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89-758: Roberto Gutiérrez Frías (born October 2, 1962), best known under the ring name El Dandy , is a Mexican professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler . He is the cousin of professional wrestler Juan Conrado Aguilar, known as El Texano , and the uncle of Aguilar's sons, who wrestle as El Texano Jr. and Súper Nova . While he had a retirement tour in 2014, Gutiérrez has wrestled most recently in March 2019. Gutiérrez has wrestled for most major Mexican promotions, including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide , Universal Wrestling Association , World Wrestling Association , and International Wrestling Revolution Group . In addition, he has worked for

178-460: A Lucha de Apuestas , continuing his rise up the ranks of CMLL. By late 1984 El Dandy began teaming with Fuerza Guerrera and Talisman on a regular basis, forming a trio known as Los Bravos ("The Brave"). Los Bravos defeated Los Destructores (Lemús II, Tony Arce, and Vulcano) in a lucha de apuestas , winning the mask of Lemus II and the hair of Arce and Vulcano). On September 1, 1985, EMLL decided to have El Dandy defeat Américo Rocca to win

267-522: A luchador and luchadora respectively. In 2000, the all-female promotion company Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) was founded. Lucha Libre has a division called the "Mini-Estrella" or "Minis" division, which unlike North American midget wrestling , is not just for dwarfs but also for luchadores that are short. The maximum allowable height to participate in the Mini division was originally 5 feet, but in recent years wrestlers such as Pequeño Olímpico have worked

356-453: A luchador code of honor. For instance, a luchador who has lost a wager match would prefer to endure the humiliation of being unmasked or having his head shaved rather than live with the shame that would come from not honoring his bet. Rudos have also been known to make the transition into técnicos after a career-defining moment, as was the case with Blue Demon , who decided to become a técnico after his wrestling partner, Black Shadow ,

445-555: A Mexican luchador named El Superbeasto. The Main Antagonist of the animated film Despicable Me 2 , El Macho, sports a costume resembling that of a luchador, consistent with his theme of Mexican culture. Television shows have also been inspired by lucha libre, especially animated series such as ¡Mucha Lucha! Cartoon Network also produced an animated miniseries based on the luchador El Santo. The WB television series Angel episode entitled " The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco " told

534-571: A box, labeled with the date, to be treasured. Female wrestlers or luchadoras also compete in Mexican lucha libre . The CMLL World Women's Championship is the top title for CMLL 's women's division, while the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship is a championship defended in an annual tournament by female wrestlers in AAA. AAA also recognizes a World Mixed Tag Team Championship , contested by tag teams composed of

623-462: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

712-495: A folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in comic books and movies , while the sport received an unparalleled degree of mainstream attention. Other legendary luchadores who helped popularize the sport include Gory Guerrero , who is credited with developing moves and holds which are now commonplace in professional wrestling; Blue Demon , a contemporary of Santo and possibly his greatest rival; and Mil Máscaras (Man of A Thousand Masks), who

801-421: A large number of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in his final bout or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying a loss of identity as that character. Sometimes, losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask. The mask is considered sacred to a degree, so much so that fully removing an opponent's mask during

890-494: A match is grounds for disqualification. During their careers, masked luchadores will often be seen in public wearing their masks and keeping up the culture of lucha libre, while other masked wrestlers will interact with the public and press normally. However, they will still go to great lengths to conceal their true identities; in effect, the mask is synonymous with the luchador . El Santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealing his face only briefly in old age, and

979-570: A national pop-culture phenomenon. In 1942, lucha libre would be forever changed when a silver-masked wrestler, known simply as El Santo ( The Saint ), first stepped into the ring. He made his debut in Mexico City by winning an 8-man battle royal . The public fell in love with the mystique and secrecy of Santo's personality, and he quickly became the most popular luchador in Mexico. His wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became

