The Beginner's Guide To Lucha Libre

[Loss]

Have at it.

[ohtani's jacket]

I would break it down into eras:

 

The early to mid-80s where very little footage exists but the matches we do have suggest Mexico was one of the best territories of the 80s. The 1989-92 CMLL television run that is the first set of largely complete TV we have and features many of the great workers in their primes. AAA's hot run from '93-95, which is the equivalent of when WCW outdrew the WWF, I guess. CMLL's 1997 run, which is arguably the greatest year of lucha we have on tape and possibly the most stacked roster. Modern CMLL from 2001 onwards (just to be fair) and the maestro period of 2000 onwards where the older workers began providing an alternative to the modern style.

 

This would be my primer:

 

Ray Mendoza vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, El Toreo, 8/13/78

Dos Caras vs. Dr. Wagner, All Japan, 3/2/80

MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana, 9/23/83

Los Cadetes del Espacio vs. La Ola Lila, UWA 2/84

Gran Cochisse vs. Satanico, 9/14/84

Sangre Chicana vs. Perro Aguayo, 2/28/86

Espanto Jr. vs. El Hijo Del Santo, 8/31/86

El Satanico/El Dandy/Emilio Charles Jr. vs. Atlantis/Javier Cruz/Angel Azteca, 5/13/90

Angel Azteca vs. El Dandy, 6/1/90

Atlantis vs Blue Panther, 8/9/91

Los Infernales (MS-1, Satanico & Pirata Morgan) vs. Los Brazos, 11/22/91

Trio Fantasia v. Thundercats, (Masks vs. Masks), 12/8/91

Espanto Jr. vs. El Hijo Del Santo, 5/14/92

El Dandy vs Negro Casas, 7/3/92

Love Machine, Eddy Guerrero & Hijo Del Santo vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Fishman & Blue Panther, AAA - 8/1/93

Mascarita Sagrada vs Espectrito, AAA 3/12/94

El Hijo Del Santo/Octagon/Rey Misterio Jr./La Parka vs. Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera/Pentagon/Psicosis, AAA Triplemania III-B, 6/18/95

Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis, AAA 9/22/95

Cicloncito Ramirez vs Damiancito El Guerrero, 1/7/97

Atlantis/Brazo De Oro/El Dandy/Mascara Magica/La Fiera/Negro Casas/Shocker/Ultimo Dragon vs Black Warrior/Dr. Wagner Jr./El Hijo Del Santo/Felino/Kevin Quinn/Satanico/Scorpio Jr./Silver King, 4/18/97

El Hijo Del Santo vs. Negro Casas, 9/19/97

Bracito De Oro/Cicloncito Ramirez/Mascarita Magica vs. Damiancito El Guerrero/El Fierito/Pierrothito, 10/3/97

Blue Panther vs. Atlantis, La Copa Victoria final, CMLL 12/5/97

Atlantis vs. Villano III, 3/17/00

 

I'm a bit tired and the 00s on is something I need to think about a bit more.

[jdw]

El Hijo Del Santo/Octagon/Rey Misterio Jr./La Parka vs. Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera/Pentagon/Psicosis, AAA Triplemania III-B, 6/18/95

Cool... one of the matches I was at live made the Primer. Still wish the match from the big show at Rio Nilo Coliseum *before* that was available.

 

John

[ohtani's jacket]

I need to include a couple more AAA matches, but my favourite match from that era is the Satanico/Morgan hair match and I don't think it's representative of that era.

 

The rest of the primer wasn't easy. I tried to include matches which I thought were significant for one reason or another.

