Lucha Libre

We went to lucha libre, Mexican wrestling, on Friday with a big group. Our friends Megan and Alejandro organized it. We were thrilled to find out that Mistico, who we had seen at the Basilica, was the headliner that night.

It's a great scene. The ring is a boxing ring out of a film noire; the crowd is half the show. 6 or 8 girls in bikinis come out and stand still while the luchadores are anounced and make their (very grand) entries.

Each round is good guys ('technicos') vs. bad guys (rudos). The first round was all women. Then came 2 guys under 5 ft tall, followed by a round of up-and-comers. Then came a round of guys who are well-known, but not headliners, including one called Maximo, who is a technico whose schtick is to act very effimante: pink mohawk, lots of mincing. He has a mascot named Minimo who is a midget dressed in a monkey costume with a pink mohawk. Political correctness has not arrived at the arena.

Then it was the final match, with Mistico and his crew vs the bad guys. It's all very theatrical, very athletic, and very cathartic. 2 rows in front of us was a 70 yr old woman screaming 'chinga tu madre' ('tu madre' means 'your mother'; chinga means anything you imagine would precede that phrase.) We loved it.

They don't allow cameras in the arena.