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175-860: Adolfo Margarito Tapia Ibarra (November 14, 1965) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado ( masked professional wrestler ), who currently performs as L. A. Park for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) in Mexico and various other independent promotions in Mexico and the United States . He is best known throughout the world as La Parka , especially from his many years in the American World Championship Wrestling promotion. He has worked for every major and multiple minor wrestling promotion in Mexico, as well as participating on multiple wrestling tours in Japan . He

350-796: A calaverita , a small gift of candies or money; they also ask passersby for it. This custom is similar to that of Halloween 's trick-or-treating in the United States, but without the component of mischief to homeowners if no treat is given. A distinctive literary form exists within this holiday where people write short poems in traditional rhyming verse , called calaveras literarias (lit. "literary skulls"), which are mocking, light-hearted epitaphs mostly dedicated to friends, classmates, co-workers, or family members (living or dead) but also to public or historical figures, describing interesting habits and attitudes, as well as comedic or absurd anecdotes that use death-related imagery which includes but

525-475: A rudo (villain) character he used in 1988. He lost the Asesino de Tepito mask in an Apuesta match against Astro de Oro at some point in 1988. Following the mask loss Tapia adopted a character called Principe Island ("Island Prince"), a character he would use until 1992. As Principe Island he won the masks of wrestlers Gran Cóndor, Principe Judas, Guerrero Negra and Bestia Negra I. On November 21, 1987, he lost

700-469: A Christian cross , statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary , pictures of deceased relatives and other people, scores of candles, and an ofrenda . Traditionally, families spend some time around the altar, praying and telling anecdotes about the deceased. In some locations, celebrants wear shells on their clothing, so when they dance, the noise will wake up the dead; some will also dress up as

875-522: 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

1050-453: 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 ,

1225-474: A "comedic voice over" gimmick and referred to La Parka as "Skull Captain". La Parka left WCW in March 2000 before WCW was bought by WWF a year later. While La Parka had been busy working exclusively for WCW for a number of years Peña had given the "La Parka" outfit and character to another wrestler under AAA contract and had him working as La Parka Jr. from late 1996 and forward, cashing in on La Parka's popularity in

1400-555: 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

1575-571: 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

1750-521: A bun, topped with sugar, and often decorated with bone-shaped pieces of the same pastry. Calaveras , or sugar skulls, display colorful designs to represent the vitality and individual personality of the departed. In addition to food, drinks are also important to the tradition of Day of the Dead. Historically, the main alcoholic drink was pulque ; today families will commonly drink the favorite beverage of their deceased ancestors. Other drinks associated with

1925-514: A community altar, an Altar contest, a catrin/catrina contest, as well as lots of music, food, and vendors. Overall, San Diego is booming with colorful celebrations honoring ancestors across the county. In Italy , November 2 is All Souls' Day and is colloquially known as Day of the Dead or "Giorno dei Morti". While many regional nuances exist, celebrations generally consist of placing flowers at cemeteries and family burial sites and speaking to deceased relatives. Some traditions also include lighting

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2100-408: A contract early on. Peña came up with the idea to repackage Tapia as "La Parka" (an altered spelling of La Parca , Spanish for "The Reaper" ), a character who wore a full bodysuit and mask that resembled a skeleton like the ones used in Mexico's Day of the Dead ceremonies. The character was an almost instant success with the fans, the imagery combined with Tapia's charisma and flamboyant actions in

2275-435: A criticism of Mexican upper-class women who imitated European fashions. It was first published posthumously in a broadside with a text (not by Posada) that mocked working-class vendors of chickpeas . Posada's image of a skeletal figure with a big hat decorated with two ostrich feathers and flowers was elaborated into a full scale figure by Mexican Muralist Diego Rivera in a fresco painted in 1946–47. Rivera's Catrina has

2450-586: A fight between Diamante Azul and Thunder as he walked to the ring, then issued an open challenge to any CMLL wrestler. At the time no one took the challenge. The following week it was announced that Park was not joining CMLL, but was only there to promote a partnership between CMLL and the new independent "Liga Elite" promotion. On August 19, 2015, Park announced his return to CMLL. On August 28, Park returned to CMLL to team with Volador Jr. and Atlantis to wrestle Dr. Wagner Jr., Rush and La Sombra . On September 8, CMLL announced it had severed its ties with Park for

2625-495: 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

2800-463: A group that also included Psychosis, Juventud Guerrera, Villano IV , Villano V, El Dandy , Silver King , Héctor Garza, Damián 666 , and a reluctant Rey Mysterio Jr. The group feuded mainly with Konnan and Perry Saturn . In January 1999, Guerrero was injured in a car accident and the LWO group was subsequently abandoned. When Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara took over the creative portion of WCW in late 1999,

2975-443: A holy water font, or under a cross in a cemetery, whereby it would be transformed into a memento mori. Regardless of its origin, the festivity has become a national symbol in Mexico and as such is taught in the nation's school system, typically asserting a native origin. It is also a school holiday nationwide. A number of Mexico City's museums and public spaces have played an important part in developing and promoting urban Day of

3150-421: 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

3325-477: A losing effort to El Hijo del Santo and Konnan. Park continued his rivalry with El Hijo del Santo culminating on October 29, 2005, at Revolucha 2: Dia de los Muertos in a Lucha en la Jaula match (a steel cage match). Both Park and Santo had their masks ripped apart and were bleeding profusely during the match. In February 2006, L.A. Park began a bitter feud with then IWR Champion Conrad Kennedy III (CK3). L.A. Park finally defeated CK3 on August 27, 2006, at Brawl at

3500-572: A manager and begin to feud with Psychosis and Disco Inferno . While La Parka often wrestled on WCW's Monday Nitro show his PPV appearances were rare. On July 13, he teamed with Psychosis and Villano IV on the undercard of WCW's Bash at the Beach PPV, losing to Héctor Garza , Juventud Guerrera and Lizmark Jr. He also wrestled at SuperBrawl VIII , losing to Disco Inferno. La Parka's biggest achievement in WCW did not even involve Adolfo Tapia. One night in

