My teen son and I are going to be in the DF on a Friday-Monday in early November. I want to take him to see Luche Libra, wrestling, at the Arena Coliseo as we will be staying close to there. I see from the ticketmaster.mx site that the matches for the next few weeks that are listed seem to be on Fridays at 8 pm and Sundays at 5 pm.
Is that the schedule every week?
Ticketmaster.mx does not let anyone who does not have a Mexico address buy tickets on their site. I can walk up and get tickets to the wrestling on the day of the event, right?
Also, if we decide to go to the arena in Xochimilco, what days are the wrestling matches there, and how do I get to the arena?
Thanks for your help.
Eileen


Anybody in Mexico City can tell you where the Arena Coliseo is located at, and you don't need to buy your tickets in advance.
Going to see Lucha Libre in Mexico is a surrealistic experience, you will enjoy every minute of it. Be careful though, Arena Coliseo is located at a dangerous neighborhood close to Mexico City's dowtown.
Lucha Libre
Mexican wrestling official site

Click here to view some lucha libre performances from last week at Arena Coliseo. You can easily walk to Arena Coliseo from the Metro station Bellas Artes; I don't think it's too dangerous for you and your son to walk the short distance (I don't suggest wandering alone in the neighborhood very late at night, however). You could take a taxi, if you don't want to walk - or, depending on where you'll be staying - a bus down the major street in that part of the city - Eje Central/Lazaro Cardenas. If you and your son want to further immerse yourself in the culture/cult of lucha libre, why not have breakfast or lunch at Restaurant Cafetería El Cuadrilátero?

Wow that is so cool, a place to eat centered on wrestling! Thanks so much for the tip. That is similar to the chanko-nabe restaurants I took my son to in Japan a few yrs. ago after we went to the sumo tournament in Osaka.
I am keeping the whole wrestling DF thing a secret from my son, will spring it on him at the last minute. He will love this as his best friend is on the wrestling team in high school, and the whole fun aspect and masks, etc. is going to be a good surpirse for him, a 6'5" teen boy traveling w/his Mom (who of course knows nada about nada, right?)
steelcharlie, I have stayed in the Alameda area. When coming out of the Belles Artes stop at night, I walk very fast and look like I know exactly where I am going, and I carry nothing, literally. The adrenaline is always pumping, but on my last trip in July I was glad to see the increased police presence in the area. They were all over.
Will probably stay at the Hotel Catedral, but the Sheraton Centro Historico on Juarez opposit the Alameda is an option if I decide to use hotel points. Being closer to the zocalo sounds good as I think there will be dia de los muertos altars set up at the zolcalo (we arrive on Nov. 2 at noon), and I have not seen the Palacio Nacional murals or the inside of the cathedral either. And I think my son woudl like to be able to just walk out to the zolcalo action during the weekend, maybe there will be a concert there, etc.

well emd1, it looks like you knowyour ways around el DF. Have fun guys, enjoy your staying (by the way, your son must be proud of having a mom like you). You are an inspiration

You can also check out lucha libre at Arena Mexico, near the northern intersection of Col. Roma and Col. Doctores. I think it's near Metro Balderas (i.e., very close to the center). It's held on different nights than Arena Coliseo, but I can't remember the schedule.
You can definitely walk up and buy tickets, though sometimes you'll be told they are sold out in order to force you to buy scalpers' tickets from guys outside. Just keep insisting and don't let them mark up the price too much.

I am familiar w/that area as I walked to by Balderas metro when I went to La Cuiadela in July and to catch the metro to go to Coyoacan also. Thanks for that tip, will check that out if the other place doesn't work out w/our schedule.
You all are so helpful, thanks again. Esp. for the scalper info and heads up!
I just try to do interesting things w/my son when I travel w/him, things that will interest both of us and be fun but also eye-opening to the cultural differences and way of the world outside the U.S. I don't have much time left to travel alone w/him, as he is a junior and into sports, which takes up a lot of potential travel time. Hence I am taking advantge of a long weekend in Nov. btwn. his quarters when he is free to get him to Mexico. He studied Japanese for a few yrs but has switched to Spanish, so off we go. I consider it a treat to get to travel w/him, and I want the expanding nature of travel to be a memory both of my kids when they think of me in years to come.

You can also try using the concierge at your hotel..... supposedly ours (we're staying at the Gran Melia) is getting us tickets ahead of time and we can pick them up at the concierge and charge them to the room.... we'll see if it actually works though! :)
We'll be there on the Friday the 21st I'll let you know how it is.

Cool, thank you. I will keep checking this post to see if you post back, would love to hear about your experience. If we stay at Sheraton I will have the concierge get tickets if possible, but I am leaning towards staying somewhere close to the zocalo on this trip (and paying out of pocket instead of hotel points = cheaper hotel) and I don't think the Hotel Catedral has a concierge.

A good read about lucha libre at the Coliseo is found on Megan Lyle's entertaining travelogue.
Since the description as the surrounding neighbourhood as dangerous generated the response it did, I would describe the area as scruffy. I think Allende is a closer metro station than Bellas Artes, but if you're staying in the centro historico you can walk back, which is what I did. It will probably be dark when you leave.
I don't think it's necessary to get tickets well in advance. I think I got mine about an hour and a half before the start, then dropped my camera and wallet back at my hotel before returning. The activity in front of the Coliseo pre-fights can be pretty interesting, so you might just want to plan to get there an hour or so ahead of time and hang out.