When people profess their love for Lucha Libre wrestling, what they usually mean is "I love those nutball masks." But there's so much to enjoy below the neck. Like the chest-smacking, high-jumping, acrobatic-flipping, crowd-taunting, muscle-flexing, costume-wearing balls-out insanity.
How insane? Lucha Libre is hugely popular in Japan. Do you really need to know any more? (Yes. Yes, you do.)
Lucha wrestling is like someone took a microphone at American-style wrestling and kept shouting to the crowd, "Should we make this even crazier?" And the crowd never stopped shouting "yes!" And nobody ever told anybody to stop, ever.
There are good guys and bad guys, yes, and a lot of clean moves and dirty moves and plenty of hitting the floor.
But the ring sounds like it's made out of thunder sheets and baking pans and it is entirely possible that a guy in a full-on dragon outfit will show up for that eight-way tag-team match. You know who else might show up? A woman, Xena-ing a trail of ass-kickery and tears right alongside the men. No, not in a women's match; right alongside the men. (Here's a list of the hottest names in women's professional wrestling who can kick your ass.)
And the acrobatics. Holy crap, the acrobatics. If you've ever wanted to see a man jump into the air and catch himself on another guy's neck with his feet, this is your new spectator sport.
It is immensely fun to watch. It feels like giving your inner child an entire box of Franken Berry and a fistful of Pixie Stix. And, unlike with MMA, you don't have the nagging feeling that you're witnessing actual brain injuries.
(Check out WWE superstar John Cena's answers to Men's Health quick-fire questions.)
But also, okay fine, the masks are pretty important. How important? Find out in this exclusive clip from the new "reality" show, Lucha Underground.
Wait, what? Was that a real thing that you actually watched, or did you just dream it? Maybe a little of both.
Lucha Underground -- which premiered Oct. 29 on the El Rey network -- brings traditional Lucha Libre wrestling and piledrives it into modern TV sensibilities and bounces the whole thing off the turnbuckle and into an agreeably grimy warehouse in Boyle Heights, complete with a live band and the toughest accordion player you've seen in your life.
(A side note to aggressively hip people: For chrissakes, do not ruin this. I promise you, the universe will not explode if you enjoy it unironically. You don't need to broadcast to the world that you get the joke, and that you are getting it harder than anyone else. Just take an hour, enjoy watching people launch themselves out of the ring and into each other's faces, and relax. You must be exhausted.)
While it's definitely aimed at a modern audience, Lucha Underground takes pains to hit the marks of classic Lucha Libre. I attended one of those warehouse tapings, and the guy sitting next to me had grown up with Lucha wrestling. He assured me that there was a real respect for the tradition. Which sometimes involves some seriously goofy theatrics.
Even talking to these guys after their match, there's no shortage of drama. They know how to discuss their sport like they're characters in a gladiator movie. "I think I have the best clothesline in the world," a charming 300-pluis pound guy named Big Ryck tells me. "It's very exciting for me, but very scary for the person who's about to take it. That moment when I see an opponent lining up and it's time to unleash Hell… Hell is coming."
Chavo Guerrero, Jr., a third-generation wrestler and five-time world tag-team champion, informs me that his last name means "warrior," and he comes from a long line of fighters "all the way back to the Aztec Indians. We have been pro boxers, pro wrestlers, matadors, a few Olympians. I don't know why fighting is in our blood, but it is our blood."
(Veteran WWE Superstar, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson talks about fitness, weight loss and, boosting himself to a whole new level.)
One of the traditional Lucha Libre figures is the Exótico: A flamboyantly gay character, assuming that you use the definition of "gay" that people used in about 1953. There's no distinction between "gay," "trans," "feminine" or “off the sexual and gender binaries," just a walking collection of stereotypical signals that one is not a straight dude. We're talking butt-first defensive moves and the audience howling with laughter as the macho wrestlers try to avoid getting kissed. You've seen Three's Company episodes and Rock Hudson movies with a more sophisticated take on sexuality.