3675-570: A manifestation of syncretism . The beginning of the Christian observance of Allhallowtide , including All Saints' Day and its vigil, as well as All Souls' Day, is observed on the same days in places like Spain and Southern Europe, and elsewhere in Christendom. Critics of the Native American origin claim that even though pre-Columbian Mexico had traditions that honored the dead, current depictions of

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3850-553: A match against Randy Savage , La Parka suddenly executed Diamond Dallas Page 's finisher, the Diamond Cutter on Savage and gained the pinfall. After the match "La Parka" unmasked to show that it was in fact Page under the mask, using the ruse to get back at Savage during their rivalry. A couple of weeks later, Savage wrestled against the real La Parka, defeating him to gain a small measure of revenge. In October 1998, La Parka became part of Eddie Guerrero 's Latino World Order (LWO),

4025-608: A match at the CMLL 75th Anniversary Show that L.A. Park lost by disqualification. In the months following the Anniversary show both L.A. Park and Dr. Wagner Jr. left CMLL. While working for CMLL La Parka was allowed to also wrestle for independent promotions in Mexico, the US and Japan. During his time on the independent circuit L.A. Park developed a long-running and very intense feud with El Hijo del Santo and Blue Demon Jr. , interjecting himself in

4200-494: 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

4375-501: A modified version of the outfit in other color combinations such as black and red, black and yellow, white and black or even variations of silver. He had already modified the original "La Parka" outfit to differentiate between himself and the AAA version, adopting a mask that looked less like a skull and more like the face of Darth Maul from the Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace movie. Later on Tapia would return to wearing

4550-523: 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 became 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

4725-547: A national symbol in recent decades and it is taught in the nation's school system asserting a native origin. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO . Views differ on whether the festivity has indigenous pre-Hispanic roots, whether it is a more modern adaptation of an existing European tradition, or a combination of both as

4900-565: A person dressed up as the deity offering gifts to poor children. In this context, the Day of the Dead began to be officially isolated from the Catholic Church by the leftist government of Lázaro Cárdenas motivated both by "indigenismo" and left-leaning anti-clericalism . Malvido herself goes as far as calling the festivity a "Cardenist invention" whereby the Catholic elements are removed and emphasis

5075-502: 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

5250-605: A prominent role in modern Day of the Dead observances in Mexico and elsewhere. The Catrina phenomenon has in fact gone beyond Day of the Dead, resulting in non-seasonal and even permanent "Catrinas", including COVID-19 masks, tattoos, permanently decorated cars, and Catrina-themed artworks. Some artists have even developed a sub-specialization in Catrina imagery. Theatrical presentations of Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day. The traditions and activities that take place in celebration of

5425-522: 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,

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5600-404: A red candle or "lumino" on the window sills at sunset and laying out a table of food for deceased relatives who will come to visit. Like other Day of the Dead traditions around the world, Giorno dei Morti is a day dedicated to honoring the lives of those who have died. Additionally, it is a tradition that teaches children not to be afraid of death. In Sicily , families celebrate a long-held Day of

5775-412: A result of the alleged attack. Adolfo Tapia is part of an extended wrestling family that beyond himself also includes his brother Eustacio Jiménez Ibarra, who wrestled as El Hijo de Cien Caras ("The son of Cien Caras ") before his death on November 29, 2010, as well as his son who wrestles as El Hijo de L.A. Park ("The son of L.A. Park"). Three of Adolfo Tapia's uncles are also wrestlers working under

5950-432: 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

6125-471: 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

6300-423: A simple Tehuana dress and a feather boa, as well as other features that make allusions to the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Through the addition of these indigenous features, Rivera rehabilitated Catrina into a nationalist emblem. The Catrina character has become deeply associated with the Day of the Dead. Catrina figures made of a wide range of materials, as well as people with Catrina costumes, have come to play

6475-408: A special wicker basket of the dead called "cannistru dei morti" or "u cannistru", which typically consist of various sweets, small toys, boned-shaped almond flavored cookies called "ossa dei morti", sugar dolls called "pupi di zucchero", and fruit, vegetable, and ghoul shaped marzipan treats called " Frutta martorana ". The pupi di zucchero, thought to be an Arabic cultural import, are often found in

6650-807: A storyline that played off the original rivalry between El Santo and Blue Demon creating a feud that headlined various shows all over Mexico and involves three of the most famous masks of the 1980s and 1990s. In 2004, Tapia made a number of appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), as both L.A. Park and La Parka. He wrestled in a Gauntlet for the Gold for the TNA X Division Championship at one of TNA's weekly PPVs and then appeared in yet another X Division gauntlet match at TNA's inaugural monthly PPV Victory Road , losing on both occasions. On May 7, 2005, L.A. Park debuted for Detroit's Independent Wrestling Revolution (IWR) brand Revolucha , teaming with American Kickboxer in

6825-465: A superstable consisting of La Legión Extranjera , La Milicia , Los Maniacos and the invading Los Perros del Mal stables. On December 5 at Guerra de Titanes L.A. Park defeated El Mesías to become the number one contender to the AAA Mega Championship , though, at the same event his La Sociedad stable mate El Zorro became the new champion by defeating Dr. Wagner Jr. In February 2011

7000-665: A traditional two-day celebration culminating in a candlelight procession to the historic El Campo Santo Cemetery. The festival also was held annually at historic Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston 's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Sponsored by Forest Hills Educational Trust and the folkloric performance group La Piñata, the Day of the Dead festivities celebrated the cycle of life and death. People brought offerings of flowers, photos, mementos, and food for their departed loved ones, which they placed at an elaborately and colorfully decorated altar. A program of traditional music and dance also accompanied

7175-572: A wicker basket under the bed (the size varied according to the money there was in the family) that at night the dear dead would fill with sweets and gifts that we would find on the 2nd morning upon awakening. After a restless sleep we woke up at dawn to go hunting… Because the dead wanted to play with us, to give us fun, and therefore they didn't put the basket back where they had found it, but went to hide it carefully, we had to look for it… The toys were tin trains, wooden toy cars, rag dolls, wooden cubes that formed landscapes… On November 2nd we returned

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7350-442: 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

7525-727: Is a three-time world heavyweight champion , having held the IWC World Heavyweight , IWC World Hardcore, and IWL World Heavyweight championships all once. He is also a two-time world tag team champion , having held the MLW World Tag Team Championship and the CMLL World Tag Team Championship each once. Tapia was forced to change his ring name from "La Parka" to "L.A. Park" (short for La Auténtica Park ; "The Original Park") in early 2003 when AAA owner Antonio Peña asserted his copyright claims to

