Is Mexican wrestling really that bad?

[saintpat]

This is something that's been bothering me, or at least had me wondering, for quite some time.

Looking at the Wrestling Observer awards and other annual lists and awards this year and in the past several years, as well as reading threads here and there, it's pretty obvious all the 'insiders' are agog with Japanese wrestling -- but either wrestling in Mexico is completely awful or it's looked down upon by the elitists ... or, as I suspect is the case, they simply have not done nearly the level of research into Mexican or lucha wrestling south of the border that they have half a world away in Japan.

I mean, every list of top wrestlers in the world has a ton of Japanese guys -- not just at the top, but sprinkled throughout. Even major-promotion midcard guys get way more respect than do, it seems, national-hero level main eventers in the lucha world.

I just wonder why that is.

I know next to nothing about Japanese wrestling today -- sure, I know about Giant Baba and Inoki and westerners like Stan Hansen and others who were huge over there -- and nothing at all about wrestling in Mexico and the lucha scene. But it's obvious one is treated with great reverence and the other may as well not exist.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, or any theories as to why that is?

[chazraps]

This is a total off-the-top-of-my-head theory so I could very well be super wrong, but I think Lucha might be the least-comparable style to any other popular form of wrestling. As a result, it might not only be the most esoteric of the styles (from a worldwide perspective) but, for things like awards, it's the hardest to draw parallels and compare to the most visible names in each scene.

Again, that's just a shot in the dark guess. I know plenty of shoots with the bigger, more worldly indie guys who will be asked if there's any wrestling they don't really follow and they say Lucha, just because it doesn't appeal to them.

[chazraps]

But if you're curious about Lucha, here's a pretty great FREE Best-Of Lucha Sampler DVD Download from RudoReels - rudoreels.com/store/rudoreels-com-lucha-sampler-download.html

Runtime: 2:15
Rey Mysterio Jr, Super Calo, & Winners vs Psicosis, Heavy Metal, & Picudo (AAA 1993-01-29)
La Parka vs Cibernetico, mask vs mask (AAA 2004-06-20, TripleMania XII)
Ultimo Guerrero vs Jushin Liger, CMLL HEAVY (CMLL 2009-09-25)
Psisocis vs Rey Mysterio Jr (WAR Super J Cup 1995)
Super Medics vs Erick Embry & Rick Valentine, fire deathmatch (WWC)
Chris Jericho & Ultimo Dragon vs Negro Casas & El Dandy (CMLL)

[joebob27]

I'll watch the shows here and there if I can't sleep or I'm drunk or something. Lucha is just "weird". It's hard to explain. I enjoy watching it but it's just really really contrived.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Not bad, just different. Like, REALLY different.

[Deleted]

Yeah, the jump from American Traditional to Puro isn't that huge. The jump from American to British Style isn't that huge but the jump from any style to Lucha is GIGANTIC. The "psychology" or whatever works in a completely different way. Lucha is about totally different things and works in different ways.

[Djm Doesn't Find You Funny]

Not only is lucha very, VERY different from American Style and Puro, it also seems to be very, very insular.

I've noticed that Japan and Europe are always welcoming and willing to branch out to fans worldwide. Lucha, on the other hand, seems to be very content with existing in their own world and not really looking to rest of North America and the rest of the world.

[Sin Cara Tres]

I don't know about the rest of the voters but I remember Dave himself saying he doesn't get to watch a lot of AAA TV. For some reason, Lucha isn't all that accessible. You can order some DVDs online but it's much easier to see Japanese stuff. The New Japan iPPVs are on Youtube just a few days after they air as are All Japan big shows.

[mrjl]

From what I've seen lucha is low impact and majorly concerned about being constantly moving. There are constant dives from just about everywhere, but collisions are constantly rolled through, so it looks like the moves hurt less. The slightest grip with hand of feet can flip anyone clear across the ring. There's little logic in my opinion. A man leaving a ring in a tag match means another member of his team comes in yet there's no attempts to stop him

[joebob27]

Jan 23, 2013 20:43:44 GMT -5 mrjl said:

From what I've seen lucha is low impact and majorly concerned about being constantly moving. There are constant dives from just about everywhere, but collisions are constantly rolled through, so it looks like the moves hurt less. The slightest grip with hand of feet can flip anyone clear across the ring. There's little logic in my opinion. A man leaving a ring in a tag match means another member of his team comes in yet there's no attempts to stop him

Yeah, the six mans are a trip. It reminds me of acrobatic superheros fighting each other. A huge spot going outside the ring gets no-sold, where in WWE, both guys would be dead, and we'd be going to commerical.