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1068-502: A priest-turned-luchador was inspired by the story of Father Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Catholic priest who wrestled as Fray Tormenta to make money for his church. The documentary feature Lucha Mexico (2016) captured the lives of some of Mexico's well known wrestlers. The stars were Shocker , Blue Demon Jr. , El Hijo del Perro Aguayo and Último Guerrero . Directed by Alex Hammond and Ian Markiewicz. Rob Zombie 's animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto stars

1157-522: A real-life vampire invasion of New York. The Fox Kids live-action series Los Luchadores (2001) starred a trio of masked wrestlers consisting of Lobo Fuerte, Maria Valentine, and Turbine who not only participate in wrestling tournaments but also fight to protect their home of Union City from numerous threats (both natural and supernatural). Lucha libre is a recurring motif in nearly every game directed by Suda51 , starting from his directorial debut Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout . Most prominently,

1246-432: A result, the tag team formula and pacing which has developed in U.S. tag matches is different from lucha libre because the race to tag is not a priority. There are also two-man tag matches ( parejas ) and "four on four" matches ( atomicos ). Masks ( máscaras ) have been used dating back to the beginnings of lucha libre in the early part of the 20th century, and have a historical significance to Mexico in general, dating to

1335-471: A retired luchador character called Angel de la Plata (The Silver Angel), played by Joaquin Cosio . In the storyline, Angel de la Plata (probably based on El Santo ) was a major masked wrestling star in Mexico, appearing both in the ring and in a series of movies in which his character battled all manner of foes including vampires. A knee injury ended his career but he is called upon to use his fighting skills against

1424-556: A second time, defeating Los Brazos ( Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata ) on November 10, 2000. He would also defeat La Parka to win the WWA World Light Heavyweight Championship in early 2001. El Dandy ended up losing both championships on June 17, as Antifaz and La Parka won the tag team championship and Asterico won the light heavyweight title. El Dandy won the WWA World Tag Team Championship

1513-521: A serious back injury that left him unable to perform for three months. During this difficult time, Gutiérrez contemplated suicide on more than one occasion, especially as few of his fellow wrestlers kept in contact with him. He found solace in Chiropractic and has since opened a full-time practice. In early 2020, he was mentioned as a new member of the Mexico City boxing and lucha libre commission, assisting

1602-549: A serious professional.” In early 2000, El Dandy and Silver King competed under the name Los Fabulosos . On March 21, 2000, Los Fabulosos defeated XS (Lane and Rave ) in their first televised match under that name. They later ended up losing to Harlem Heat 2000 ( Big T and Stevie Ray ) in El Dandy's last match with WCW. Returning to Mexico, El Dandy generally worked for various independent promotions all over Mexico, mixed in with stints for IWRG and AAA. On October 15, 2004, he lost

1691-568: A third time, teaming up with Rey Misterio to claim the vacant title on August 27, 2007. The team later vacated the championship for undisclosed reasons. In 1997, El Dandy began working for the US-based World Championship Wrestling (WCW) along with a number of other Mexican wrestlers. His WCW televised debut took place on September 28, 1997, where he and Damian lost to nWo Japan representatives The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono . His first pay-per-view (PPV) show match

1780-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

1869-500: A welterweight for years, a weight class with a maximum limit of 78 kg (172 lb), El Dandy progressed to the middleweight division which is limited to a top weight of 87 kg (192 lb). On July 17, 1987, he defeated Kung Fu to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship . After his title win, El Dandy became involved in a storyline with another middleweight competitor, El Satánico . Kung Fu regained

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1958-442: Is Dos Caras Jr. Lucha Libre has crossed over into popular culture, especially in Mexico, where it is the second most popular sport after soccer . Outside of Mexico, lucha libre has also crossed over into popular culture, especially in movies and television. Depictions of luchadors are often used as symbols of Mexico and Mexican culture in non-Spanish-speaking cultures. The motion picture Nacho Libre , starring Jack Black as