7700-399: 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

7875-467: 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

8050-480: 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

8225-504: Is dedicated to adults."   He also notes that the same object, such as a stone skull carved by the Aztecs, would have different meanings in different religious contexts. For the Aztecs, bones—and skulls in particular—were reservoirs of enormous sacred power. A stone skull could evoke sacrifice, and the skull racks where the skulls of sacrificed captives were displayed. The Spanish could take an Aztec skull and repurpose it by placing it on

8400-505: 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

8575-467: 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

8750-471: Is laid on indigenous iconography, the focus on death and what Malvido considers to be the cultural invention according to which Mexicans venerate death. Gonzalez explains that Mexican nationalism developed diverse cultural expressions with a seal of tradition but which are essentially social constructs which eventually developed ancestral tones. One of these would be the Catholic Día de Muertos which, during

8925-480: Is not limited to cemeteries, skulls, or the grim reaper , all of this in situations where the dedicatee has an encounter with death itself. This custom originated in the 18th or 19th century after a newspaper published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future which included the words "and all of us were dead", and then proceeding to read the tombstones. Current newspapers dedicate calaveras literarias to public figures, with cartoons of skeletons in

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9100-498: Is represented on this date both in Spain and in Mexico since the early 19th century due to its ghostly apparitions and cemetery scenes. Opposing views assert that despite the obvious European influence, there exists proof of pre-Columbian festivities that were very similar in spirit, with the Aztec people having at least six celebrations during the year that were very similar to Day of the Dead,

9275-470: 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

9450-453: Is then covered in banana leaves and steamed in an underground oven over the course of several hours. Once cooked, it is dug up and opened to eat. A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish calavera ), which celebrants represent in masks , called calacas (colloquial term for skeleton), and foods such as chocolate or sugar skulls, which are inscribed with the name of

9625-598: Is unresolved, because after Tapia jump to AAA, in subsequents X-LAW shows, Sabu has been promoted as X-LAW top star. On October 30, 2010, Sabu defeated Damián 666 to win Xtreme Latin American Wrestling's International Championship., but no word about the fate of the Heavyweight title. On March 12, 2010, during the 2010 Rey de Reyes event Dorian Roldan, son of AAA boss Joaquin Roldan announced that he, Dorian,

9800-497: The Copa Antonio Peña gauntlet match . After turning on Jeff Jarrett and eliminating him from the match, Park was once again attacked by a masked El Zorro, which led to Electroshock defeating him to win the match. Héroes Inmortales also saw La Parka turning on AAA and joining La Sociedad , which led to him and L.A. Park forming an unlikely tag team on December 1, when they defeated the team of Dr. Wagner Jr. and Electroshock in

9975-621: 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

10150-534: 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

10325-702: The Galería de la Raza , SomArts Cultural Center, Mission Cultural Center, de Young Museum and altars at Garfield Square by the Marigold Project. Oakland is home to Corazon Del Pueblo in the Fruitvale district. Corazon Del Pueblo has a shop offering handcrafted Mexican gifts and a museum devoted to Day of the Dead artifacts. Also, the Fruitvale district in Oakland serves as the hub of the Día de Muertos annual festival which occurs

10500-636: The MLW World Tag Team Championship in November. L.A. Park would then defeat Pentagon on April 4, 2019, at MLW Rise of the Renegades. Park would receive a push in early 2019, after winning the second MLW Battle Riot, earning a future title shot against the MLW World Heavyweight Champion. On September 15, 2019, Salina de la Renta announced that L.A. Park would be cashing in his Battle Riot title shot against Jacob Fatu at Saturday Night SuperFight . On

10675-571: The Principe Island mask to El Hijo del Santo . Following his mask loss he started working as the masked Invasor del Norte I as well as still taking bookings as Principe Island . The double bookings came to an end on June 26, 1991, when Stuka unmasked the Invasor del Norte character, revealing that Tapia played both characters. In 1992 Antonio Peña founded a new wrestling promotion called Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), signing Tapia to

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10850-591: The WWA Light Heavyweight Championship on a WWA/AAA co-promoted show. The title reign lasted until October 23, 1993, when Lizmark won the title back. The feud between the two saw La Parka defeat Lizmark for the WWA title for a second time on June 20, 1994. La Parka was one of the wrestlers that worked the When Worlds Collide show, a joint AAA/ World Championship Wrestling (WCW) pay-per-view where he teamed with Jerry Estrada and Blue Panther , losing to

11025-501: The Yucatán Peninsula , mukbil pollo ( píib chicken) is traditionally prepared on October 31 or November 1, and eaten by the family throughout the following days. It is similar to a big tamale, composed of masa and pork lard, and stuffed with pork, chicken, tomato, garlic, peppers, onions, epazote , achiote , and spices. Once stuffed, the mukbil pollo is bathed in kool sauce , made with meat broth, habanero chili, and corn masa. It

11200-402: 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

11375-734: 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

11550-415: 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

11725-399: The "indigenous" narrative became hegemonic, the spirit of the festivity has far more in common with European traditions of Danse macabre and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind us the ephemeral nature of life. He also highlights that in the 19th-century press there was little mention of the Day of the Dead in the sense that we know it today. All there

11900-517: 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

12075-496: The 2015 James Bond film Spectre , the opening sequence features a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City. At the time, no such parade took place in Mexico City; one year later, due to the interest in the film and the government desire to promote the Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organize an actual Día de Muertos parade through Paseo de la Reforma and Centro Historico on October 29, 2016, which

12250-417: The 20th century, appropriated the elements of an ancient pagan rite. One key element of the re-developed festivity which appears during this time is La Calavera Catrina by Mexican lithographer José Guadalupe Posada . According to Gonzalez, while Posada is portrayed in current times as the "restorer" of Mexico's pre-Hispanic tradition, he was never interested in Native American culture or history. Posada

