We’ve seen notices around town that there is going to be a big Lucha Libre (masked wrestling) extravaganza in Zihuatanejo on Saturday, 20th of September, and that reminds me of the one and only time I ever attended one of these events.
That Lucha Libre session, or presentation or whatever it should be called, took place in Cuernavaca several years ago, when a group of us decided it was time to find out what this sport was all about, after years of living in Mexico and not setting foot in the wrestling arena.
On that occasion we lined up at a dingy wicket at the Lucha Libre parlor that we’d passed by practically daily for years but had never entered before, and filtered in to an equally dingy, cavernous, high-ceilinged room with chairs set up around a central ring, and rickety bleachers lining the somewhat stained walls. The arena was half-filled with spectators, most of them women and children, which was a complete surprise to us. We really didn’t have any idea of what to expect. We picked up drinks at the concession and settled gingerly into our folding metal seats and prepared ourselves for the action.
We were delighted to find out that this Lucha Libre session, at least, seemed to be much more a show of elaborate choreography and dexterity rather than of brutishness…. and the crowd watched raptly when things started to happen and pairs and quartets of burley-looking wrestlers in colorful masks and elaborate costumes took to the stage, er … I mean the ring… to perform, umm …. I mean to fight it out. They threw each other around and and bounced each other off the ropes, growled and grunted and performed some incredible antics, even getting into it out amongst the audience (that seems to be a pretty standard tactic) in what seemed like a general melee. The entire evening and experience ended up being quite a riot. I wrote up the experience briefly and posted it with a few photos on our sister site, and you can still visit those pages there: Lucha Libre in Cuernavaca
I don’t know if the wrestling match scheduled for ZIhuatanejo next week is going to be anything like the exhibition we saw, but if you’re looking for something different to do, it might be worth checking out… Some of the big names in Mexican Lucha Libre are on the bill, the headliners being Dr. Wagner, Tinieblas Jr. and El Hijo de Anibal.
Date and time: Saturday, 20 September at 8 p.m.
Place: Centro Social Municipal, Zihuatanejo
Advance tickets will be on sale as of September 15th at the Comercial Mexicana and at Zapateria Danny, and at the door on the day of the event. Ticket prices: Ringside, numbered seat: $180 pesos; Ringside, general seat: $140 pesos; Gallery, adults: $100 pesos; Gallery, kids, $50 pesos.
