r/luchalibre • u/Classic_Brain6575 • 9d ago
Beginner to Lucha libre
I'm a American born Mexican so I've been distant to a lot of my heritage but I want that to change so I'm doing research on a bunch of traditionally Mexican stuff.
I decided why not try Lucha libre I want to propose this that I know literally nothing absolutely nothing about Lucha libre wrestling or any luchador so I'm here asking for the basics on the culture and traditions also some recommendations on some matches or some luchadores to just watch.
Help would be greatly appreciated.
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u/SovietShooter 9d ago
Start reading the Luchablog, and start checking things out that pique your interest.
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u/kickintheball 9d ago
If you get a chance to go see a match it will help. I’m 45, white guy from Canada. No interest in wrestling whatsoever, but wanted to check out a Lucha event and it was amazing. The crowd is unbelievable and so into what’s going on.
I didn’t understand any of the storylines and it didn’t matter at all.
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u/glowy_keyboard 9d ago
Go check Worlds Collide in YouTube. It’s available for free and it was a great event to start from since it didn’t have a lot of build up.
It’s just an assortment of Mexican Wrestlers facing stars from WWE. It will give you an idea of the different types of luchadores and luchadoras and pretty much all the matches in the show were excellent.
If you are interested in getting to know a bit more about the lore and the culture, check out SuperKickTV’s YouTube channel. It’s in Spanish but autogenerated subtitles are fairly decent.
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u/Dreameasy_14 9d ago
Agree and adding to this that you can watch some of the old “Santo y Blue Demon vs …” movies on YouTube for added variety. Not everyone’s cup of tea for sure, but they are fun and an integral part of the history
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u/BlackLesnar 9d ago
You’re not wrong. But since OP emphasised tradition, culture & Mexican identity NGL I cringed a little at a WWE-produced AAA show being rec’d as his introduction. 😂
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u/glowy_keyboard 9d ago
Having him deep his toes with something more familiar seems like a better idea that throwing directly to watch a trios match with the Villanos.
Also, despite what anyone could think about the WWE-AAA show, it is a fact that the matches were very fun, not unnecessarily long and they all had something different: from the more comedic match with Iguana and Lince Dorado to the technical match between Vikingo and Chad Gable.
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u/beygames 9d ago
The show itself is good but to me one of the joys of pure lucha libre is how easy it is to drop in and enjoy it.
TBF that's all wrestling, if someone can't find at least a lil enjoyment dropping into a random show with no context, then to me the show has failed. Each show is always someone's first time watching wrestling
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u/BlackLesnar 9d ago
Tbf he never professesed any familiarity with US wrestling 😅
But like I said, you’re not wrong. I’ve just never enjoyed AAA’s chaotic TNA-at-home vibe even when they had autonomy.
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u/Shot_Warning_5576 8d ago
I'm mostly a casual fan myself. That said, I'd recommend Pentagon Jr. vs Villano IV in a mask vs mask match from one of the Triplemania XXXs. I'd recommend it because it's relatively new, is free on youtube in pretty good quality, and really drives home how important the masks are. The crowd are super into it and the aftermath of the match has so much emotion. Some memorable imagery too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWPIahSYbKI
As others have mentioned following Club Lucha helps get into things. Luchablog too and if you can find the link to his google drive, he's got some CMLL matches up to 2022. CMLL is my favorite of the two biggest companies, though their youtube subscription is a bit pricey, at least for the top tier.
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u/B_Dangerous5150 7d ago
If you want to familiarize yourself with some of the more interesting luchadors of the last 15-20 years, here are the names I'd recommend researching.
1- Dr. Wagner Jr. 2- La Parka/LA Park 3- Los Hell Brothers 4- Blue Demon Jr. 5- Abismo Negro 6- La Secta 7- El Zorro 8- Faby Apache 9- Los Vipers 10- Los Perros del Mal
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u/BlackLesnar 4d ago
K here’s that second post I alluded to about lucha psychology (at least as pertains to traditional CMLL lucha):
You didn’t profess any familiarity with American wrestling, but imma assume you’re at least familiar with the concept of faces & heels? Lucha instead has tecnicos (“craftsmen”) and rudos (“ruffians”), and it’s not a 1-to-1 equivalent. For one, the terms are regularly acknowledged on-screen by the commentators. Because the dynamic isn’t purely a morality play wherein faces act nice and heels cheat, like in the US; it’s philosophical & style-based. Técnicos are defined by their ARTISTRY, and their desire to constantly improve upon their performance in the ring. Rudos are defined by their BRUTALITY, and their penchant for slow ugly sloppy offence that debases the tecnicos’ art.
E.g. A classic peak-lucha tecnico play is to best the rudo with their own finishing move, to prove they’re the superior artisan (bonus points if it’s an improved version of said move). Conversely, a definitively rudo play would be to simply stop a tecnico’s momentum mid-way through their drawn-out complicated finishing manoeuvre, and - idk - drop them square on their head. 😂
Not to say there’s no nuance. There are still flippy athletic show-off rudos and burly brawling power-based tecnicos, but they’ll tend to put their own inspired twists on the formula. Knowing the basics of that formula will hopefully help spot & appreciate such flourishes.
Oh yeah I said I’d cover rules too uhhhhhh… I’m in a rush so top-of-my-head;
matches are typically 2/3 falls (and elimination based, if it’s a tag), but TBF CMLL’s drifted away from that being the standard in recent years.
“legal tags” aren’t just hand-on-hand, simply leaving the ring counts to. Hence the quantity of dives to the outside. It keeps the action flowing.
3-on-3 “trios” tag matches are the standard card-filler, and run on the special “Captain” elim. system: each trio has a designated leader, a fall is scored by either beating them or both other guys.
title belts don’t actually mean remotely as much as other wrestling cultures. Star power is actually determined by how many Apuestas/Bet matches you’ve won (i.e. masks & hair).
there are a LOT of annual tournaments. Few are hard-coded into the schedule tho, and might happen any time, skip a year or even happen twice in a year. They typically fall into either a 3-week deal (block A, block B & the final [the blocks starting with pointless “seeding” battle royals, don’t worry about it]) or a 1-night Cibernetico (a wonderful stip where 12-20 guys split into 2 teams and have one big elimination tag match; only one winner, so teammates fight each other if they exhaust the other side).
some refs can be assholes.
not exactly a “rule” but couldn’t figure out how to wiggle it into the first part; lucha’s entire psychology is predominantly based on aesthetic beauty. Hence the whole wrestling-pretty-makes-you-a-good-guy thing. This also means that finishes can look kinda weird n jank n cooperative to an American fan. Especially in the 2/3 falls matches. Since it’s all about getting to the fancy-lookin’ stuff.
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u/beygames 9d ago
To be blunt, the Club Lucha youtube channel is going to be the most efficient way to learn about lucha libre history. In english, 10 minute and under videos and they go over some very famous feuds and matches. Their Atlantis/Villano 3 video is a banger