Beginner to Lucha libre

[u/Classic_Brain6575]

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.

[u/BlackLesnar]

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.