12425-524: The April 27 and 30 TV tapings, escalating the dissension within La Sociedad , eventually leading to the group turning on El Zorro, after which it was revealed that the masked attacker had actually been Charly Manson and this had all been Cibernético 's plan to cause dissension within the ranks of La Sociedad . On May 18, Park accepted El Mesías' challenge for a Mask vs. Hair match at Triplemanía XIX . Park added to

12600-753: 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 ,

12775-503: The Day of the Dead are not universal, often varying from town to town. For example, in the town of Pátzcuaro on the Lago de Pátzcuaro in Michoacán , the tradition is very different if the deceased is a child rather than an adult. On November 1 of the year after a child's death, the godparents set a table in the parents' home with sweets, fruits, pan de muerto , a cross, a rosary (used to ask

12950-520: The Dead The Day of the Dead ( Spanish : Día de (los) Muertos ) is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember amusing events and anecdotes about

13125-822: The Dead celebration that includes both traditional and political elements, such as altars to honor the victims of the Iraq War , highlighting the high casualty rate among Latino soldiers. An updated, intercultural version of the Day of the Dead is also evolving at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. There, in a mixture of Native Californian art, Mexican traditions and Hollywood hip, conventional altars are set up side by side with altars to Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Ramone . Colorful native dancers and music intermix with performance artists , while sly pranksters play on traditional themes. Similar traditional and intercultural updating of Mexican celebrations are held in San Francisco . For example,

13300-411: The Dead tradition called The Festival of the Dead or "Festa dei Morti". On the eve of November 1, La Festa di Ognissanti, or All Saints' Day , older family members act as the "defunti", or spirits of deceased family members, who sneak into the home and hide sweets and gifts for their young descendants to awake to. On the morning of November 2, children begin the day by hunting to find the gifts in shoes or

13475-636: The Dead traditions through altars and installations. These notable organizations include: Anahuacalli, The Frida Kahlo Museum, The Museum of Popular Cultures, The Dolores Olmedo Museum, The Museum of the First Printing Press, and The Cloister of Sor Juana. From turn of the millennium until the imposition of the James Bond-inspired parade, remarkable large-scale installations were created on the Zocalo, Mexico City's central square. During Día de Muertos,

13650-551: The Día de Muertos tradition being a continuity of ancient Aztec festivals celebrating death, as is most evident in the chapter "All Saints, Day of the Dead" of his 1950 book-length essay The Labyrinth of Solitude . Ruben C. Cordova emphasizes the zeal with which the Spanish attempted to extinguish indigenous religious beliefs and practices, such that it is often difficult to reconstruct their main features. Over time, indigenous converts became extremely devout Catholics. As Mexico modernized,

13825-605: The Hall 6 and defended the IWR Heavyweight Championship on October 14, 2007, at Revolucha 4 . After leaving CMLL in 2008 L.A. Park worked regularly for the newly started Perros del Mal Producciones , reviving his old rivalry with Perro Aguayo Jr. Working on the Perros del Mal shows also allowed Tapia to help his son make his start in the wrestling business. Originally Tapia's son wrestled as "Black Spirit" without acknowledging

14000-595: The January 13, 2021 episode of Fusion , L.A. Park, along with his son, El Hijo de L.A. Park , won the MLW World Tag Team Championship , from Marshall and Ross Von Erich , thanks to help from Tom Lawlor . On March 31, 2022, L.A. Park, along with family members L.A. Park Jr. and Hijo de LA Park, participated in an event during Wrestlemania week. Following a match with Hammerstone and Fatu, L.A. Park and his family members allegedly went off script, attacking Hammerstone and Fatu with real punches and chair shots. MLW fired Los Parks as

14175-666: The Jarretts. On August 5 at Triplemanía XX , Park teamed up with Electrochock as Team Joaquín Roldán in a Hair vs. Hair match, where they faced Team Dorian Roldán (Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle ), with the Roldáns' hairs on the line. Electroshock won the match for his team by pinning Angle, forcing Dorian to have his head shaved bald. However, after the match, the rudos overpowered the technicos and shaved Joaquín bald. On April 23, 2013, L.A. Park announced that he had left AAA, citing his desire to be free. Even after his AAA exit he kept promoting

14350-482: The La Parka character, barring Tapia from using the name as he promoted his own version of the gimmick with this new wrestler being known as La Parka . In March 2010, L.A. Park returned to AAA and started a storyline with AAA's La Parka, pitting the original and the new La Parka against each other. At Triplemanía XVIII , Park defeated La Parka and earned the rights to once again be known as "La Parka". The result, however,

14525-579: 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

14700-489: The Mexican Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia ( INAH , or National Institute of Anthropology and History ) and founder of the institute's Taller de Estudios sobre la Muerte (Workshop of Studies on Death), was the first to do so in the context of her wider research into Mexican attitudes to death and disease across the centuries. Malvido completely discards a native or even syncretic origin arguing that

14875-469: 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

15050-732: The Oceanside Civic Center and Pier View Way, as well as events at the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia . In the more central area of San Diego, City Heights celebrates through a public festival in Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park that includes at least 35 altars, lowriders, and entertainment, all for free. Down in Chula Vista , they celebrate the tradition through a movie night at Third and Davidson streets where they will be screening "Coco." This movie night also consists of

15225-799: 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,

15400-455: The Virgin Mary to pray for them), and candles. This is meant to celebrate the child's life, in respect and appreciation for the parents. There is also dancing with colorful costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At midnight on November 2, the people light candles and ride winged boats called mariposas (butterflies) to Janitzio, an island in

15575-530: The age of 16, using his real name. Later on he would wrestle as the masked El Gringo in the Monclova , Coahuila region and as El Minero in Mexico City. Tapia lost his first Lucha de Apuesta , or bet match, to Climax II and was forced to take off the El Minero mask and reveal his real name, as per Lucha libre traditions. In 1988 he changed his ring character to El Asesino de Tepito ("The Assassin from Tepito"),

15750-652: The belt to Pimpinela Escarlata on May 13, 1996. In 1995 he would make an appearance for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the United States, teaming with Psicosis , losing a tag team match against Konnan and Rey Misterio Jr. . When WCW began using a number of AAA wrestlers for their cruiserweight division in mid to late 1996, La Parka gained worldwide exposure by appearing on WCW's weekly television shows and PPVs. La Parka often wrestled against other AAA Luchadors such as Juventud Guerrera or Super Caló and often teamed with Psicosis (known in WCW as Psychosis). Due to La Parka's more comedic style he stood out from