 

Negro Navarro vs. El Dandy, IWRG 11/18/01

El Hijo Del Santo vs. Perro Aguayo Jr, CMLL 8/13/04

Blue Panther/Shu El Guerrero vs. Black Terry/Villano III, 2004

Mistico vs. El Averno, CMLL 1/30/05

El Texano, Negro Navarro & El Signo vs. Super Astro, Ultraman & Solar, IWRG, 02/10/05

Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero, CMLL 2/25/05

Negro Navarro/Villano 4/Villano 5 vs. Dos Caras Jr./Heavy Metal/Solar 1, AULL 11/2/06

Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs. Solar/Mano Negra, Lucha Libre VIP 3/10/07

Mistico vs. Dr. Wagner, 07/27/07

Blue Panther vs. Villano V, 09/19/08

Black Terry/Cerebro Negro/ Dr. Cerebro vs. Negro Navarro/Trauma I/Trauma II, IWRG 4/23/09

Zatura vs. Trauma II, 6/18/09

Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro y Chico Che vs. Gringo Loco, El Hijo del Diablo y Avisman, 3/14/10

Virus vs. Guerrero Maya Jr, CMLL 6/7/11

Negro Casas vs. Blue Panther, 3/2/12

[ohtani's jacket]

Added Mascarita Sagrada vs Espectrito I and Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis to flesh out AAA a bit more. The whole thing probably needs an edit and rethink, but maybe some other people can chime in.

[Loss]

I need to include a couple more AAA matches, but my favourite match from that era is the Satanico/Morgan hair match and I don't think it's representative of that era.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see you mention this, because it's not a match that I've ever seen get too much attention, yet I thought it was pretty great. I had it at #4 for 1993. The only matches I could definitely say were better that year were Hokuto/Kandori, Hansen/Kobashi and the last match of the tag league, if that puts it in perspective for lucha novices.

 

I agree that it's not really a match that demonstrates the positives of the AAA boom, although it's probably also my favorite match from that era (not having really gone through too much '94 yet).

[ohtani's jacket]

It's one of the matches I use to try to convince people of how great Satanico was. Now I can tell them it's Loss' 4th best match for 1993.

 

I thought the primer was light on trios matches so I added Los Cadetes del Espacio vs. La Ola Lila.

[ohtani's jacket]

Instead of matwork or confusing trios matches or a lack of psychology I thought I'd share some of the things I find frustrating about lucha in order to sympathise with newer viewers. However, for each complaint I'll try to offer a flipside.

 

1) The lack of footage.

 

There's nothing more frustrating as a lucha fan than looking up old title match results or luchas de apuestas results and realising how much stuff is missing. Not all of it made tape obviously, but reading old lucha mags or listening to folks talk about the matches they saw can drive you nuts at times.

 

The flipside to this is that not a lot of people have combed through the lucha that does exist. With most other styles you have a certain number of folks who've seen everything and whose recommendations form a large part of what's considered must watch stuff, but with lucha you have to do a lot of the searching by yourself. It's like of like digging through the crates in a record store. No matter how much you've watched, you never know when you're going to find some sort of hidden gem. And just skimming through match lists isn't enough. You may look for the same names to pop up, but it only takes one or two guys to have a good trios match.

 

2) The lack of continuity

 

One really frustrating thing about lucha is that it's not really booked from week to week like a wrestling television show. It's changed over the years, but the TV is still more or less a filmed houseshow. They'll run a program for a couple of weeks and drop it, they'll tease a blow off match that never happens, guys will get really good then suddenly disappear and not a lot of feuds or angles get strung together from week to week.

 

The flipside to this is that the wrestling content is higher, I suppose, since the focus is more on showing some matches than furthering an angle or storyline.

 

3) The storylines don't make sense

 

Perhaps they would if I spoke Spanish, but then some lucha fans speak Spanish and it doesn't appear to help. I still don't understand the Santo heel turn properly and I'm not sure anybody has ever figured it out. The best you can really hope for is that there's a series of heated trios leading into a singles match.

 

Is there a flipside to this? I suppose the answer is that the in-ring storytelling is strong when the program is given a proper build-up to the wager match.

 

4) Denying us the dream matches

 

This used to be more of a problem in the past but even today we don't get some of the match-ups we want like Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro. What this means is that for a lot of the singles match-ups you'd like to see, you're lucky if they've wrestled a few trios exchanges in what amounts to a couple of minutes of interaction.

