List: Lucha Libre Showcased In Pop Culture

Lucha libre is one of the most instantly recognizable variations of professional wrestling, thanks to its distinctive luchador masks, fast-paced action, and jaw-dropping aerial maneuvers. Those exciting qualities have seen lucha libre spread far beyond Mexico, its country of origin where it remains one of the most popular sports. Luchadores have become common on the US wrestling circuit, while events inspired by lucha libre can be found all the way in Japan and the United Kingdom, among other countries. 

While the inherent thrill of lucha libre has naturally been a significant contributing factor to its expansion into new territories, its inclusion in areas of popular culture has also helped to boost its appeal. Here’s a look at three examples of where features of lucha libre have been seamlessly integrated into other parts of the entertainment industry.

Cinema: Nacho Libre

There are a lot of issues that you could take up with this 2006 movie, which starred Jack Black in the leading role. Black might not be many people’s idea of a believable luchador, while you could criticize the film for falling short in the comedy department. But it equally has lots of fans, resulting in a polarizing film that holds a score of 5.7/10 score on IMDb.

Nacho Libre is loosely based on the life of Fray Tormenta (the luchador moniker of Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez), who used his wrestling career to support a local orphanage. Nacho Libre‘s Hollywood platform helped to introduce new audiences to Fray Tormenta’s work, while the movie also starred legendary luchador Silver King as the main antagonist. Silver King (César Cuauhtémoc González Barrón) tragically died in the ring last year, but Nacho Libre is just one way that his legacy lives on.

Casino: Lucha Legends

Microgaming is an online slot developer whose output reaches players on every continent, which makes it the ideal candidate to showcase the thrills of lucha libre in the casino industry. Standing out in the world of online slots is not easy, given that popular slot sites like Jackpot City NZ bring together literally hundreds of themed releases to their browser sites and mobile apps. However, Microgaming were rightly confident that the colors and the characters of lucha libre would enable their Lucha Legends slot to catch the eye and stand out from its peers

Lucha Legends was first hosted by Jackpot City in October 2018, with the 5-reel slot boasting many traditional Microgaming features in the shape of multipliers and free spins. However, Microgaming also incorporated lucha libre elements into the slot to add some wrestling flair, from the flamboyant luchador characters on the reels to the signature moves performed on screen when the Power Up function is activated.

Comics: Bane

The DC Comics villain Bane has proven to be one of Batman’s toughest adversaries, as one of the only foes who can overpower the Caped Crusader with pure physical strength. That’s never clearer than when Bane manages to break Batman’s back, a scene recreated in 2012’s The Dark Knight Movie. In that film, Tom Hardy’s Bane is a physical and intellectual menace, although the mask that he wears (and mumbles through) is specifically to aid his breathing.

Interestingly, this is different from original comic designs of Bane, which saw the villain don a luchador mask and boast the hulking muscles of a master Latino wrestler. That version of Bane was more recently resurrected in the Batman ’66 comic book series, with issue #27 seeing Batman head to the wrestling rings of Mexico in order to take on a depiction of Bane that pays homage to the character’s lucha libre origins. 

The diversity of these examples is clear proof of the global popularity of lucha libre – not that we really needed any additional proof. Something else is very clear; if you’re looking for lucha libre in popular culture, you won’t have to look very hard.