15925-403: The black and white outfits once again. In 2003 L.A. ParK began working for CMLL, although he was often kept off their television broadcasts due to the ongoing legal battles with Peña and AAA. In January 2004 L.A. Park teamed up with Shocker to defeat Los Guerreros del Infierno ( Último Guerrero and Rey Bucanero ) to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship . Guerrero and Bucanero regained

16100-487: The celebrations tend to be mostly traditional. The All Souls Procession has been an annual event since 1990 in Tucson, Arizona . The event combines elements of traditional Day of the Dead celebrations with those of pagan harvest festivals. People wearing masks carry signs honoring the dead and an urn in which people can place slips of paper with prayers on them to be burned. Likewise, Old Town San Diego, California, annually hosts

16275-478: The celebrators eat the food after the festivities, they believe it lacks nutritional value. Pillows and blankets are left out so the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of Mixquic , Pátzcuaro and Janitzio , people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives. In many places, people have picnics at the grave site, as well. Some families build altars or small shrines in their homes; these sometimes feature

16450-621: The character Mask de Smith from killer7 is a playable lucha libre wrestler, featuring a mask and cape. The popular video game franchise Pokémon introduced the Fighting/Flying-type Pokémon Hawlucha, which is a hawk-like humanoid creature with elements of a lucha libre wrestler. The masked Luchador fighter and chef El Fuerte was introduced to the Street Fighter franchise in Street Fighter IV . Day of

16625-419: The closest one being Quecholli , a celebration that honored Mixcóatl (the god of war) and was celebrated between October 20 and November 8. This celebration included elements such as the placement of altars with food (tamales) near the burying grounds of warriors to help them in their journey to the afterlife. Influential Mexican poet and Nobel prize laureate Octavio Paz strongly supported the syncretic view of

16800-460: The community event. The Jamaica Plain celebration was discontinued in 2011. The Smithsonian Institution , in collaboration with the University of Texas at El Paso and Second Life , have created a Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum and accompanying multimedia e-book: Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead . The project's website contains some of the text and images which explain the origins of some of

16975-412: 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

17150-426: The copyright to the character. The legal battle between Tapia and AAA forced Tapia to change his name to "L.A. ParK", short for "La Autentica ParK" (K pronounced as "Ka"). In subsequent years both parties filed various legal petitions to stake their claims on the copyright. For a period of time Tapia was barred from appearing on television wearing the black and white outfit he had worn for years. This led to Tapia wearing

17325-666: The creation of an event held at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center for the first time on November 1, 2015. In other communities, interactions between Mexican traditions and American culture are resulting in celebrations in which Mexican traditions are being extended to make artistic or sometimes political statements. For example, in Los Angeles, California , the Self Help Graphics & Art Mexican-American cultural center presents an annual Day of

17500-574: The customary core practices related to the Day of the Dead, such as the background beliefs and the offrenda (the special altar commemorating one's deceased loved one). The Made For iTunes multimedia e-book version provides additional content, such as further details; additional photo galleries; pop-up profiles of influential Latino artists and cultural figures over the decades; and video clips of interviews with artists who make Día de Muertos -themed artwork, explanations and performances of Aztec and other traditional dances, an animation short that explains

17675-584: The customs to children, virtual poetry readings in English and Spanish. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration celebrated the Día de Muertos . Santa Ana, California , is said to hold the "largest event in Southern California" honoring Día de Muertos , called the annual Noche de Altares , which began in 2002. The celebration of the Day of the Dead in Santa Ana has grown to two large events with

17850-632: The day found widespread through Italy. Ossa dei morti, suitably elongated and frosted "bones of the dead" are sweets found in Apulia and Sicily. In Sicily, families enjoy special day of the dead cakes and cookies that are made into symbolic shapes such as skulls and finger bones. The "sweets of the dead" are a marzipan treats called frutta martorana. On the night of November 1, Sicilian parents and grandparents traditionally buy Frutta di Martorana to gift to children on November 2. In addition to visiting their own family members, some people pay respects to those without

18025-457: 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,

18200-412: The dead tradition, with various regional treats being used as offerings to the dead on their journey to the afterlife. In Tuscany and Milan the "pane dei morti" or "bread of the dead" is said to be the characteristic offering. In northern Apulia , a wheat growing region, a sweet dish for the Day of the Dead is Colva or "Grains of the Dead". Fave dei morti or "fava beans of the dead" are another dish for

18375-405: The dead: the ninth and tenth months, which were for children and adults, respectively. Cordova argues that some recollection of these festivals "was compressed down to two days and cryptically celebrated within the Catholic liturgical calendar", which is why, in Mexico, "unlike other Latin American countries with Day of the Dead traditions — All Saints' Day is dedicated to children, and All Souls' Day

18550-423: The deceased's favorite candies on the grave. Some families have ofrendas in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, pan de muerto ('bread of dead'), and sugar skulls ; and beverages such as atole . The ofrendas are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrendas ' food, so though

18725-413: The deceased. During Day of the Dead festivities, food is both eaten by living people and given to the spirits of their departed ancestors as ofrendas ('offerings'). Tamales are one of the most common dishes prepared for this day for both purposes. Pan de muerto and calaveras are associated specifically with Day of the Dead. Pan de muerto is a type of sweet roll shaped like

18900-464: The departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased. The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias . In 2008,

19075-465: The departed. It is widely observed in Mexico , where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. The observance falls during the Christian period of Allhallowtide . Some argue that there are Indigenous Mexican or ancient Aztec influences that account for the custom, though others see it as a local expression of the Allhallowtide season that

19250-475: The duo had Ferrara's voice dub English over the intercom while La Parka would be doing interviews in Spanish. This often ended with a confused Gene Okerlund exclaiming "What the hell was that?!" Among other things the voice-over explained that La Parka was a fan of Skeletor from Masters of the Universe and other comedic comments. During this time, he teamed with Kaz Hayashi , a Japanese wrestler who also used

19425-413: The festivity have more in common with European traditions of Danse macabre and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind of the ephemeral nature of life. Over the past decades, however, Mexican academia has increasingly questioned the validity of this assumption, even going as far as calling it a politically motivated fabrication. Historian Elsa Malvido, researcher for

