I didn’t come to Mexico City with an overwhelming desire to catch a Lucha Libre match (or show or whatever you call one). I’d looked up a few ‘best of’ lists on things to do in the city and it kept coming up. That got me to look into it, and I learned was that it was it was over the top spectacle, it was cheap (less than $15 USD per ticket, even after Ticketmaster’s BS fees), and you could drink during it. So really, it couldn’t go that badly. That being settled, I picked a Sunday evening and booked tickets for Elani and me.
In case it wasn’t apparent, Lucha Libre isn’t a sport. It’s more like a soap opera with body slams instead of cheesy dialog, although there is some of that too. There are good guys and bad guys, and it’s not too hard to figure out who’s who. There are also ongoing plot lines. Not being a follower of it, I didn’t really understand them, but you don’t really need to. There’s some drama can only be solved by getting half naked and wrestling. If you need more than that, you’re probably missing the point.
Though this isn’t a sport in the sense that it’s not a competition to determine a winner (that’s clearly already been decided well in advance), the players are very much athletes. Some of the action is pretty silly – punches come nowhere near to landing and the attacks that do land are usually full on open palm slaps to the pecs – there were some downright amazing acrobatics. Arm locks starting from the ropes that turn into a flipping slam to the mat. Throws done from a spinning handstand. Slamming an ‘opponent’ by climbing the ropes and jumping into the pit next to the mat. Yeah, everyone is cooperating to make it happen, but still, doing that safely takes skill, and that’s fun to watch. I also really appreciated the minimal brutality. No fake blood, no real attempt to make the hits look realistic. The emphasis is really on the acrobatics and drama.
It certainly wasn’t highbrow entertainment, but it was fun to turn my brain off, have a beer, root for the good guy, boo the bad guy and enjoy some entertainment that really doesn’t try to be more than it is. Seeing it didn’t turn me into a diehard fan or anything, but being there in person was definitely an experience, and I could see catching another show if I have another evening free in Mexico City.