That said, the Exótico I saw at Lucha Underground, Pimpinela Escarlata, was a huge fan favorite, and not in an ironic way. When other wrestlers illegally ganged up on Pimi, the audience chanted "Culero!" (Asshole!), and Pimpi got huge roars of applause -- easily the biggest of the entire night. And Pimpi, a veteran of the Mexican AAA circuit, kicked just as much ass as anyone else in the ring. No coddling, and no moments of helplessness or needing to be rescued by a team member. Just lots of elbow and maybe a beso (a kiss) if he's got you down on the mat.
In a way, his faintly disturbing packaging helps the Exótico delivers a devastating chest-punch to the hypermasculine culture he's in the middle of: Go ahead and get as macho as you want, Pimpi's presence says. I will still slam your face into the mat and I will do it while wearing lipstick and a spangly bathing suit.
(With Men's Health Bodyweight Muscle Burners DVD, you'll discover all the advantages of bodyweight workouts--burn fat, get incredibly fit, and build perfectly proportioned muscle all over your body!)
One Third Of WrestleMania VI Competitors Dead
Jim Hellwig
Ultimate Warrior foreshadowed his death on 'Raw' just a day after WrestleMania XXX: "Every man's heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe their final breath. And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them believe deeper in something that's larger than life, then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized by the storytellers -- by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him, and make the running the man did live forever."
Jim Hellwig
Ultimate Warrior entered WrestleMania VI as the InterContinental champion and then beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF title.
Randy Savage
Savage was 58 when he died of a heart attack in 2011.
Randy Savage
At WrestleMania VI, Savage and Sensational Sherri Martel lost a mixed tag-team match to Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire.
Andre The Giant
Andre was 46 when he died of heart failure in 1993.
Andre The Giant
At WrestleMania VI, Andre and Haku lost the WWE tag-team championship to Ax and Smash of Demolition.
Rick Rude
'Ravishing Rick' was 40 when he died of heart failure related to an overdose in 1999.
Curt Hennig
Known as Mr. Perfect, Hennig was 44 when he died from "acute cocaine intoxication" in 2003.
Curt Hennig
At WrestleMania VI, Hennig lost to Brutus Beefcake.
John Tenta
Known as Earthquake, Tenta was 42 when he died in 2006 from bladder cancer that spread to his lungs.
John Tenta
At WrestleMania VI, he defeated Hercules.
Raymond Fernandez
Known as Hercules, Fernandez was 47 when he died in 2004 from heart disease.
Raymond Fernandez
At WrestleMania VI, he lost to Earthquake.
Allen Coage
Known as Bad News Brown, Coage, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, was 63 when he died in 2007 of a heart attack.
Allen Coage
At WrestleMania VI, he had a double countout in his match against Roddy Piper.
Sherri Martel
"Sensational Sherri" was 49 when she died of an overdose in 2007.
Sherri Martel
At WrestleMania VI, she and Randy Savage lost a mixed tag-team match to Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire.
Dino Bravo
Bravo was 44 when he was gunned down in 1993, a murder that some believe was linked his alleged involvement in a cigarette smuggling ring.
Dino Bravo
At WrestleMania VI, he lost to Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
Ray Traylor
Known as Big Boss Man, Traylor was 41 when he died of a heart attack in 2004.
Ray Traylor
At WrestleMania VI, he defeated Akeem.
Sapphire
Known as Juanita Wright, Sapphire was 61 when she died of a heart attack in 1996. At WrestleMania VI, she and Dusty Rhodes won a mixed tag-team match against Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri.
Miss Elizabeth
Elizabeth Hulette didn't officially compete as a wrestler at WrestleMania VI, so she wasn't counted among the 12 who are now dead. But she did accompany Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire for their match and got involved in part of the action.
Miss Elizabeth
She died of an overdose in 2003.