19600-418: 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

19775-462: The fourth time when he defeated El Dandy for the title on October 15, 2004, making him one of only two wrestlers to hold the title four times. In early 2007 La Parka returned to CMLL full-time and began a storyline with Perro Aguayo Jr. , a storyline that saw the two face off in a singles match at the 2007 Sin Piedad event where L.A. Park won by disqualification after Los Perros del Mal interfered in

19950-508: 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

20125-440: The graves to thank the deceased for the gifts, before enjoying a hearty feast. The tradition holds that the spirits of the deceased will remain with the family to enjoy a day of feasting and merriment. Acclaimed Sicilian author Andrea Camilleri recounts his Giorno dei Morti experience as boy, as well as the negative cultural impact that WWII era American influence had on the long-held tradition. "Every Sicilian house where there

20300-547: The holiday are atole and champurrado , warm, thick, non-alcoholic masa drinks. Agua de Jamaica (water of hibiscus ) is a popular herbal tea made of the flowers and leaves of the Jamaican hibiscus plant ( Hibiscus sabdariffa ), known as flor de Jamaica in Mexico. It is served cold and quite sweet with a lot of ice. The ruby-red beverage is also known as hibiscus tea in English-speaking countries. In

20475-504: The house where someone in the household has died in the previous year. Many people of the surrounding areas arrive early to eat for free and enjoy the elaborate altars set up to receive the visitors. Another peculiar tradition involving children is La Danza de los Viejitos (the Dance of the Old Men) where boys and young men dressed like grandfathers crouch and jump in an energetic dance. In

20650-493: The ideology known as indigenismo became more and more closely linked to post-revolutionary official projects whereas Hispanismo was identified with conservative political stances. This exclusive nationalism began to displace all other cultural perspectives, to the point that in the 1930s the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was officially promoted by the government as a substitute for the Spanish Three Kings tradition, with

20825-403: 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"),

21000-453: The last weekend of October. Here, a mix of several Mexican traditions come together with traditional Aztec dancers, regional Mexican music, and other Mexican artisans to celebrate the day. In San Diego, California , the city that borders Mexico, the celebrations range across the entire county. All the way up at the most northern part of the county, Oceanside celebrates their annual event which includes community and family altars built around

21175-714: 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

21350-697: The main event. On December 16 at Guerra de Titanes , Park defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. for the AAA Latin American Championship . The rivalry between Park and Jeff Jarrett continued on March 18, 2012, at Rey de Reyes , where Jarrett's interference eliminated Park from the Rey de Reyes tournament. During the main event of the evening, Park in turn cost Jarrett the AAA Mega Championship in his match against El Mesías. On April 30, Park officially quit La Sociedad and joined AAA to continue his rivalry with

21525-626: The marigold is sometimes called Flor de Muerto ('Flower of Dead'). These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings. It is also believed the bright petals with a strong scent can guide the souls from cemeteries to their family homes. The common name in English, marigold, is derived from Mary's gold , a name first applied to a similar plant native to Europe, Calendula officinalis . Toys are brought for dead children ( los angelitos , or 'the little angels'), and bottles of tequila , mezcal or pulque or jars of atole for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or

21700-471: The match and as a result both L.A. Park and La Parka would keep their names. Park stated that for him the Triplemanía match was all about pride and not about names and that all that mattered to him was that he had proven who the true La Parka is, regardless of the names they now go by. On July 4 La Parka defeated L.A. Park in a rematch. Afterwards, L.A. Park aligned himself with Dorian Roldan's La Sociedad ,

21875-516: The match. The storyline ended in mid-2008 with no satisfactory end, instead L.A. Park began a feud with Dr. Wagner Jr. Initially, L.A. Park was the tecnico in the feud, but the fan reactions began to turn against L.A. Park as the CMLL crowd began siding with Dr. Wagner Jr. This led to a double turn between the competitors. Playing the Rudo L.A. Park was disqualified several times for excessive violence, including

22050-451: The middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there. In contrast, the town of Ocotepec , north of Cuernavaca in the State of Morelos , opens its doors to visitors in exchange for veladoras (small wax candles) to show respect for the recently deceased. In return the visitors receive tamales and atole . This is done only by the owners of

22225-430: The next title shot was awarded to Charly Manson to set up a grudge match between him and El Zorro, causing dissension between Park and Konnan. On February 28 Park entered the 2011 Rey de Reyes tournament in order to solidify his spot as the number one contender, defeating Dr. Wagner Jr., Halloween and Nicho el Millonario in his semifinal match. During the match Park was attacked by La Sociedad member Damián 666, who

22400-422: 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

22575-439: 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

22750-559: The possibility of a Lucha de Apuestas match against Dr. Wagner Jr. possibly promoted by El Hijo del Santo's Todo X el Todos (TxT) promotion. On June 16, Park made an appearance for AAA at Triplemanía XXI to present Blue Demon Jr. with the AAA Latin American Championship belt and officially announce his departure from the promotion. On October 31, 2014, during CMLL's Dia de los Muerte Super Viernes show L.A. Park returned to CMLL, accompanied by his son. He interrupted

22925-416: The recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls can be given as gifts to both the living and the dead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto , a sweet egg bread made in various shapes from plain rounds to skulls, often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones. In some parts of the country, especially the larger cities, children in costumes roam the streets, knocking on people's doors for

23100-449: The relationship between L.A. Park and Black Spirit. In early 2010 Tapia officially acknowledge that Black Spirit was his son announcing that he would wrestle as El Hijo de L.A. Park ("The Son of L.A. Park") from then. In 2011, Tapia was part of Lucha Libre USA as LA Park . L.A. Park won the Xtreme Latin American Wrestling (X-LAW) Heavyweight Championship in Friday, April 9, 2004. The bout

23275-420: The rest of the AAA wrestlers who were generally high fliers. He was nicknamed "the chairman of WCW" due to the fact that he often carried a chair to the ring, play air guitar on it during his entrances and generally use it both in matches and in post match celebrations. At one point he and Psychosis were managed by Sonny Onoo , although the team failed to achieve much success as a unit. He later dropped Onoo as

