What is it about those high-flying, high-energy performers that get fans so worked up? And why isn't there more of this amazing sport elsewhere in the world (perhaps there is)? This week, we're talking about fans of Lucha Libre!
Next week, we'll be looking at the Korean Wave, specifically, at fans of K-pop (in Brazil)?!
[// Vámonos cabrón! ]: #
[// Va-monos cabron]: #
## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**Origins:**
Lucha Libre, literally "Free fight" in English, refers to a form of professional wrestling developed in Mexico. It is often characterized by its colourful masks, rapid moves, and "high-flying" maneuvers. Lucha libre wrestlers are known as luchadores (literally, wrestlers).
Lucha libre wrestling dates back to 1863 during the French intervention into Mexico, developed by Enrique Ugartechea (the first Mexican wrestler) from Greco-Roman wrestling. However, it probably wasn't until the 1930s with the foundation of the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (Mexican Wrestling Enterprise) that the sport gained a national foothold.
It wasn't until the 1940s when the iconic idea of the masked wrestler entered into the sport. In 1942, a silver-masked wrestler, El Santo (The Saint) made his debut in Mexico City and won an 8-man battle royal. His career spanned nearly five decades and he became a folk hero and symbol of justice for the common man.
**Fandom Origins:**
**Names:**
- Lucha Libre
- Luchador
- Mexican Wrestling
[// Most matches feature a battle between two main archetypes: “rudos,” with stocky, brutish frames, versus “técnicos,” who are generally more athletic to make up for their smaller size. Bad versus good. .. But perhaps most unique about lucha libre is the advent of a particular type of técnico: wrestlers dressed in drag, as seen above, known as “exóticos.” ]: #
**Most Active:**
It's always hard to measure the activity of a fandom; looking at [Google Trends data since 2004](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F03zd5x,lucha%20libre), the sport has enjoyed a lot of variation in popularity. It would make sense to guess that it is less popular now than towards the 1950s and 1960s (given the proliferation of media around characters such as El Santo), but even looking at the Google Trends data, there have been ebbs and flows in popularity. In particular, a rise in interest around October 2006, and again in January 2016.
**Size of Fandom:**
> ... the biggest two or three lucha libre events of the year can attract crowds of 17,000, most weekly fights see attendances of between 1,000 and 3,000 people, with tickets costing about 300 pesos.
>
> — [BBC - Mexican wrestling grapples to secure a bright future](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33064625)
As a rough estimate, there are probably at least a hundred thousand fans of Lucha Libre. However, there may be overlap with other wrestling fandoms.
**Around the world:**
Interest in Lucha Libre is likely more global than from its outset. Though the majority of interest in the sport stems from Mexico, there is a lot of interest from other tropical (and in particular, latin) parts of the world: Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Bolivia, for example.
**Related fandoms:**
- WWE
- Japanese Wrestling
[// Fast forward 26 years, and Mexican wrestlers still don't get paid very much, particularly in comparison with the stars of the US behemoth that is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). For while WWE wrestlers can easily pocket $2m (£1.3m) a year, the best lucha libre fighters earn about $1,600 at the largest weekly events, and most are paid significantly less. ]: #
[// As a result, Lucha Libre AAA's annual turnover is about $20m, compared with $500m at WWE. ]: #
### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/45-hatsune-miku-fans/) Famous Last Words
**Z**
Why are masks important to Lucha Libre?
**T**
In mask, out of mask... Bruce Wayne like character, never in the same place at the same ti...
