they are such a hit. Or, it may just be that I have no real appreciation for this type of fighting. Either way, it was a fun cultural experience that makes me interested in learning more.
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