))
#46 - Lucha Libre Fans
Archived series ("iTunes Redirect" status)
Replaced by: Fanthropological
When?
This feed was archived on January 11, 2018 22:37 (
Why? iTunes Redirect status. The feed contained an iTunes new feed tag.
What now? If you were subscribed to this series when it was replaced, you will now be subscribed to the replacement series. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.
Manage episode 189437397 series 1277260
Content provided by The Nickscast. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Nickscast or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
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)?!
Episode outline Fandom FactsOrigins:
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 Active:
It’s always hard to measure the activity of a fandom; looking at Google Trends data since 2004, 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
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
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 time.
G
In American Wrestling, working on a limb … always the left side. Lucha Libre: always the right side. Why?
T is out.
Z is out… but is going to check out Lucha Underground
G is in!
This week’s spotlightWrestling for Charity
Located in North Carolina and founded in 2005, WFC is a not-for-profit that raises money for a variety of different organizations.
Famous Last WordsThe mission of Wrestling For Charity LLC is to bring a positive fan and family experience to wrestling enthusiasts, while raising money and awareness for community organizations and causes.
— Wrestling for Charity - Homepage
This week’s famous last words around next week’s fandom, K-pop (in Brazil)!
Z
K-pop is so popular in Brazil … after door was opened by K-dramas.
G
K-pop is popular in Brazil because of a song or band uses Brazillian rhythms (or that appeal to Brazillian listeners).
T
K-pop became popular in Brazil because of a legal ban that was lifted, and K-pop happened to be popular among that.
We are everywhere! Most notably though, we like to hang out in a few places on social media:
- If you want to help us to create more amazing fannish content, become a patron on Patreon; even as little as a dollar a month pledge really helps us out! If you want to be part of our podcast (or just want to check us out), we record our podcast LIVE on twitch.tv every monday at 20:00 Eastern Time! For all the latest updates, check us out on Facebook or Twitter To see the latest hijinx from our conventions or even our daily lives and adventures, check us out on Instagram For our latest convention updates, Let’s Plays, and other in-real-life video, check out our YouTube channel We’re also on iTunes, and Google Play, and would love it if you could leave a review and rating! if you want to reach us, and for some reason none of those work for you, try nick@thenickscast.com You can check out our website; that will mostly bring you back to this stuff. Everything is thenickscast, so if you can’t find us, go on your social network and search for that! … You’re still looking for ways to reach out? You can also use the hashtag #fanthro on Twitter!
How did you read this far without asking this question?!
Fanthropological is an anthropological (ish) podcast where we bring the fan’s-eye view to you! Each week, we take a look at a different fandom, dig up interesting background, trivia, and history, and try to get to why it is that people are a fan. We also try to highlight good causes related to that fandom, and find interesting things that fans have created to share those to the world. Each episode is about an hour. Ish.
Who is “The Nickscast”?We are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek … who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick. Yes, we are super creative. Dare we say, the most creative.
Ahem
We are Nick Green, Nick Terwoord, and Nick Zacharewicz: We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom, and all that is shiny and interesting in that realm. It’s what lead us to start our first podcast, our satellite podcasts, Fanthropological, and so much more.
We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans: We dream of a world where other fans aren’t “those Weird-o’s”, but just folks with different tastes. A world where fandom is full of discourse and analysis, and there are plenty of tools and resources to help. Fans building communities to do good in the world. Because everyone’s a fan.
Credits Sources- Wikipedia - Lucha Libre BBC - Mexican wrestling grapples to secure a bright future ThinkProgress - A Night At ‘Lucha Libre,’ Wrestling That Makes WWE Seem Like Sesame Street NPR - In Mexico, The Crowd Loves To Hate Pro Wrestler Who Plays Trump Supporter The Culture Trip - The Lucha Libre: A Brief History Of Mexican Wrestling Vantage - The Grisly Spectacle of Lucha Libre Extrema CoachMag.co.uk - Why Lucha Libre is better than the WWE NPR - In Mexico, The Crowd Loves to Hate Pro Wrestler Who Plays Trump Supporter How Stuff Works - How Mexican Wrestling Works ABC7 - The History of the Lucha Libre Mask Traces Back Hundreds of Years Mexican Poncho - Mexican Wrestling Masks History Quora - What Does the Mask Symbolize in Mexican Wrestling? LaAficion.com - Why Do We Like Wrestling? YouTube - Lucha Libre Wrestling in the Bronx Wikipedia - Santo r/ SquaredCircle - What does it mean to “work the right side” as a style? Could anyone explain some the differences between Japanese and Mexican wrestling?
- All music and sound for this week’s episode were provided by Nick Green!
- “Glasses” by Anton Anuchin used under CC BY 3.0 “Wrestling Mask” by Javier Triana used under CC BY 3.0
62 episodes
Share
