WRESTLING: 'Lucha Libre: Life Behind the Mask' movie probes lure of Mexican-style wrestling

The Rocky

Published October 2, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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The possibility of Rey Mysterio losing his mask is overshadowed by other World Wrestling Entertainment story lines on Sunday's No Mercy pay-per-view show.

This wouldn't happen in Mexican pro wrestling, where such costuming is treated with more reverence.

Lucha Libre: Life Behind the Mask ($14.95; Eagle Rock Entertainment) provides a glimpse into the hoods' cultural significance. The 70-minute DVD focuses on grapplers based in Southern California, where lucha-style wrestling draws from a large Mexican-American population.

Some of those fans remember legendary luchadores like El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras, whose matches served as athletic morality plays between good and evil. Leading roles in cheesy action movies added to their aura as masked Mexican superheroes.

In the 1990s, Mysterio (real name Oscar Gutierrez), Super Crazy (Francisco Pantoja Islas) and the late Eddie Guerrero were luchadores before joining major U.S. wrestling promotions. The phenomenon intrigued a filmmaker (Kralyevich Productions Inc.) to commission Life Behind the Mask.

"There is tradition, honor and mystery behind the masks and the lengths the luchadores take to keep their identities a secret," documentary director Rich Walton said. "We wanted to take a look at this from an outsider's perspective but not do it in a comical way."

Walton, who entered the project with limited wrestling knowledge, quickly learned the mask is no laughing matter even away from the ring. The masks and what they symbolized were so important to El Santo and Blue Demon that the biggest stars in lucha history were each buried wearing one.

When their hoods were off, Walton was forced to digitize the faces of the veiled performers featured in Life Behind the Mask. One of them was Kayam.

An elementary school teacher, Kayam sometimes enters the classroom with facial cuts and bruises. He tells students they came from "playing sports."

More fans see live wrestling in Mexico than in any other country. Mexican promoters book mask vs. mask or mask vs. hair matches to end long-running feuds and headline major lucha shows.

Whether such stipulations will continue to draw long-term has come into question. Masks may not carry the same mystique to newer generations of lucha fans, especially because photos of hooded grapplers with their faces exposed can be found easily on the Internet.

As in the U.S., lucha is becoming increasingly perceived as "sports entertainment" rather than legitimate competition. WWE also is making a big push into the Mexican market, which threatens major lucha promotions.

Walton, who filmed Behind the Mask in 2002 and 2003, already senses a shift on the Southern California lucha scene. Walton said one of the famed training gyms (Gil's Garage) has closed and more American-style wrestlers were booked on a lucha card he attended recently.

Even the Southern California lucha shows Walton filmed earlier this decade weren't overflowing with fans. He hopes, though, that the genre continues to survive.

"This wasn't what Americans think of wrestling with big arenas and pay-per-view events," Walton said. "This is something where the wrestlers truly have to love what they're doing. They have real jobs. I met luchadores from a whole range of professions like nurses and social workers."

For ordering information, visit eaglerockent.com.

* The final push for No Mercy coincides with Friday night's WWE Smackdown debut on MyNetwork TV. Paul "Triple H" Levesque vs. Matt Hardy vs. Chris Jericho headlines the show, which is moving to a new network after airing on The CW.

Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service.

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