2047-587: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

2136-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

2225-455: Is also known for its tag team wrestling matches. The teams are often made up of three members, instead of two as is common in the United States. These three-man teams participate in what are called trios matches, for tag team championship belts. Of these three members, one member is designated the captain. A successful fall in a trios match can be achieved by either pinning the captain of

2314-467: Is an illegal move in wrestling and grounds for immediate disqualification, although some variants are legal in certain promotions; or when he hits his opponent in the groin (foul); when he uses outside interference; when he attacks the referee; or when he completely rips off his opponent's mask. Most matches are two out of three falls, which had been abandoned for title matches in North America and Japan in

2403-480: Is credited with introducing the high flying moves of lucha libre to audiences around the world. He achieved international fame as one of the first high-flyers, something he was not considered in Mexico, where he fell under the mat-power category. Luchadores are traditionally more agile and perform more aerial maneuvers than professional wrestlers in the United States , who more often rely on power and hard strikes to subdue their opponents. The difference in styles

2492-505: Is due to the independent evolution of the sport in Mexico beginning in the 1930s and the fact that luchadores in the cruiserweight division ( peso semicompleto ) are often the most popular wrestlers in Mexican lucha libre. Luchadores execute characteristic high-flying attacks by using the wrestling ring 's ropes to catapult themselves towards their opponents, using intricate combinations in rapid-fire succession, and applying complex submission holds. Rings used in lucha libre generally lack

2581-467: Is known as "Catch". Lucha libre wrestlers are known as luchadores (singular luchador ) and often come from extended wrestling families who form their own stables. One such line integrated to the United States professional wrestling scene is Los Guerreros . In 2018, Mexican lucha libre was declared an intangible cultural heritage of Mexico City . The rules of lucha libre are similar to American singles matches. Matches can be won by pinning

2670-470: Is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form of the genre, characterized by colorful masks , rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, and "high-flying" maneuvers , some of which have been adopted in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere. The wearing of masks has developed special significance, and matches are sometimes contested in which

2759-589: The CMLL 59th Anniversary Show , to even the score at two-all in Lucha de Apuestas matches. In 1992, EMLL changed its name to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; World Wrestling Council) and created various CMLL championships. After having won both the NWA World and Mexican National championships in the middleweight division, El Dandy defeated Negro Casas to claim the recently created CMLL World Middleweight Championship . His reign

El Dandy - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-621: The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship in 1992, making it the oldest Minis championship still in existence today. Minis are often patterned after "regular-sized" wrestlers and are sometimes called "mascotas" ("mascots") if they team with the regular-sized version. In 1994, AAA promoted the When Worlds Collide pay-per-view in conjunction with the U.S. promotion company World Championship Wrestling (WCW). When Worlds Collide introduced U.S. audiences to many of

2937-534: The French Intervention in Mexico , when Enrique Ugartechea, the first Mexican wrestler, developed and invented Mexican lucha libre from Greco-Roman wrestling . In the early 20th century, professional wrestling was mostly a regional phenomenon in Mexico until Salvador Lutteroth founded the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ( Mexican Wrestling Enterprise ) in 1933, giving the sport a national foothold for

3026-658: The IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship but lost the match. While in IWRG, he defended the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship on two occasions, once against Negro Casas on July 24, 2003, and later against Blue Panther on August 31, 2003. He was one of eight wrestlers who put his hair on the line in a multi-man Lucha de Apuestas match; Suicida lost the match and his hair. On March 18, 2007, El Dandy

3115-546: The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship . The storyline came to an end in the main event of the 2002 Verano de Escándalo show, where Dandy, Aguayo, Electroshock and El Zorro faced off in a four-way Lucha de Apuestas match. In the end, Perro Aguayo Jr. pinned El Dandy, forcing El Dandy to be shaved bald as a result. El Dandy's last match, a victory over El Hijo del Santo, took place on May 11, 2003. At one point, Gutiérrez suffered