 

I guess the flipside is that when you go get a dream match-up it's something to savour.

 

A lot of those flipsides seem weak. Sorry.

[FLIK]

but even today we don't get some of the match-ups we want like Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro

They've had a few singles matches, there's a JIP fancam of one on youtube

[Tim Evans]

That was kinda harsh.

 

I'm gonna add this match from UWF Hamada. It's not from Mexico but it's Lucha and really fun Lucha. Lots of high flying, some comedy and a little mat work.

 

Robin Hood & Los Ninja Turtles vs. Shu El Guerrero/Jose Luis Feliciano/El Texano/Black Terry/Ricky Boy (9/12/91)

[Loss]

So, in an effort to steer this back on topic, and make this thread about lucha libre instead of this thread being about this thread, I'll point out a few things that I wish I would have known when I started. It's so simple, yet caused me so much confusion.

 

Each team in trios matches has a captain. Falls end when either the captain is pinned, or the other two members of the team are pinned. The legal man changes anytime the wrestlers in the ring hit the floor. Legal man enforcement is pretty lax in general, so you do see guys running in frequently without being tagged. You're not going to find face in peril in tag matches. The big rules that are enforced are no low blows and no unmasking your opponent.

 

I knew about the legal man changing anytime a wrestler in the ring hit the floor thanks to WCW, but everything else was new.

[Phil Schneider]

This year has been a pretty great year for lucha. I think the top 5 matches from 2012 would be a good place for folks to start.

 

Negro Casas vs. La Sombra, CMLL 2/20

Angel Blanco Jr./El Hijo del Solitario vs. El Hijo Del Santo/Villano IV, TXT 2/25

Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, CMLL 3/2

Black Terry vs. Chico Che, IWRG 1/22

Black Terry vs. Chico Che, IWRG 1/29

 

You get a classic title match, three bloody brawls and a hybrid title match and apuestas. There hasn't been any great trios matches yet this year which is a style unrepresented in this list, but I would think that anyone could find something in these matches to enjoy.

[tomk]

MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana, 9/23/83

I think this is always a really great place to start your lucha viewing.

 

One of the big takeaways from this match is that as a rule there aren't as many momentum changes in lucha as you will find in other styles.

 

Once you start watching trios matches and opening feeling out sections, it's easy to loose sense of that, but I think it's important to keep in mind.

 

We are in the middle of March Madness and one of the things about basketball is its a game with a ton of super quick changes in possession (lots of changes in possession/lots of short possessions)that don't correspong to changes in momentuim.

If you go into a basketball game (even into a one sided Globetrotters game), expecting football, baseball or soccer you might be tricked into thinking that there are more momentum swings happening than there actually are.

 

Go into trios matches thinking about basketball not football.

[Dylan Waco]

This year has been a pretty great year for lucha. I think the top 5 matches from 2012 would be a good place for folks to start.

 

Negro Casas vs. La Sombra, CMLL 2/20

Angel Blanco Jr./El Hijo del Solitario vs. El Hijo Del Santo/Villano IV, TXT 2/25

Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, CMLL 3/2

Black Terry vs. Chico Che, IWRG 1/22

Black Terry vs. Chico Che, IWRG 1/29

 

You get a classic title match, three bloody brawls and a hybrid title match and apuestas. There hasn't been any great trios matches yet this year which is a style unrepresented in this list, but I would think that anyone could find something in these matches to enjoy.

I agree with this, but would add that I think Casas v. Sombra might be the easiest of the bunch to fall in love with if you are a new comer. It's got the old vet v. young gun thing going on, some really dynamic spots, the expressive genius of Casas (which is something I generally think Luchadores are better at, but Casas is arguably the greatest of all time), and a big match feel. It's not my favorite match of the bunch, but it is a great match and something I think would translate well for newer fans

[ohtani's jacket]

You're not going to find face in peril in tag matches.

You will sometimes get a type of face in peril during the rudo beatdown sections, particularly when it's a trios being used to set up a wager match.

