Lucha Libre

If you've ever seen their colorful masks and spectacular acrobatic wrestling style, you know that Mexican wrestlers add a spectacular twist to pro wrestling. You might not know that lucha libre (the Mexican term for their form of wrestling) has a strong tradition going back decades, that popular Mexican wrestlers become film and TV stars, and that the lucha libre tradition is actually tied to significant social and political issues.
Mexican wrestling is similar in many ways to the form of wrestling that inspired it -- American professional wrestling. Both forms are full of colorful characters and outlandish story lines, and the rules in both types are very flexible and loosely enforced. In fact, lucha libre translates to "free fighting." As with American wrestling, people often say that Mexican wrestling is "fake." In some respects, this is true. The winners of most matches are predetermined, in order to move along planned, soap opera style plotlines. The wrestlers are usually acting out parts -- they don't really hate one another. On the other hand, if you've ever seen Rey Mysterio Jr. perform a Huracarrana, you know that there is nothing fake about the athleticism and training required to pull off the most impressive lucha libre moves.
The most obvious thing that sets lucha libre apart is that almost every major Mexican wrestling star wears a mask and doesn't use his real name (and yes, female wrestlers do exist, but for the sake of pronoun sanity, we'll focus on the men). The true identity of the wrestler is kept secret. In fact, it's an incredible dishonor for a Mexican wrestler to have his mask removed, or to be seen without his mask. In rare special matches, the loser will be unmasked, a momentous event for the fans.

Some luchadores (the term for Mexican wrestlers) take their lucha libre identity outside the ring, keeping the mask on when out in public. Some families pass their ring identities on to successive generations, with a son taking over the same name and mask as his father.
Lucha libre is characterized by many aerial moves, acrobatic maneuvers and intricate combinations, one following after the other in rapid-fire succession. Luchadores are generally smaller, faster and more agile than their American counterparts.
Popular luchadores are always heroes admired by the fans. They may represent Aztec warriors, Christian saints or comic book superheroes, but they always fight for the common man -- workers, farmers and the poor. They are known as técnicos. The villains of Mexican wrestling, called rudos, represent very real problems faced by Mexicans -- corrupt politicians, crooked police officers and drug dealers. Americans make for popular villains as well. Wrestlers playing the part of an American villain will take on a racist and classicist attitude to inflame the crowd.
Lucha libre style wrestling isn't confined to Mexico. In addition to the crossover Mexican stars who have made a name for themselves (and their country) in American pro wrestling, Japanese professional wrestling has been heavily influenced by lucha libre. Masked stars like Ultimo Dragon and Tiger Mask took the Mexican mask tradition to a new level, creating elaborate superhero characters with carefully crafted masks that often include fins, horns, ridges and other adornments.

Mexican wrestling championships are divided into well-defined weight classes. Each league can create their own weight classes, but common classes include lightweight, heavyweight, welterweight and light-heavyweight.
The rules are very similar to American pro wrestling. In single matches, there are four basic ways to win: pinning the opponent to the mat for a count of three, knocking him out of the ring for a count of 20, making him submit (which he signals by either waving his hands or telling the referee -- luchadores don't "tap out" like American pro wrestlers) or by disqualification. Performing an illegal move and removing an opponent's mask are just two ways to get disqualified. There's also an "excessive violence" rule, in which the referee can stop the fight and award the win to a luchadore if he's clearly giving his opponent a beating.
But singles matches aren't nearly as popular as tag team matches. In the three on three tag team match, each team appoints a captain. To win, two out of the three luchadores must be pinned, or the other team must score a pin-fall against the captain. This is the main type of lucha libre match. There are also four on four matches and five on five matches. In the latter, the goal is to pin the team captain.
In two on two tag team matches, or parejas, both team members must be eliminated to win. Actual "tags" aren't necessary in any of the tag team matches; when a luchadore falls outside of the ring, his partner can immediately enter the ring. Because of this, lucha libre tag team matches often go much faster than American pro wrestling ones.
Most lucha libre wrestling moves are similar to American wrestling moves, though they have different names. In fact, a number of acrobatic moves that are common in American wrestling today were actually developed by Mexican wrestlers. Wrestlers often give these moves their own creative names, just as in American wrestling. The "piledriver" is illegal in lucha libre and results in instant disqualification. Luchadores still use it to advance the storyline, and often leave on a stretcher to show how dangerous they are.



CMLL shows are held in 2 different arenas.

Arena México
Dr. Lavista 189, Col. Doctores
Closest subway stations: Cuauhtémoc (L1 - Pink) and Balderas (L1 - Pink & L3 - Light green)

Arena Coliseo
República de Perú 77, Centro
Closest subway stations: Zócalo and Allende (L2 - Blue)

There are 3 shows per week:
Tuesday, 7:30 PM, Arena México [program]
Friday (the best one), 8:30 PM, Arena México [program]
Sunday, 5:00 PM, Arena México [program] and Arena Coliseo [program] are used alternately.

The first match is always a little bit boring, you can skip it and get there 30 minutes after the show has started.
The arena is never full, you can get the tickets on arrival.
Consult the prices in the program links provided above. The cheapest ticket is usually between 35 and 40 pesos. The tickets for the first 5 rows are impossible to get at the ticket booth, you can get them with the re-sellers outside the arena but this is not recommended.

If you wanna join the CS people, we are going every Friday.
Take a look to the event on CS: Is not simple wrestling, IS LUCHA LIBRE!