Lucha Libre (literally, "free fighting") is the name for
professional wrestling in Mexico. It is best known for its
high-flying, acrobatic moves and the brightly colored costumes and
masks of its competitors. However, to view these as its only
distinguishing characteristics would be a mistake.
One of the most notable aspects of lucha libre is the explicit naming
of tecnicos and rudos, effectively the "good guys" and "bad
guys", or faces and heels for the smart mark community. While
in US professional wrestling the viewer can frequently determine who
is the face and who is the heel very quickly, it would be unusual and
out of place for a commentator to refer to a competitor so
explicitly. Not only are the wrestlers categorized in this way, but
there are also frequently 2 referees, one technico and one rudo. One
could likely make an interesting essay on the duality of the Mexican
ethos as illustrated by the tecnico/rudo structure of lucha libre,
but that's a story for another time/node.
Lucha libre is also known for its tag team wrestling, though it is
very different from US tag team wrestling. First off, the teams are
most frequently made up of 3 members, not just 2 as is common in the
US. These 3-man teams participate in what are called trios matches,
for special belts. Of these three members, one member is designated
the captain. A successful fall in a trios match can be achieved by
either pinning the captain of the opposing team or by pinning both of
the other members. In the case that two members are pinned for a fall,
it is frequent that the falls occur simultaneously, which adds to the
extremely stylized nature of the action. In addition, a wrestler can
opt to roll out of the ring in lieu of tagging a partner, at which
point one of his partners may enter the ring. As a result, the tag
team formula that US tag matches tend to follow doesn't work because
the race to tag doesn't need to exist.
The basic themes in lucha generally involve honor and shame, best
exemplified by the mask versus mask match (in the case that a
participant doesn't wear a mask normally, he will usually put his hair
on the line instead).
One of my favorite moments in professional wrestling was when Eddy
Guerrero and Art Barr (Los Gringos Locos) lost a double hair
versus double mask match against El Hijo del Santo and Octagon at
the AAA pay per view event When Worlds Collide. The match was
superb, but the actual shearing of Eddy and Art's hair was what really
illustrated some of the best qualities of good lucha booking. They
were in tears, with Art refusing to cut Eddy's hair and Eddy angrily
insisting that Art cut off his powerful mullet. The moral here is
that the shame Eddy would suffer from having his head shaved would be
far less than that which he would suffer by not keeping his word and
honoring the stipulation of the match. By doing this, the statement is
made that while Eddy and Art are despicable for their underhanded
tactics in the match, they too follow a code of honor.
Lucha libre in its purest form is unique to Mexico, but its influences
can be seen in wrestling in the US and Japan as well, from the
lucharesu hybrid style of Toryumon and Michinoku Pro to the US
junior heavyweight style seen in US independent promotions and the
WWE.
It's also worth noting that professional wrestling in Puerto Rico is
also known as lucha libre, but is vastly different from Mexican lucha
libre. While I've seen very little of it, I understand that it
typically involves deathmatches (no, not like Quake) and lots of
blood.