3204-598: The Mexican National Welterweight Championship . A total of 77 days later, El Dandy won the NWA World Welterweight Championship , and, in the process, relinquished the lower ranking Mexican National title. His 141-day reign was ended by Javier Cruz, as part of a long-running storyline feud between the two. El Dandy regained the championship on August 24, holding it for 70 days before losing it to Américo Rocca. After competing as

3293-759: The WWA World Light Heavyweight Championship , and the WWA World Tag Team Championship Corazón de León . He was a part of a tag team known as Los Fabulosos with Silver King and a member of the Latino World Order group in World Championship Wrestling. A 2004 match against L.A. Park was voted "Match of the Year" by readers of Box y Lucha magazine. Gutiérrez began training for a wrestling career at

3382-402: The luchador is uncommon: months can pass without it happening, because fans are the toughest of critics, booing the luchador if they are not pleased with their performance. Booing may happen regardless of the perceived virtuousness of the luchador's persona. The luchador , after receiving such an act of honor, will pick up the money and save it as a symbolic trophy, putting it in a vase or

3471-482: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

3560-734: The "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission), the main regulatory body in Mexico: Luchadores are traditionally divided into two categories, rudos (lit. "tough guys", who are "bad guys", or " heels "), who bend or break the rules, and técnicos (the "good guys", or " faces ", literally "technicians"), who play by the rules and their moves are much more complex and spectacular. Técnicos tend to have very formal combat styles, close to Greco-Roman wrestling and martial arts techniques, whereas rudos tend to be brawlers. Técnicos playing

3649-728: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

El Dandy - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-415: The "good guy" role, and rudos playing the "bad guy" role is very characteristic of Mexican lucha libre, which differs from U.S. professional wrestling, where many technical wrestlers play the role of heels (e.g., Kurt Angle ), and many brawlers play as "faces" (e.g., Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock ). Although rudos often resort to using underhanded tactics, they are still expected to live up to

3827-517: The 1970s. A unique rule in lucha libre applies during team matches (i.e., when a team's legal wrestler touches the ground outside the ring, a teammate may enter the ring to take his place as a legal competitor). Since the legal wrestler can step on the floor willingly, it is not necessary to tag a teammate to enter the match. This often allows for much more frantic action to take place in the ring than would be possible under standard tag rules. The antecedents of Mexican wrestling date back to 1863, during

3916-631: The 1998 Slamboree show, El Dandy was one of 15 wrestlers involved in a battle royal where the winner of the match would face Chris Jericho for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. During his introductions, Jericho referred to El Dandy as the "winner of the Lou Ferrigno look-a-like contest". Later that year, Dandy was a member of the Latino World Order , a group of Mexican wrestlers led by Eddie Guerrero . Shortly after Guerrero's real-life car accident on New Year's Day , however,

4005-760: The 2014 tour was meant to be his retirement, El Dandy returned to the ring in 2015, working a CMLL match alongside Negro Casas , defeating El Satánico and Mr. Niebla . He would also work a limited schedule, with four matches in 2016, and one in both 2017 and 2019. After returning from his stint in WCW, El Dandy began working for the Naucalpan -based International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). His first IWRG match took place on July 6, 2000, and saw El Dandy, Ciclon Ramirez, Kato Kung Lee , and Super Parka lose to Bombero Infernal , Dr. Cerebro , Mosco de la Merced , and Super Crazy . On February 8, 2002, he challenged Scorpio Jr. for

4094-753: The Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team started doing promotions involving lucha libre. A luchador mask in Diamondback colors was a popular giveaway at one game. In 2013 a Diamondbacks Luchador was made an official mascot, joining D. Baxter Bobcat. The first 20,000 fans at the July 27 game against the San Diego Padres were to receive a luchador mask. In Spain , professional wrestling has commonly been called catch (from catch-as-catch-can wrestling ) and pressing catch . In Peru ,

4183-579: The Latin American version such as more weight classes than professional wrestling in North America post World War II. Like "old school" European (especially British) wrestling, some Japanese wrestling and early 20th-century American wrestling, Lucha libre has a detailed weight class system patterned after boxing . Each weight class has an official upper limit, but examples of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to hold their title can be found. The following weight classes exist in lucha libre, as defined by