23450-512: The ring made him a big crowd favorite despite La Parka initially being a rudo character. One of his initial storyline feuds was with Lizmark , a feud that resulted in a match for the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship at AAA's inaugural Triplemanía event, in which Lizmark successfully defended the title against La Parka. In August 1993 La Parka won his first championship when he defeated Lizmark for

23625-415: The ring names Super Parka , Johnny Ibarra and Desalmado. Super Parka's son, Tapia's cousin, wrestles for CMLL as Volador Jr. In January 2019 L.A. Park introduced "L.A. Park Jr."; presented as a son who decided to follow in L.A. Park's footsteps and become a professional wrestler. He had worked under the ring name "Último Sadox" up until that point. It is unclear if L.A. Park Jr. was related to Tapia or if it

23800-438: The ring on a stretcher, not having moved since L.A. Park applied the piledriver. A bit later it was announced that the match results had been thrown out due to interference by Los Perros del Mal, but the following morning it was confirmed that Tapia had indeed won and would now be known as "La Parka" once again. However, on June 10 AAA announced that it would respect Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission's decision to throw out

23975-405: The ring to protest, but was pushed down by Park, who then hit Joaquin with the chair, which caused Dorian to turn on him, hitting him with a steel chair three times. Halloween and Damián 666 from the Perros del Mal wrestling promotion run to the ring to chase Dorian Roldan away. Then they drag L.A. Park on top of La Parka before rúdo referee Hijo del Tirantes counts for three to give L.A. Park

24150-422: The shapes of folkloric characters who represent humanized versions of the souls of the dead. Eating the sugar dolls reflects the idea of the individual absorbing the dead and, in doing so, bringing the dead back to life within themselves on November 2. After gifts are shared and breakfast is enjoyed, the whole family will often visit the cemetery or burial site bearing flowers. They will light candles and play amongst

24325-959: 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

24500-405: The stakes of the match by announcing that he would retire, should he lose his mask. On June 18 at Triplemanía XIX, Park defeated El Mesías, forcing him to have his head shaved. On July 31 at Verano de Escándalo , Park faced La Sociedad stablemate and new AAA Mega Champion Jeff Jarrett and Dr. Wagner Jr. in a three-way match for the title, with Konnan stating that Park's job was to ensure that

24675-473: The states. Initially Peña and La Parka did not clash over the use of the La Parka name since Tapia worked mainly for various US independent promotions and for smaller Mexican promotions. When Tapia signed a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), AAA's main rival, in 2003 Peña took legal actions against Tapia. He renamed "La Parka Jr." and had a court order drawn up that prevented Tapia from being billed as "La Parka" in Mexico, claiming that Peña had

24850-695: 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

25025-421: The style of the famous calaveras of José Guadalupe Posada , a Mexican illustrator. In modern Mexico, calaveras literarias are a staple of the holiday in many institutions and organizations, for example, in public schools, students are encouraged or required to write them as part of the language class. Posada's most famous print, La Calavera Catrina ("The Elegant Skull"), was likely intended as

25200-660: The team of The Pegasus Kid , 2 Cold Scorpio , and Tito Santana . On September 9, 1994, La Parka won the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship that he had been chasing for over a year when he defeated Lizmark for the title, finishing off the storyline between the two. La Parka held the title for 200 days losing it to Jerry Estrada. La Parka would wear the Mexican National Light Heavyweight championship two further times while working for AAA, in 1995 and in 1996 until he lost

25375-403: 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

25550-698: The time being for "violating the rules of CMLL" by insulting the Arena México crowd. On June 5, 2018, L.A. Park was revealed as one of the surprise competitors in AAA's Poker de Ases ("Poker Aces") match at Triplemanía XXVI , betting his mask against Psycho Clown , El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr in the headline match of the show. Park won the battle, winning the mask of Hijo del Fantasma. On July 21, 2018, at AAA vs. Elite , L.A. Park teamed with Electroshock and Puma King as representatives of Liga Elite, defeating Team AAA ( Psycho Clown , El Hijo del Fantasma and Rey Wagner ). In April 2018, L.A. Park

25725-453: The title stayed with Jarrett. After Wagner Jr. was eliminated from the match, Jarrett pinned Park to retain his title, when someone masked as El Zorro interfered and hit him with a guitar. This person was later revealed as La Sociedad member Chessman , whom Konnan had sent to interfere in the match in order to have Park go after El Zorro instead of continuing to chase his stablemate's title. On October 9 at Héroes Inmortales , Park took part in

25900-520: The title. Tapia hyped the show in Ocampo's magazine and website weeks in advance as a "return to the Hardcore style" of ECW. The next show was on March 20, 2010, with L.A. Park facing Sabu in the main event. Super Parka was the special referee. L.A. Park beat Sabu after Super Parka hit Tapia with a steel chair, he fell on top of Sabu for the win. Super Parka then took the belt and ran off with it. This storyline

26075-534: The titles 56 days later, after which L.A. Park challenged Último Guerrero to defend the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship against him at CMLL's 71st Anniversary Show , a match which L.A. Park lost two falls to one. Tapia worked for CMLL in an on-again, off-again capacity, not being booked for CMLL for long stretches of time. During one of those "off again" periods, L.A. Park won the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship for

26250-505: The tombs of the departed. Plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the three-day period families usually clean and decorate graves; most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas (altars), which often include orange Mexican marigolds ( Tagetes erecta ) called cempasúchil (originally named cempōhualxōchitl , Nāhuatl for 'twenty flowers'). In modern Mexico

26425-590: 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

26600-615: The tradition can be fully traced to Medieval Europe. She highlights the existence of similar traditions on the same day, not just in Spain, but in the rest of Catholic Southern Europe and Latin America such as altars for the dead, sweets in the shape of skulls and bread in the shape of bones. Agustin Sanchez Gonzalez has a similar view in his article published in the INAH's bi-monthly journal Arqueología Mexicana . Gonzalez states that, even though

26775-451: The tradition is to build private altars ("ofrendas") containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the words of the living directed to them. These altars are often placed at home or in public spaces such as schools and libraries, but it is also common for people to go to cemeteries to place these altars next to

