Part 7: A Night of Lucha Libre - October 23, 2018

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While it was neat to see the display at Selva Magica for the wrestling promotion AAA, it would have been better if they were running a show that day so as to be able to experience Lucha Libre. As luck would have it, Guadalajara is home to Arena Coliseo, where they regularly host CMLL, which is one of the other premier Lucha Libre organizations in Mexico. This historic building has been hosting the popular form of wrestling since 1959 as it is owned by CMLL. At this venue they host two events weekly, one on Sunday and one on Tuesday.

Before going into the show, I decided to enjoy a pre-show beer at a nearby bar called Ring Palace that is heavily luchador themed with masks above the entrance, and various paintings and portraits of them all over the place. It was a lively place with many who were about to enjoy an evening of wrestling.

There was something else that I also had not yet done before the show…eat! I saw that on the opposite corner from Ring Palace was a street taco stand where they were cooking up some fantastic smelling food, so I partook in it. While some may be hesitant to get such street food in Mexico, I will be the first to say that it was well worth it! Absolutely delicious.

​Before going into the area, the entrance area has a large number of plaques and images that pay tribute to some of the best to have performed for CMLL, and for those wanting their own Luchadore mask, vendors both outside and inside the arena have plenty of options for you to choose from.

For tonight’s show, I lucked out since I was going solo that there was a front row seat still available to be up close and personal with the action while sitting right next to the ramp where the Luchadores make their entrance. At 300 pesos (about $17 USD), it was a great price for the primo seat! Good luck trying to get a seat like this around the same price at a WWE show!

​For tonight’s event, there were five matches on the card, and they were all 3-on-3 style matches. I wasn’t familiar with any of the performers on this particular night, and my limited knowledge of Spanish meant not knowing what the Luchadores were saying when the yelled out to the crowd, but as is the case with American style pro-wrestling, the good ones are effective with their mannerisms and body language to help you Identify both the good guys and the bad guys.

In general, Lucha Libre is known for being more of a high-flying, fast-paced version of pro wrestling. These guys and gals can make some really exciting moments with the speed and precision in which they execute some very athletic moves. While I have seen some former Luchadores in some of the US promotions, it was interesting to see that there were a number of differences in the way matches worked for Lucha Libre vs. the American style.

Some were understandable, such as how a wrestler on the same team could make his or herself the legal wrestler by simply entering the ring if their teammate is thrown out. This is a common practice in Lucha as it helps to keep up the pace of the match. One thing that would occur though that I never quite understood was that there would be times were someone was pinned, and the match kept going. Occasionally right after the pin, a ring-card girl would come out with numbered card, similar to the way they do in boxing. While I kind of figured that perhaps each pinfall may have signified the end of a round, sometimes it seemed like there would be multiple pins before the card girl came out. Perhaps there was something announced before the matches that explained this but I missed it since I don’t speak Spanish. Either way, it was still fascinating to see.

In the end, it was really neat to experience the show and see the traditional Mexican style of wrestling, and it was made better by the lively crowd that you could tell was into it with the chants and cheers. If you are a fan of pro wrestling, you will definitely want to experience it, and even those who are not big fans of the sport may enjoy the experience for the sake of seeing a part of Mexican Tradition.

After the show, it was time to head back to the Airbnb one last time as the next day would be the next flight to go to a new part of Mexico I had not previously visited, Cancun.

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