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“Beneath the clothes, we find a man… and beneath the man, we find his… nucleus.” -Nacho Libre
Between the last weekend of WWE and AAA in Mexico and Las Vegas shows, and my current binge watching of Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre is at the top of mind for me. I’ve said it many times in my writing that wrestling is like a comic book universe to me. There is no form of professional wrestling that embraces that more than Lucha. Masks to hide identities, good guys versus bad guys, and sometimes even special abilities are all tropes straight from Marvel Comics. I love how each character is unique, but as an English speaking person, it was hard for me to fully comprehend.
My first introduction to Lucha Libre was when WCW brought in a group of Mexican wrestlers to strengthen their developing Cruiserweight Division. Mike Tenay was instrumental in them getting over, as the action was incredible, but it would have been like instrumental music – no lyrics to expand your interest. Not every luchador got the breaks of the top names, thus not getting the character development for everyone in the States. Super Calo, for example, was into hip hop, and La Parka carried a chair. For others like Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis, we saw more from them.
Then when Lucha Underground began as a US sisters company to AAA, some characters like Pentagon Jr and Rey Fenix were ported over in character while others like Judas Mesias adopted a new persona as Mil Muertes. Here, the characters were given great backstories with vignettes, promos, and underrated commentary from Matt Striker. I learned about what would have been my favorite luchadora in Sexy Star. A terrible decision later would blacklist the performer portraying Sexy Star (a new performer would take the persona for a short time). This was a character in abusive relationships who learned how to fight back and stand up for herself. If she could stand up to that man, what was stopping her from competing with men? She even had a one week run with their championship. They had a relatively small roster, but focused on the narrative making it a one hour television show that was ahead of its time and on too small a network to be noticed.
Now that WWE owns a major stake in AAA, their show has become more accessible. I’m able to tune in each Saturday night to catch what’s going on south of the border in one of the major companies. AEW also having an agreement with CMLL, we also get more exposure to their stars, and the My AEW App has ways to watch their major shows.
To make any list of best, would require someone with more historical knowledge than I have, and would have to include El Santo, Mil Mascarus, Dr Wagner, and Blue Demon. I’m not that guy, and mostly know them by name. What I have for you are my personal favorite luchadors I’ve watched.
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La Parka
La Parka was memorable in WCW, although it was mostly his look and charisma. He was never given many wins, so no finisher was developed for him, or any meaningful feuds to remember. I liked him though, and was a character I recognized when popping up in promotions as LA Park. With AAA owning the name, they would be able to keep the intellectual property alive by putting a new wrestler under the mask. So there have now been three man perform as La Parka.
Eventually the character was killed off. In a move to prove my point of wrestling is a comic book universe, during Vampiro’s retirement match, a casket was opened to reveal a new, realive, La Parka. The charisma is there, and a character that represents Mexican culture and how death is celebrated there. Now having championship success as the Latin American Champion, he is a fun character to watch.
Ultimo Dragon
He’s Japanese, so is he a luchador? Spending much of his career in Mexico, wearing the mask, and the Spanish word of Ultimo in his name, I’m going to count him. Besides, it’s my article, and I’ll do what I want (within Wade’s editing, of course).
The man who came to WCW to capture an eighth concurrent championship by capturing the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He had some of my favorite matches to watch on WCW Nitro. His feuds with Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, Billy Kidman, and Chris Jericho were a blast to see.
He had an unfortunate run in WWE, who other than Rey Mysterio, has always had a poor track record when booking masked wrestlers. Despite that, those that saw his work in WCW, in Mexico, or in Japan will always remember that he was one of the true legends.
Penta
When I first watched Lucha Underground, three performers stood out above all others to myself. Rey Fenix, King Cuerno (a sadly misused Santos Escobar in WWE), and Pentagon Jr. Over the course of the seasons (for context I’m currently halfway through season three), his character was the one who was best developed of the three.
His reveal that he was Vampiro’s protege after their deathmatch was an incredible season finale of the first season. Then his run as Pentagon Dark was a good heel character that excites me for a future heel turn in WWE.
They did not let on, at least at the point I’ve watched through, that he and Fenix were brothers. It makes sense why the matches they had were so amazing and we just saw a new version of that match in the finals of the lucha tournament and that match will be on my top five matches of the year. That was the match where Penta earned his title shot in his home country against Roman Reigns. That match was also fantastic, due to both Penta’s charisma, moves, and connection with the audience, but also Roman playing the role of a heel territory champion.
Eddie Guerrero
From seeing him at the first Worlds Collide to his stint in WCW to his leap to the WWF, Eddie has been a favorite of many wrestling fans. Highly respected in the ring by his peers, and beloved by fans, much can be written about his greatness.
In WCW, he was a solid mid-card wrestler who had a run in ECW that showed how well he can work. When he caught fire as a character though was when he came back from a car accident that put him on the shelf. He became a true character in the US when he went to pants from singlet, went to a goatee from the mustache, and started talking trash. Officially competing for the Cruiserweight Championship and starting the LWO were his WCW highlights.
In WWE, his lie, cheat, and steal persona as well as his relationship with Chyna caught fire. He had a stint away sure to drug abuse that was happening in his life and eventually came back for his biggest run, which included a company built on big men, trusting him with the WWE Championship by defeating none other than Brock Lesnar.
Rey Mysterio
The epitome of what US fans think of when they think of Mexican wrestling. He’s been the face of lucha in the States for 30 years. From his first matches in ECW against Psicosis, then against Dean Malenko in WCW, I was hooked. He was doing moves that I had never seen before and the crowds were amazed.
He became a huge draw in WWE, despite what I thought was some poor booking in his World Title run. The number of masks alone that have sold has made the WWE company a small fortune. A man who in deservedly in the Hall of Fame while still putting on amazing matches as though he was in his 20s at 51 years old. His legacy surpassed the original Rey Misterio, and has another legacy in his son, Dominic, who has the ability to be a bigger character than his dad.
(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop.)
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