Perhaps most famous luchador of all time is El Santo (aka Samson), who starred in, amongst many other things, the MST'd Samson Vs. The Vampire Women (Google Video). He even had his own photo comic and bag figure. However, even El Santo himself would gasp at the phenomenal athleticism of today's luchadores. Skeptical? Well check out some highlights here, here and here (YT + Warning: obnoxiously rawkin' music) and then decide.
posted by cog_nate on Feb 21, 2008 - 26 comments

Super Amigos is a new documentary about five masked wrestlers from Mexico City who fight for social justice. Featuring Fray Tormenta, the luchador/priest who was the inspiration for Nacho Libre; indefatigable community organizer Super Barrio; environmental activist Ecologista Universal; homophobia smasher Super Gay; and the matador's arch-nemesis, Super Animal. And they aren't the only ones--El Hijo de Santo is fighting for the sea turtles.
posted by hydrophonic on Mar 29, 2007 - 14 comments

Striking photographs of the masked wrestlers of Mexico, Lucha Loco by Malcolm Venville. [via the amazing everlasting blort] [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Feb 3, 2007 - 14 comments

In Japan it's a sport. In Canada, it's tradition. In Mexico, it's religion. In the US - it's a joke (NSFW language). Perhaps rightly so. In step with it’s history, American professional wrestling has a sordid, carnival-like backstage atmosphere, replete with insider slang. Extensive travel schedules and backstage politicking (QT movie, NSFW language) take their toll in the form of drug abuse and an unusually high mortality rate. While a few transition into mainstream careers, most don’t.

A billion-dollar industry , it has seen a fair share of success (NSFW image) over the years: Books, movies, video games, cartoons, records (not to mention an ECW nod in the lyrics to El Scorcho) and even punching John Stossel in the head. But it’s inconsistent and never seems to meet the level of popular acceptance as in other countries. It is, by and large, dismissed as a novelty for the NASCAR crowd, barely respected enough to be kitsch. In truth, it’s a back-breaking, death-defying, colorful soap opera of questionable taste that is anything but fake
posted by StopMakingSense on Feb 16, 2005 - 30 comments