SPOKANE, Wash. — Pageantry, masks and takedowns! Lucha Libre wrestling recently held a fundraising event in Spokane to help raise money for legal services for immigrants.
Lucha Libre is a sport like no other. The one-of-a-kind masks and wrestlers have captivated the hearts of people young and old for generations.
Luchador Rey Jaguar told KREM 2, “It’s like a dream since I was a child, I’ve had a dream to become a luchador. It is one of the best things ever in my life.”
While Lucha Libre only recently made its debut in Spokane, its history stretches back hundreds of years to a time when masked Aztec warriors would perform symbolic fights between gods. Now, the masks have become an iconic image of the sport.
Jaguar said, “This is the mask. Nobody needs to know who you are. You can be next to the crowd, and they don’t know you. You think you aren’t real like a cooker or a painter or a regular person you know?”
However, these luchadores are certainly real and behind the masks they hold their own stories. You won’t hear it from him, but el Halcón Negro (the black hawk) got the inspiration for his name from his years flying black hawk helicopters in the military.
And Rey Jaguar… He got his start ten years ago by reading an ad in the local paper.
They aren’t professionals, but that doesn’t stop them from flying high, hitting hard or having fun.
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