4272-550: The Mexican National Featherweight Championship. His 175-day reign ended when Pequeño Solin defeated him on January 22, 1983. Two weeks after losing the championship, El Dandy won his first lucha de apuestas ("bet match") against El Guerrero and, as a result, El Guerrero was shaved bald. In Lucha libre a Lucha de Apuestas victory is considered more prestigious than championship wins. The following year, on December 6, El Dandy defeated Gran Cochisse in

4361-739: The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship to L.A. Park . Five months later, El Dandy regained the championship from L.A. Park. His second reign lasted 750 days until Vangelis won the title on April 15, 2007. In April 2009, El Dandy lost a match for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship to titleholder Blue Demon Jr. Later that same year, El Dandy defeated El Signo in a 7-man steel cage lucha de apuestas match. The match also included El Fantasma , El Oriental , Super Muñeco , Villano III , and Villano IV , and saw El Dandy pin El Signo causing El Signo to be shaved bald after

4450-469: The Minis division despite being 1.69 m (5 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) tall. The Minis division was first popularized in the 1970s with wrestlers like Pequeño Luke and Arturito (a wrestler with an R2-D2 gimmick) becoming noticed for their high flying abilities. In the late 1980s/early 1990s CMLL created the first actual "Minis" division, the brainchild of then-CMLL booker Antonio Peña . CMLL created

4539-849: The U.S. on the Spanish-language cable networks Galavisión and LA TV. Lucha Underground is a television series produced by the United Artists Media Group which airs in English on the El Rey Network and in Spanish on UniMás . It features wrestlers from the American independent circuit and AAA. AAA also owns a percentage of Lucha Underground. The series, which is taped live in Boyle Heights, California, finished season 4 finale. In 2012,

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4628-889: The US-based World Championship Wrestling as well as the Japanese Super World Sports and the International Wrestling Association of Japan . During his career, starting in 1981, he has won a number of championships, including the CMLL World Middleweight Championship three times, the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship , the NWA World Welterweight Championship twice, the Mexican National Featherweight Championship, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship twice, Mexican National Middleweight Championship , Mexican National Welterweight Championship ,

4717-713: The age of 14, training under Diablo Velazco in his hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco. After five years of training he finally, but reluctantly, made his in-ring debut. Gutiérrez later stated that he was nervous for his debut in part because of his fear of the public. He opted to use the ring name "El Dandy", after several of the wrestlers in Guadalajara gave him the nickname due to his success with women. He made his debut as an enmascarado , or masked wrestler , teaming with Águila Solitaria against Black Indian and Chamaco Hernández. A local promoter asked Gutiérrez if he would prefer to wrestle unmasked instead, leading to Gutiérrez to lose

4806-643: The championship when El Satánico helped Kung Fu cheat to win the title as part of the build up to a Lucha de Apuestas match between the two. In the lead up to the anticipated match, El Dandy defeated Satánico to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship on September 28. Weeks later El Satánico defeated El Dandy, making him the first wrestler to pin El Satánico in a lucha de apuestas match. El Dandy's reign as Mexican National Middleweight Champion lasted 112 days until Javier Cruz won

4895-621: The championship. In June 1990, El Dandy defeated Ángel Azteca to become the NWA World Middleweight Champion for a second time, holding it for 61 days until Atlantis won the title from him. The storyline between El Dandy and El Satánico was once again brought to the forefront in late 1990, with El Dandy evening the score between them by defeating El Satánico as part of the 1990 Juicio Final supercard show. The following year, El Satánico defeated El Dandy in their third overall Lucha de Apuestas , followed by El Dandy winning at