 

To me the great thing about trios is that there are so many different styles, whether it's a comedy match or a brawling trios; fast paced and high flying or all matwork. Often the best matches are a combination of all those styles. You always know that if the rudos win the first fall then the technicos will have to make a comeback in the second or if the technicos win the opening fall the rudos will dominate the second, and so on, but there's a number of ways they can play it and they're able to shorten or lengthen the falls to control the rhythm. Once you learn the basic format of everyone squaring off once and then either swapping partners the second time round or speeding things up, then the way either rudo dominance or technico momentum overlaps each fall and leads to a turning point or swing in momentum then trios matches are easy to follow.

[Jingus]

as a rule there aren't as many momentum changes in lucha as you will find in other styles.

That's one of the things about the lucha style that I never got used to. Sometimes the matches feel like they're sharply divided into different acts, and in each act one guy will beat on another guy forever without any receipts. The control segments often seem more sharply delineated and strictly observed than in almost any other territory. I can't explain exactly why I don't like it, but it still feels weird and forced to me when the entire primera caida is the faces beating up the heels unanswered, then vice-versa for the segunda, and then back to the first plan for the tercera caida. I guess I've just been programmed by all the other styles of wrestling to expect more back-and-forth reversals than that.

[Dylan Waco]

You're not going to find face in peril in tag matches.

You will sometimes get a type of face in peril during the rudo beatdown sections, particularly when it's a trios being used to set up a wager match.

 

To me the great thing about trios is that there are so many different styles, whether it's a comedy match or a brawling trios; fast paced and high flying or all matwork. Often the best matches are a combination of all those styles. You always know that if the rudos win the first fall then the technicos will have to make a comeback in the second or if the technicos win the opening fall the rudos will dominate the second, and so on, but there's a number of ways they can play it and they're able to shorten or lengthen the falls to control the rhythm. Once you learn the basic format of everyone squaring off once and then either swapping partners the second time round or speeding things up, then the way either rudo dominance or technico momentum overlaps each fall and leads to a turning point or swing in momentum then trios matches are easy to follow.

 

OJ touches on one of the reasons I found Lucha so easy to get into once I quit being a dumbass and actually started watching. With trios matches it is very rare that I find a match that I think is completely objectionable or total shit. There are trios matches I haven't liked to be sure, but the vast, vast majority have at least a few sequences that I think look great, or a couple of huge spots that are generally more well built to than they would be in a standard indy spotfest, or a great "all hell breaks loose" beat down segment, or all of the above. I also find it really interesting and fun to watch the particular pairings in the matches and see who looks sharpest in what sort of segment.

 

Another thing I love about Lucha is that there are not an absurd use of near falls. When you do get a near fall heave match (I recall Virus v. Stuka Jr. from last year being one but I may be remembering details a bit wrong) it stands out more and feels less by the numbers than what you often get in the States, let alone Japan.

 

Speaking of Virus, that Virus v. Guerrero Maya Jr. match from last year is something everyone ought to give a chance

[ohtani's jacket]

as a rule there aren't as many momentum changes in lucha as you will find in other styles.

That's one of the things about the lucha style that I never got used to. Sometimes the matches feel like they're sharply divided into different acts, and in each act one guy will beat on another guy forever without any receipts. The control segments often seem more sharply delineated and strictly observed than in almost any other territory. I can't explain exactly why I don't like it, but it still feels weird and forced to me when the entire primera caida is the faces beating up the heels unanswered, then vice-versa for the segunda, and then back to the first plan for the tercera caida. I guess I've just been programmed by all the other styles of wrestling to expect more back-and-forth reversals than that.

 

I don't think it's quite that delineated.

 

Often the technicos will get off to a flyer or the rudos will jump them, but the primera caida can be relatively even until someone makes a mistake or one side makes its move. Sometimes what seems like a "rudo fall" can end with a surprise twist and vice versa. But no matter what happens it almost always carries over into the next fall. You seledom see the second caida begin with a role reversal. The only time you really see that is with shock falls where the loser of the first fall wins the second straight away. Sometimes the turning points within a caida are done well and sometimes they're lazy. When they're done well, they're one of the most exciting things about lucha. The third caida is almost always a back and forth slugfest with several changes in momentum.

