It was our first full day in Mexico City, and we were sitting in a coffee shop somewhere along the boundary line between Condesa and Roma trying to figure out what we should do with the rest of the time we had. I’m not great at planning my travels in advance, so these sorts of on-the-go brainstorms happen in just about every new city I visit. I wondered aloud if there was any Lucha Libre wrestling to be found here. “I mean, this is the literal center of everything Mexican, so it’s gotta be here somewhere, right?”

I had no idea what this world would be like. Does it have a “season” like Baseball or Soccer? Are tickets easy to find? Would we be able to find the real thing? Or would we end up in some sort of tourist trap? Some Googling revealed that there was no shortage of Lucha Libre wrestling to be found in Mexico City, but we were having trouble vetting our options. “I wish we had somebody here to explain this to us,” I sighed.

At that exact moment, we heard somebody say “Excuse me.” It was the man sitting next to us. He had overheard us talking. In perfect English, he proceeded to tell us everything we could have ever wanted to know about Lucha Libre wrestling in Mexico City. “It’s so fun! I go like every week!” he said emphatically. He sat there with us and guided us through Ticketmaster to find the best tickets available.

SO, FOR THE RECORD, if you want to see Lucha Libre Wrestling in Mexico City, you should do so at Arena México. You can usually get tickets at the door or on short notice, but it’s the most fun to sit in the first few rows, and for that, you should try to buy tickets a week or two in advance. You can find tickets HERE. And you should seriously try to go if you can. It’s a big piece of Mexican culture, but it was also one of the most fun things we did in Mexico City.

BUCKLE IN MUCHACHOS!

Lucha Libre @Arena Mexico

When we arrived at Arena México we had to get our tickets at will-call, so we got in line. The line moved pretty slow, and the match had already started, so we were tapping our feet. In line with us was a combination of locals and American visitors like ourselves. Outside the main doors, just like any major sports or music event, there were scalpers trying to sell day-of tickets. There were also food trucks, people selling small trinkets, and Arena México workers passing out flyers. Since we had no idea what the schedule of events was for the night, we grabbed a couple flyers. Apparently the headlines that night were luchadores called Carístico a.k.a. Místico, Atlantis Jr., Rey Bucanero, Mephisto, and Euforia. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Walking through the main doors of Arena México, the lobby looked like a movie theater. There were bright neon lights and people getting in line to buy soda and popcorn. We had it on good authority that they would serve us drinks in our seats, so we breezed right through to the main arena. Inside, an usher promptly showed us to our seats. We weren’t quite as close as we wanted… but the seats weren’t bad. We ordered a couple beers and laughed as the vendor produced 2 plastic cups so big that it took 2 beers to fill each of them. So whatever number of drinks we ordered that night would be x2. We planned to order a lot of them. 🍻

Sitting around us were mostly Mexican families. There were lots of combinations of fathers, grandfathers, and their children. However, there was also groups of adult men that came to drink and laugh together. In fact, the only women in the audience seemed wives and mothers of super-fans. Clearly this was a point of bonding for many Mexican men. Honestly I had a hard time believing that people actually like this stuff, but then again I also have been known to scoff at American WWF, which is also shockingly popular. So it would seem that this kind of theatrical wrestling is beloved by everybody, Mexicans and American alike. However, my sense is that Lucha Libre is way more popular in Mexico than WWF is in America.

So let’s turn our attention to what was actually playing out on the stage in front of us. The absurdity of all of this was truly amazing. We were cracking up watching the telenovela of machismo unfolding before us on this stage. If you don’t know about Lucha Libre wrestling, it’s a lot like WWF, but all of these fighters have much more elaborate branding, like super heroes. Whereas WWF wrestlers like John Cena certainly have a lot of persona and charisma, at the end of the day, they are just themselves. In Lucha Libre wrestling, everybody needs a costume and a set of paint like Superman or Batman before they go out into the ring. And the people inside these costumes are basically anonymous. Like Clark Kent.

Not everybody wears a mask… but most of them do. And some of them do a lot more than wear just a mask! At the start of each match, each luchadore (fighter) walks out to a dazzling display of neon lights, smoke machines, pump-up music, and dancing cheerleaders who change outfits between each match. Many of these luchadores wear elaborate costumes as they walk out, including capes, staffs, crowns, and Native American head dressings (which, in this case, has the potential not to be considered cultural appropriation!) There isn’t much talking that happens in a Lucha Libre match, so all of these identities are on display purely through actions, which means that everything is a bit exaggerated. It’s very theatrical.

Though it’s always entertaining, some of these theatrics play out in… potentially problematic ways. In one of the matches we watched, there was a luchadore who’s whole schtick was essentially to be the embodiment of gay stereotypes. He wore a pink, effeminate costume and makeup, his body motions were all very over-the-top and flamboyant, and he was always looking for a chance to work in a ballet moves wherever possible. Now, Lucha Libre matches tend to follow a tag-team structure. There are 3 or 4 luchadores on each team, and they tag each other in and out to fight each other. Every time the gay luchadore got tagged in, the luchadores on the other team made a big show of running away and trying at all costs to avoid being touched by him, like they were going to “catch gay” from him. Eventually the crowd would start to boo and one of the other luchadores would tag the gay one out so the match could continue. Eventually, towards the end of the match, the gay luchadore actually got the other team to engage with him, and actually kicked some ass! The crowd went wild, but we were sort of in a state of bemused shock. This would NOT go over well in America. But then again, there were empowering moments for this character here and there, all of which were met with cheers, so it was hard to discern if the headline here was one of empowerment, or if we were just watching a hate crime. WHO’S TO SAY. If you’re in a foreign country, when in doubt, I have found that it’s best to hold your judgement. So we just kept on drinking!

There was another match where they brought a literal child into the ring with them. It seemed like he must have been there with some Mexican equivalent to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The kid was hilarious in his mini-luchadore costume. And the adult luchadores were very intentional to include him, occasionally setting him up to jump off the ropes and land on somebody, or kick somebody in the balls. And whoever the kid hit would really make it seem like they were hurt. It was kind of sweet. The kid was very into it.

Luchadore matches follow a pretty standard structure of starting with the rookies, and ending with the heavy-weight favorites. So as we watched, the luchadores grew more formidable, the cheers of the crowd grew louder, stakes got higher, and we got drunker. Here are some decent pictures & video that I managed to doctor up from my iPhone…

The match ended with Místico (a.k.a. Carístico) yelling at Euforia via a microphone that a referee had handed him. The two definitely seemed to be playing roles. Místico was the good guy, wearing a white mask. Euforia was the bad guy, and wore a black mask. My Spanish isn’t good enough that I caught 100% of what Místico was saying, but I was able to surmise that he basically issued some sort of challenge to Euforia, and Euforia did not take him up on it. Instead, he stormed out, leaving Místico as the presumptive winner.

So when the match was over, Místico did a bunch of pictures with his fans, who were literally clamoring to fist-bump him. There was a strong element of young boys getting pictures with their idols, which yielded some super endearing photos (below), but there were also adult fans in the mix. Místico was great with all his fans, posing for photos, giving high-fives, and making all the young kids feel like they had meaningful interactions with him. Here are some snaps from all of that.

Yeah! So that’s Lucha Libre wrestling. From there we caught an Uber back to Condesa and went out to a bar. I was really getting in the zone with Mexico City by this point. It’s such a fun place to visit! Next time I come back, I’m going to see Lucha Libre Wrestling again, and we’re going to get FRONT ROW tickets.

We’re going to break from the cast of Latin artists for a cameo appearance from Dorothy. This was the walk-out song for one of the luchadores, so it felt appropriate. 🤷🏻‍♂️