4984-532: The commission in enforcing their rules and statutes. During El Dandy's days in EMLL, Wrestling Observer Newsletter founder Dave Meltzer stated that El Dandy was one of the "three best workers" in EMLL. In 1997, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him at #167 in their "top 500" for the year. Writer Matt Farmer stated that El Dandy was "highly underrated" and that he had "phenomenal matches" with Perro Aguayo Jr. during their 2002 feud. His 2004 match against L.A. Park

5073-416: The company on May 5, 2002. El Dandy, Perro Aguayo Jr. Máscara Sagrada , and Máscara Maligna faced off in a steel cage match where the last person in the ring would either be forced to unmask or have their hair shaved off. Neither Dandy nor Aguayo were involved in the finish, watching from outside of the ring as Máscara Maligna lost and was unmasked. Two weeks later, El Dandy defeated Perro Aguayo Jr. to win

5162-412: The contract: Octavio Gaona would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio Gaona won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to the tradition. The following match types are variants of Luchas de Apuestas matches with different types of wagers. Since lucha libre has its roots more in Latin American professional wrestling than North American professional wrestling, it retains some of the basics of

5251-457: The days of the Aztecs . Early masks were very simple with basic colors to distinguish the wrestler. In modern lucha libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals , gods , ancient heroes and other archetypes , whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance. Virtually all wrestlers in Mexico will start their careers wearing masks, but over the span of their careers,

5340-418: The first time. The promotion flourished and quickly became the premier spot for wrestlers. As television surfaced as a viable entertainment medium during the 1950s, Lutteroth was then able to broadcast his wrestling across the nation, subsequently yielding a popularity explosion for the sport. Moreover, it was the emergence of television that allowed Lutteroth to promote lucha libre's first breakout superstar into

5429-508: The gimmick has recently attained a more flamboyant outlook. Luchadores , like their foreign counterparts, seek to obtain a campeonato (championship) through winning key wrestling matches. Since many feuds and shows are built around luchas de apuestas (matches with wagers), title matches play a less prominent role in Mexico than in the U.S. Titles can be defended as few as one time per year. The two biggest lucha libre promotions in Mexico are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), which

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5518-525: The group was forced to disband by the reformed nWo . The following year, El Dandy lost to Lenny whom he challenged for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. One of El Dandy's most notable moments came, not from the ring but, from an interview Bret Hart made. The heel Hart had selected El Dandy as his opponent, leading interviewer Gene Okerlund to question why Hart had selected such an easy opponent. This led to Hart respond "Who are you to doubt El Dandy?" “Who are you to doubt El Dandy? ‘Cause this guy’s

5607-400: The hair of Babe Face on August 1, and then Chicago Express on September 3. The following month, on October 15, El Dandy's 681-day reign as NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion was ended by Black Warrior . While 1996 started with success, it ended with a Lucha de Apuestas loss to El Hijo del Santo in the main event of the 1996 Juicio Final show. El Dandy later competed in a tournament for

5696-403: The importance placed on masks in lucha libre, losing the mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult, and can at times seriously hurt the career of the unmasked wrestler. Putting one's mask on the line against a hated opponent is a tradition in lucha libre as a means to settle a heated feud between two or more wrestlers. In these battles, called luchas de apuestas ("matches with wagers"),

5785-477: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

5874-762: The loser must permanently remove his mask, which is a wager with a high degree of weight attached. Tag team wrestling is especially prevalent in lucha libre , particularly matches with three-member teams, called trios . Although in English the term specifically refers to the Mexican style of theatrical professional wrestling, in Spanish it can refer to other kinds of wrestling, including competitive freestyle wrestling ( es:lucha libre olímpica ) and professional wrestling in general ( es:lucha libre profesional ) in addition to Mexican professional wrestling in particular ( es:lucha libre mexicana ). However, in Spain (as with other non-Anglophone European countries) professional wrestling

