Don’t be left out of Mexican wrestling

AAA’s Noche de los Grandes event continues to dominate wrestling news nearly two weeks after it rocked the industry.

Critics have hailed the ‘El Grande Americano/ Mask VS Mask’ match as the greatest wrestling bout of the decade, which makes no sense if your exposure to Chad Gable’s El Grande Americano is restricted to what you have seen in WWE.

You may not even realize that WWE currently owns AAA, a Mexican professional wrestling organization, which would explain your confusion over the buzz surrounding the ‘El Grande Americano’ gimmick. The character’s reception on WWE has been fairly lukewarm.

Chad Gable’s version was a big hit when it first debuted. But then Gable sustained an injury, and Ludwig Kaiser became the replacement El Grande Americano. WWE presented Gable as the hero when he finally returned, crafting a storyline in which Gable’s Americano attempted to reclaim his identity from the dastardly German (Kaiser) who had stolen it.

During that same period, in Mexico, Gable was a tyrannical foreigner using the Americano mask to spit on everything Lucha Libre stands for. Kaiser was the underdog fighting for Mexico’s honour.

Nothing I just described sounds even remotely interesting if all you have seen is WWE’s version of this storyline. Do yourself a favour and watch AAA’s YouTube clips. Not only is the El Grande Americano storyline the biggest thing in Mexican wrestling, but Kaiser’s Americano has become a Mexican hero.

You can see the German crying in footage on AAA’s YouTube Channel because the reaction to his presence by Mexican wrestling fans is overwhelming. The Mexicans have embraced him as their own.

For one weekend, AAA elevated itself above every other promotion on the planet, WWE included. And watching the reaction from the fans, you could not help but feel like AAA had opened your eyes to a dimension of professional wrestling you had never given much thought to.

You can trace professional North American wrestling to the late 19th century. British Carnival promoters would organize ‘Catch Wrestling’, a legitimate competition in which athletes would use various maneuvers and submission holds to defeat one another.

By the early 20th Century, the sport had migrated to America, where promoters started staging matches with predetermined outcomes as well as clear heroes (babyfaces) and villains (heels). Decades later, Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (WWF) came onto the scene and turned professional wrestling into a global juggernaut.

Mexican wrestling is similar to its North American counterparts in the sense that the outcomes are predetermined. You also have heroes (tecnicos) and villains (rudos). However, Lucha Libre (which means ‘freestyle wrestling’) is faster-paced and very acrobatic.

The wrestlers throw themselves through the air with a recklessness that makes you question whether they are deliberately courting death. And then you have the masks. It isn’t a coincidence that Rey Mysterio and Penta (both Mexican wrestlers) wear masks.

The concept is imprinted on Lucha Libre’s DNA. Supposedly, the practice draws inspiration from the animal masks worn by Toltec and Mayan soldiers during ancient wars. Luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) take the tradition so seriously that they refuse to show their faces in public without a mask, even after entering retirement.

El Santo, the most famous Luchador ever, wrestled for over four decades, and he only took his mask off once: the week before his death. This is why ‘Mask VS Mask’ matches are so exhilarating.

The crowd understands that removing a Luchador’s mask strips him of his honour. Once unmasked, the defeated Luchador can never put their mask back on. For many wrestlers, unmasking is a career- ender. Therein lies the magic of Lucha Libre.

You don’t have to suspend your disbelief to take the action in the ring seriously. The Mexican crowds are so invested in the culture and traditions of Lucha Libre that it adds a charm to every contest.

If you have never even heard of Mexican wrestling, this is as good a time as any to dip your toes into this world. AAA’s ‘Noche de los Grandes’ event is free on YouTube. Give it a shot. For all you know, a diehard Lucha Libre fan is waiting to explode out of you.

katmic200@gmail.com

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