[Jingus]

Not saying it's always like that; after all, I haven't watched a whole lot of this stuff. But it's something I've noticed repeatedly on the occasions when I turned on Galavision, that they often seem to spend a reeeeeally long time on segments where one guy just beats the shit out of another guy without much in the way of reprisal.

[Chess Knight]

I think extended beat-down are something I prefer in lucha. I can't really get behind Misterio and Juventud doing move-for-move 100 km/h sprints for fifteen minutes. I don't think they've had a bad match (except the cage in early '96. Holy shit), and it's good wrestling when you leave them alone and have no shitty Konnan run-ins, but I'd much rather watch El Satanico be stooged around for a bit and think he's back in control only for one of his partners to accidentally whack him in the face. I can understand someone not wanting a finishing stretch to be too one-sided, but I don't get that vibe anyway.

 

Also I think everybody wanting to get into lucha should watch as many 80s/90s Brazo tags as possible. Pay noticeable attention to the obese beach ball-shaped one jumping on people.

[ohtani's jacket]

Not saying it's always like that; after all, I haven't watched a whole lot of this stuff. But it's something I've noticed repeatedly on the occasions when I turned on Galavision, that they often seem to spend a reeeeeally long time on segments where one guy just beats the shit out of another guy without much in the way of reprisal.

It certainly happens a lot, but when you have a trios with three great workers like Los Infernales (Satanico, MS-1 and Pirata Morgan) or even the version of Los Infernales where Masakre replaced Morgan, the rudo beatdown segments are awesome because of how inventive each spot is. Those guys had a finely honed three man rudo act and about a thousand different beatdown spots. The lucha you see when you turn on Galavision often has the same rudo beatdown in each match. It's gotten pretty slack.

 

Also I think everybody wanting to get into lucha should watch as many 80s/90s Brazo tags as possible. Pay noticeable attention to the obese beach ball-shaped one jumping on people.

Why didn't I think of this? A Brazos comp would be perfect for getting people into lucha. The Brazos worked every trios style there is, which would make it the perfect introduction to that particular form of lucha.

[Childs]

Piggybacking on what Loss said, one of the things that confused me about trios matches when I first started watching was the ease with which the second pin often occurs at the end of a fall. I didn't get why they rarely went for the drama of evening a fall at one pin apiece. I don't think twice about it now.

[Log]

It took me a little while to get used to guys immediately submitting when put in holds. Now, after years of seeing dudes in the US and Japan sitting in a submissions for forever in matches, I really like it. Especially since it makes it mean more when a guy does fight to the ropes in a big match.

[FLIK]

one of the things that confused me about trios matches when I first started watching was the ease with which the second pin often occurs at the end of a fall. I didn't get why they rarely went for the drama of evening a fall at one pin apiece.

I look at it as a formality, something done because they have to not because they want to. Like you said it's rarely exploited and comes across as a "well, it's always been like this and we're too lazy to change" sort of thing to me. Really 99% of modern CMLL would be better off if they just dumped the 2/3 falls format period as even in singles matches they rush to get the first 2 falls over with more times then not.

[ohtani's jacket]

Piggybacking on what Loss said, one of the things that confused me about trios matches when I first started watching was the ease with which the second pin often occurs at the end of a fall. I didn't get why they rarely went for the drama of evening a fall at one pin apiece. I don't think twice about it now.

I think like anything else in lucha it can either be done poorly or really well. The way I would justify it is that the technico's technique is supposed to be too strong for the rudos and the rudo dominance is supposed to be too strong for the technicos. Sometimes a guy will be out of position or sort of walk into the pinfall or submission, or there will be a guy who wasn't involved in the fall too much who shouldn't be pinned so easily, but I think as far as the crowd is concerned it's all about who won.

 

Luchadores tend to struggle with one fall matches so I think any change in the number of falls would take some getting used to.