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Lucha libre has remained popular in Mexico for over a century. This brand of professional wrestling has everything fans could want, from over-the-top characters, to pageantry, to elaborate storylines. The wrestlers are heroes and villains, and one of their most recognizable characteristics is their colorful and unique masks.
There is often the determination of lucha wrestlers to never take off a mask in public so that no one can see their face or identity. Some wrestlers even went to their grave buried in their mask. However, where did the lucha masks come from, and what makes them so important in professional wrestling history?
Where Did The Lucha Libre Masks Originate?
Fans who followed Lucha Underground learned a lot about the lore of the lucha masks. For American wrestling fans, the original lucha masks became well known when Mexican wrestlers like Mil Mascaras made his way to the United States and wrestling promotions finally allowed masks. Soon, wrestlers from Japan and Mexico became as well known for their masked, colorful personalities as they did for their athletic moves. Ironically, the first person to bring masks into lucha wrestling came when an American wrestler named Cyclone McKey worked in Mexico in 1933, wearing a mask and calling himself La Maravilla Enmascarada. The fans bought into it. An American was the first masked wrestler in Mexico.
Over time, the lucha mask drew from Mexican history, where Mayan and Aztec warriors competed for superiority. This played out in storylines in Lucha Underground, and remains entrenched in wrestling promotions like AAA and CMLL. However, there is more to the masks in Mexico than just a sign of respect for tradition. The luchador wrestler is more than a professional wrestler to many fans, and for many of the wrestlers who take on the roles. They are superheroes (técnicos) or villains (rudos). This not only played out in their matches, storylines, and personas, but outside the ring. Many lucha wrestlers have comic books based on them and others appeared in several movies based on their character.
"When I put on the mask, I'm transformed. The mask gives me strength. The mask gives me fame. The mask is magical. When I remove the mask, I'm a normal human who can walk right by you, and not even get a "hello,'" El Hijo del Santo told ESPN.
El Santo And Mil Mascaras Helped To Make Masked Lucha Wrestlers Popular
One of the most famous lucha wrestlers in history is a man named El Santo. He is also someone who honored the mask's tradition up to his death. Santo never took off his mask, and he even wore it in public. If someone saw him without his mask and asked if he was El Santo, he would deny knowing anything about it. It wasn't until his elder years that he lifted it once during an interview, the only time he did so in his entire life. When he died, El Santo ended up buried in his mask. On top of wrestling, El Santo also appeared in 52 movies between 1958 and 1982, with his character as the legendary lucha superhero.
A lesser liked lucha star was Mil Mascaras. Much like El Santo, Mil Mascaras didn't remove his mask either. He even showered in the locker room with his mask on and rubbed many of his fellow wrestlers the wrong way. It was Mascaras that introduced many fans to masked lucha wrestlers when he worked for the WWWF, the first wrestler the New York State Athletic Commission allowed to wrestle in a mask. His nephew, Alberto El Patron, said that Mil always wanted to protect his position in the sport and the legacy of masked lucha wrestlers, but many American stars took it as arrogance.
WWE And AEW Have Kept Lucha Masks Alive In Wrestling Today
American wrestling fans got to know the masked lucha wrestlers better in the 80s, but it was the 90s when they made their big splash in the United States. WCW brought in wrestlers like Rey Mysterio, La Parka, and more, and soon these wrestlers moved on to WWE. While Rey Mysterio remains the biggest lucha name in the world today, AEW has kept the tradition alive as well. Men like Penta and Rey Fenix wrestle in their masks, and many of their storylines feature the two often losing to protect their identities. This remains important when they wrestle fellow stars from Mexico. Los Ingobernables member Andrade El Idolo, a man who used to wrestle under a mask, always threatens to unmask the brothers, which is a sign of disrespect in Mexican wrestling culture. Wearing masks in lucha wrestling remains an important tradition, one that most wrestlers today still hold in the highest regard.