5963-862: The mask and wrestle without a mask on for the remainder of his career. At the time his family did not know he had become a professional wrestler, not until they saw him on TV against El Dorado. While the match was so well received that the fans in the arena threw money in the ring, Gutiérrez's parents were not enthused with his career choice at the time. After showing his skills in Guadalajara, representatives from Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), Mexico's largest professional wrestling promotion invited him to Mexico City to work for EMLL. Gutiérrez credited Mocho Cota and Herodes for getting him to Mexico City and also helping him out. Early in his EMLL career, Gutiérrez had to wash clothes for several wrestlers to earn enough money for food. El Dandy won his first Championship on July 31, 1982, as he defeated El Modulo to win

6052-424: The match. In 2014, El Dandy began his retirement tour, facing off against his longtime rival El Satánico in various local shows around the country. The longtime rivals split the first four matches between them, leading to "El Juicio Final" on May 18. El Dandy won the match, which meant that El Satánico was shaved bald. 12 days later, in what was billed as his last match, El Dandy defeated Satánico one more time. While

6141-422: The opponent to the mat for the count of three, making him submit, knocking him out of the ring for a predetermined count (generally twenty), or by disqualification. Using the ropes for leverage is illegal, and once a luchador is on the ropes, his opponent must release any holds and he will not be able to pin him. Disqualifications occur when an opponent uses an illegal grab or move, such as the piledriver , which

6230-439: The opposing team or by pinning both of the other members. A referee can also stop the match because of "excessive punishment". He can then award the match to the aggressors. Falls often occur simultaneously, which adds to the extremely stylized nature of the action. In addition, a wrestler can opt to roll out of the ring in lieu of tagging a partner or simply be knocked out of the ring, at which point one of his partners may enter. As

6319-800: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Lucha de apuestas Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Lucha libre ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlutʃa ˈliβɾe] , meaning " freestyle wrestling " or literally translated as "free fight")

6408-1006: The spring supports added to U.S. and Japanese rings; as a result, lucha libre does not emphasize the "flat back" bumping style of other professional wrestling styles. For this same reason, aerial maneuvers are almost always performed on opponents outside the ring, allowing the luchador to break his fall with an acrobatic tumble. Lucha libre has several different weight classes, many catered to smaller agile fighters, who often make their debuts in their mid-teens. This system enables dynamic high-flying luchadores such as Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Juventud Guerrera , Super Crazy and Místico , to develop years of experience by their mid-twenties. A number of prominent Japanese wrestlers also started their careers training in Mexican lucha libre before becoming stars in Japan . These include Gran Hamada , Satoru Sayama , Jushin Thunder Liger , and Último Dragón . Lucha libre

6497-743: The story of a family of luchadores called "Los Hermanos Números" who also fought evil. Angel must help the remaining brother, Numero Cinco, defeat the Aztec warrior-demon that killed his four brothers. In the British TV show Justin Lee Collins : The Wrestler , Colins competes as the rudo El Glorioso , or The Glorious One, against the exótico Cassandro in The Roundhouse , London, ultimately losing and being unmasked. The book and television series The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan , features

6586-403: The term cachascán (from "catch as can") is used and the wrestlers are called cachascanistas . In Bolivia , wrestling Cholitas – female wrestlers dressed up as indigenous Aymara – are popular and have inspired comic books . Some lucha libre wrestlers had careers in various mixed martial arts promotions, promoting lucha libre and wearing signature masks and attire. One of the most famous

6675-590: The top luchadores in Mexico at the time. In recent years, several luchadores have found success in the United States. Notable luchadores who achieved success in the U.S. are Eddie Guerrero , Chavo Guerrero , Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Juventud Guerrera , L. A. Park , Super Crazy , Alberto Del Rio , Psicosis , Místico , Kalisto , Aero Star , Drago , Andrade El Idolo , Pentagon Jr. , Fenix , El Hijo del Fantasma , Bandido , Flamita , Puma King , Rush , Soberano Jr. , Dragon Lee , Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. CMLL lucha libre shows are broadcast weekly in

6764-420: The true identity of a person losing his mask is previously unknown, it is customary for that person to reveal his real name, hometown and years as a professional upon unmasking. The first lucha de apuestas was presented on July 14, 1940, at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago (Velázquez) was so much lighter than his challenger ( Octavio Gaona ), he requested a further condition before he would sign