26950-433: The tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO . Mexican academics are divided on whether the festivity has genuine indigenous pre-Hispanic roots or whether it is a 20th-century rebranded version of a Spanish tradition developed during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas to encourage Mexican nationalism through an "Aztec" identity. The festivity has become

27125-491: The traditional practices that the Spanish had brought to the Americas survived most robustly in rural and less affluent communities, which had high concentrations of indigenous and mestizo populations. Thus archaic Spanish religious practices in marginal areas came to be mistakenly regarded as the "pure" core of primarily "indigenous" Day of the Dead festivities. The Aztecs devoted two twenty-day months in their ritual calendar to

27300-420: 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

27475-404: The victory. After the bell rings the rest of Los Perros del Mal , (including Park's son Hijo de L.A. Park) came to the ring to celebrate with L.A. Park who had won the rights to the name "La Parka". After a couple of minutes a group of AAA wrestlers led by Octagón came to ringside and in combination with the arena security managed to remove Los Perros del Mal from the ring. La Parka was taken from

27650-595: The visit that the dead had paid us the day before: it was not a ritual, but an affectionate custom. Then, in 1943, with the American soldiers the Christmas tree arrived and slowly, year after year, the dead lost their way to the houses where they were waiting for them, happy and awake until the end, the children or the children of the children… Pity. We had lost the possibility of touching, materially, that thread that binds our personal history to that of those who had preceded us…" Food plays an important part of Italy's day of

27825-399: 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

28000-435: Was a case of someone paying for the use of the name in the same vein as El Hijo de Cien Caras or El Hijo del Gladiador where they paid for the use of the name. Lucha libre 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")

28175-594: Was a decision match for the vacant title against Rey Misterio in a X-LAW show co-promoted with Baja Stars Wrestling in Auditorio Fausto Gutiérrez Moreno, in Tijuana . In subsequent years, X-LAW closed down, leaving L.A. Park as the last X-LAW Heavyweight Champion. In 2009, X-LAW's owner, Ernesto Ocampo, Súper Luchas Magazine publisher, decided to restart his promotion, promoting the return show on August 8, 2009, headlined with Tapia against The Sandman for

28350-432: Was a little boy was populated with dead familiar to him. Not ghosts with white linzòlo and with the scrunch of chains, mind you, not those that are frightening, but such and as they were seen in the photographs exhibited in the living room, worn, the occasional half smile printed on the face, the good ironed dress in a workmanlike manner, they made no difference with the living. We Nicareddri, before going to bed, put

28525-489: Was announced that the match between the two would be for the rights to the name "La Parka". At Triplemanía XVIII L.A. Park faced La Parka in the main event of the show. Near the end of the match Park used a tombstone piledriver , a move that is illegal in Lucha Libre. Joaquin Roldan entered the ring, when L.A. Park attempted to use a steel chair on La Parka. When L.A. Park teased using the chair on Joaquin instead, Dorian entered

28700-406: Was announced to be returning to MLW as a member of Promociones Dorado, led by Salina de la Renta . Park then entered a feud with Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fénix , defeating the former in a Mexican Death match at MLW War Games on September 6, 2018. He would continue to feud with the two, as well as other people such as Sami Callihan and Mance Warner , before losing to Pentagon and Fenix in a match for

28875-462: Was attended by 250,000 people. This could be seen as an example of the pizza effect . The idea of a massive celebration was also popularized in the Disney Pixar movie Coco . In many communities in the United States with Mexican residents, Day of the Dead celebrations are very similar to those held in Mexico. In some of these communities, in states such as Texas , New Mexico , and Arizona ,

29050-426: Was brought to the region by the Spanish; the Day of the Dead has become a way to remember those forebears of Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is largely seen as having a festive characteristic. Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl , building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of

29225-673: 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

29400-498: 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

29575-524: Was going to take control of the promotion and that he had some help to do so. That help turned out to be L.A. Park, the original La Parka returning to AAA after years and years of legal battles and threats. After unveiling himself during the show L.A. Park announced that he was siding with Konnan and Dorian Roldan, targeting the "impostor Parka". In order to maintain the illusion that L.A. Park did not really work for AAA, L.A. Park claimed that he came to AAA to beat up La Parka, and since he had done that already he

29750-480: Was later thrown out. Tapia's uncle changed his character to Super Parka after Tapia gained worldwide fame. Several of Tapia's other family members are or have been professional wrestlers, including his sons El Hijo de L.A. Park and L.A. Park Jr. , brother El Hijo de Cien Caras , nephew Volador Jr. , and great nephew Flyer , among others. L.A. Park's family is referred to in Mexico as La Familia Real . Adolfo Tapia made his professional wrestling debut in 1982 at

29925-472: Was not sure if he even felt like returning to AAA. L.A. Park did however return to an AAA ring as he had another brawl with La Parka on their April 18 television taping. During the event La Parka challenged L.A. Park to a match at Triplemanía XVIII , under any stipulation the original Parka wanted. During AAA's television taping on April 30, 2010, L.A. Park accepted La Parka's challenge for a match at Triplemanía XVIII. At an AAA press conference on May 12, 2010, it

30100-603: Was predominantly interested in drawing scary images which are far closer to those of the European renaissance or the horrors painted by Francisco de Goya in the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon than to the Mexica tzompantli . The recent trans-Atlantic connection can also be observed in the pervasive use of couplet in allegories of death and the play Don Juan Tenorio by 19th-century Spanish writer José Zorrilla which

30275-575: Was seemingly trying to prevent him from advancing in the tournament, but instead the interference distracted Wagner Jr. and cost him the match. On March 18 at the Rey de Reyes pay-per-view, Park was eliminated from the finals of the tournament, after brawling with rival El Mesías to a double countout. The following month, when El Zorro caught wind of Park's intention of challenging for his title, he seemingly started interfering in Park's matches under his old mask, costing him back–to–back multi–man tag team matches at

30450-400: 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

30625-545: Was were long processions to cemeteries, sometimes ending with drunkenness. Elsa Malvido also points to the recent origin of the tradition of "velar" or staying up all night with the dead. It resulted from the Reform Laws under the presidency of Benito Juarez which forced family pantheons out of Churches and into civil cemeteries, requiring rich families to have servants guard family possessions displayed at altars. The historian Ricardo Pérez Montfort has further demonstrated how

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