[________ has left the building]

Lucha isn't the in thing right now. It took most people a couple of years to finally recognize that NJPW was putting on a very strong product. All it took was word of mouth and folks actually watching their stuff on Youtube for people to come around. Matter of fact, CMLL just finished up a tour with NJPW on their annual Fantastica Mania shows. Hopefully people will watch those shows and seek out more.

Chikara mainly uses the lucha style and format for their company so if you are familiar with them, you should not feel lost watching a lucha match.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

Jan 23, 2013 20:43:08 GMT -5 Djm Doesn't Find You Funny said:

Not only is lucha very, VERY different from American Style and Puro, it also seems to be very, very insular.

I've noticed that Japan and Europe are always welcoming and willing to branch out to fans worldwide. Lucha, on the other hand, seems to be very content with existing in their own world and not really looking to rest of North America and the rest of the world.

That is why the biggest stable in AAA is mostly outside talent a lot from North America but they are always heels, the American type wrestlers are always heels

[Tarik Dee]

Lucha is kinda boring if you have watch it all your life, in Mexico it's almost as popular as football, I dislike both, I've been in Lucha Libre shows since I was a kid, before even knowing about american wrestling and WWE, in first it was amusing because that was the only wrestling I knew, becoming a WWE fan made me see how bad some of the lucha was; in my opinion even the worst WWE moments are more entertaining than some lucha libre matches, storylines or gimmicks, of course, that just my opinion, I grew up with Lucha in my life, that would be different to someone from other country, so I'm sorry if I offend someone here.

[YiHammer]

Jan 23, 2013 20:43:44 GMT -5 mrjl said:

From what I've seen lucha is low impact and majorly concerned about being constantly moving. There are constant dives from just about everywhere, but collisions are constantly rolled through, so it looks like the moves hurt less. The slightest grip with hand of feet can flip anyone clear across the ring. There's little logic in my opinion. A man leaving a ring in a tag match means another member of his team comes in yet there's no attempts to stop him

I've heard luchadors don't bump hard mainly because the ring is nearly rock solid with no give.

["I'm Batman..."]

I really don't enjoy it, it's just too fast paced.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

What really bugs me is when someone will look at some US match and say "Psht, it's just a spotfest with no psychology" when there totally IS psychology in that match; it's just lucha psychology.

I totally get not LIKING lucha, but I don't get acting like it doesn't count.

[Glitch]

For me it's lack of story. I use to watch lucha many years ago, but after a while I needed more of a reason to root for people. You get some angles now and then, but most of the time it's random guy wrestling other random guy.

[Rave]

Jan 23, 2013 20:43:44 GMT -5 mrjl said:

A man leaving a ring in a tag match means another member of his team comes in yet there's no attempts to stop him

In Lucha tag rules, leaving the ring is treated exactly the same as tagging out, so nobody's going to stop them.

I miss being able to watch AAA on Sundays. The storylines weren't easy to follow, but it was interesting to watch. CMLL isn't the same, mainly because it's mostly commercials.

[YiHammer]

Lucha has storylines, I don't follow it but they've had some great storylines

[mrjl]

Jan 24, 2013 3:08:37 GMT -5 Rave said:

Jan 23, 2013 20:43:44 GMT -5 mrjl said:

A man leaving a ring in a tag match means another member of his team comes in yet there's no attempts to stop him

In Lucha tag rules, leaving the ring is treated exactly the same as tagging out, so nobody's going to stop them.

I miss being able to watch AAA on Sundays. The storylines weren't easy to follow, but it was interesting to watch. CMLL isn't the same, mainly because it's mostly commercials.

I am referring to the man going out of the ring, not the man entering. You're trying to work over one man to get the win, why would you let him exit the ring if that means he's no longer legal? It's like not even trying to stop a hot tag.