6853-539: The vacant CMLL World Trios Championship . Teaming up with Héctor Garza and Vampiro Canadiense , the trio defeated Apolo Dantés , Gran Markus Jr. , and Fuerza Guerrera in the first round, before losing to Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr. , and Zumbido in the semifinals of the tournament. While working for CMLL, El Dandy also wrestled for the World Wrestling Association (WWA) in Tijuana, Baja California, as he

6942-455: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

7031-399: The wrestlers "wager" either their mask or their hair. In a lucha de apuesta (betting match), wrestlers make a public bet on the outcome of the match. The most common forms are the mask-against-mask, hair-against-hair, or mask-against-hair matches. A wrestler who loses his or her mask has to remove the mask after the match. A wrestler who loses their hair is shaved immediately afterward. If

7120-479: Was allowed to take independent bookings on days where he was not needed for CMLL shows. El Dandy and Corazón de León defeated Los Cowboys ( El Texano and Silver King ) to win the WWA Tag Team Championship on July 21, 1993. Their reign lasted 42 days before Los Cowboys regained the championship. El Dandy returned to WWA in 2000, teaming with Silver King to win the WWA World Tag Team Championship for

7209-542: Was as part of the 60-man battle royal main event of WCW's annual World War 3 show. He would later unsuccessfully challenge fellow Mexican luchador Juventud Guerrera for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship in January 1998. In his next PPV match, El Dandy, La Parka , Psicosis , and Silver King lost to Chavo Guerrero Jr. , Juventud Guerrera, Lizmark Jr. , and Super Caló at Souled Out . For

7298-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

7387-562: Was ended by Bestia Salvaje on September 4, 1992. El Dandy regained the championship in December, with his second reign as CMLL World Middleweight Champion lasting until May 1993. El Dandy had a third reign that started on October 5 and lasted until February 22, 1994, when he lost it to Javier Llanes. Next, El Dandy moved into the light heavyweight division, defeating Jaque Mate to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship . In 1996, El Dandy won two lucha de apuestas matches, first winning

7476-595: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

7565-673: Was eventually buried wearing his silver mask. More recently, the masks luchadores wear have become iconic symbols of Mexican culture. Contemporary artists like Francisco Delgado and Xavier Garza incorporate wrestler masks in their paintings. Although masks are a feature of lucha libre, it is a misconception that every Mexican wrestler uses one. There have been several maskless wrestlers who have been successful, particularly Tarzán López , Gory Guerrero , Perro Aguayo and Negro Casas . Formerly masked wrestlers who lost their masks, such as Satánico , Cien Caras , Cibernético and others, have had continued success despite losing their masks. With

7654-498: Was founded in 1933, and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA). One characteristic practiced in Mexico is with fans honoring wrestlers by throwing money into the wrestling ring after witnessing a high-quality match. With this act fans honor the luchador in a symbolic way, thanking the luchador for a spectacular match demonstrating they are pleased with their performance, showing the match is worth their money and worth more than what they paid to witness such an event. This act of honoring

7743-561: Was involved in a steel cage match where both his light heavyweight championship and the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship were on the line. In the end Fantasma de la Ópera defeated Dr. Cerebro to win the IWRG title. His last match with the group took place a week later, where Damián 666, Misterioso Jr. , and Villano III defeated El Dandy, El Sagrado , and Máscara Sagrada by disqualification. El Dandy began working for AAA , making his debut for

7832-400: Was unmasked by the legendary Santo . Tag teams are sometimes composed of both rudos and técnicos in what are called parejas increibles (incredible pairings). Parejas increibles highlight the conflict between a luchador ' s desire to win and his contempt for his partner. A staple gimmick present in lucha libre since the 1950s is exótico , a character in drag. It is argued that

7921-503: Was voted the "Match of the year" by readers of Box y Lucha magazine. Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

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