Arena Coliseo

Lonely Planet review

Violence, torture and extreme cruelty are on display in Mexico's capital three nights a week. Lucha libre, the Mexican version of pro wrestling, serves up this antisocial behavior as popular entertainment. Laden with myth, charged with aggression and chock-full of hilarious theatrics, it can be an amusing spectacle.

Taken over by a circus atmosphere each week, with roving vendors selling beer, sandwiches and wrestlers' masks. There are three or four bouts, building up to the most formidable match-ups. Sporting day-glo tights, flaming masks and rippling biceps and taking names like Tarzan Boy, Violencia, Virus, Satánico and Super Crazy, the flamboyant luchadores play up their superhero and super villain personae. After being ushered in by bikini-clad babes, the stars go at each other in teams or one-on-one. Though more a display of acrobatics and theatrical histrionics than an actual competition, their antics can be pretty impressive and not without bodily risk. Wrestlers catapult off the rope and launch into somersaults en route to pouncing their opponent, and it's not unusual to see a pair of combatants, locked in mortal embrace, go hurtling into the crowd. The predominantly working-class fans are happy to suspend their disbelief and enter the fray, with grandma shaking her fist and shouting, 'Kill him!'

Perhaps the sense of catharsis comes from witnessing an acting out of the unresolved struggle Mexicans observe on a daily basis in the political and social arenas - with the good guys winning for a change. Lucha libre (literally, 'free fight') means anything goes, and referees seem more like props than arbiters. The scenario invariably pits técnicos ('craftsmen') against rudos ('rulebreakers') in a mythic face-off between good and evil. The rudos usually wear black and engage in dirty tactics, not hesitating to grab a nearby piece of furniture to pummel an opponent. They usually get the upper hand early on, only to be pounded mercilessly by the técnicos in a stunning reversal toward the end of the match.

For seven decades, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre has provided a forum for lucha libre 's popular heroes, who generally come from the city's rougher barrios. As with any sport, certain figures have loomed large. Undoubtedly the most charismatic figure was Santo, who hid his real identity behind a silver mask until his death in 1984. Santo consolidated his presence in popular culture by crossing over into cinema during Mexico's golden age of B movies, battling zombies and martians on the screen. Another lucha libre star, Super Barrio, went into politics, becoming a standard bearer for the leftist PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution).