Current Lucha Libre Scene

I am currently in the midst of not having watched a CMLL show for nearly 6 weeks. The last event I recall watching was 3/31. It's not a total lucha libre blackout, I've put on random things like the Bandido/Zonik tag from Torreon & a Guerreros trios from Torreon. Neither is anything you need to see, FYI. So I'm not on a total lucha blackout as much as when I decide to sit down & watch something - when presented with two options where one is current stuff, 99% of the time I'm choosing whatever the other option is. Why's that? Well... I decided to put some thoughts down without editing myself or thinking it over too much. Just kinda letting out what's been bothering me over the last few months when it comes to wrestling in Mexico...

Why am I finding myself less interested in lucha libre?

I haven't become less of a lucha libre fan because the style has changed. Lucha Libre has changed many times since 1995 (the year I first began watching). I love the traditional lucha libre style going back to the 80's (when it was first available on video) but at no point have I ever claimed I want that style back nor am I dumb enough to think it would ever work in 2026.

I've become less of a lucha libre fan because the style doesn't have it's own identity any longer. Not to mention up until the last couple years I could make the argument lucha libre is the best kind of wrestling in the world. I literally had that argument with thousands of people over the years, including many supposed fans in Mexico who claimed otherwise.

I can't make that argument any longer.

Lucha Libre can be split into two parts these days - CMLL & non-CMLL.

CMLL has Americanized their product so much to the point it's not lucha libre. It's just pro wrestling that happens to take place in Arena Mexico. That's fine. There's still some good wrestlers there trying new things, the occasional good match that goes over 10 minutes & once in a while you see a glimpse of a style that is now largely faded away. But if I wanted to watch American wrestling, I have access to American wrestling. Too much, in fact. I have no need to see Mexicans doing American or even Japanese style pro wrestling, only worse. The kicker to all this is nobody was forcing CMLL to make any changes. They decided, on their own, we need to be more American. At least with AAA, WWE purchased them. You knew it was gonna become a WWE product. It was in their full right, they own it now. CMLL ownership didn't change hands. Business was as successful as ever. The change to make the product less Mexican, while proclaiming "orgullosamente Mexicana", wasn't even to battle WWE. It came from internal self-hatred.

Meanwhile non-CMLL is the worst of the worst US indy wrestling you will ever see. There are elements so bad occurring every weekend that wrestling twitter can't even imagine. It's the worst kind of professional wrestling I've ever seen. I suffer second hand embarassment any time I scroll past a clip on my timeline. These are not professional wrestlers, these are kids playing pro wrestlers. Backyard wrestling may have died in America but it continues to exist & has expanded in Mexico. IMO This is the future of Lucha Libre. Maybe WWE finds some TV $ & keeps running, maybe not. CMLL will wind up being tourist-centric shows, perhaps running daily events as part of a LuchaTitlan scenario done correctly due to existing infrastucture. The rest? It'll be like Europe in the 80's & 90's. A dead scene. Lucha Libre will still exist but it'll be on a small scale in front of tens instead of hundreds & it'll be performed by the furthest people from professionals you can imagine. It will go from being part of the culture to a sideshow circus act from an era gone by.

Do I sound bitter? I hope so because I certainly am. I think I have plenty reason to be bitter.

I didn't devote my fandom to lucha libre all these years just to be different. I did it because lucha libre WAS different. I felt like I was watching great pro wrestling, the best in the world. Now the more I watch, the more I feel I'm like just watching bad pro wrestling. Who wants to do that? Who wants to take credit as being a fan of the worst kind of pro wrestling? Not me.

Here's a personal anecdote... recently (no, not Wrestlecon so don't go guessing) I was helping certain Mexican wrestlers put together a match. I pitched one of the spots I used to love seeing, a spot that always got a big reaction from the crowd. A very LUCHA LIBRE spot. You know the one where everyone takes a turn missing a flying move? So it's just a 20 seconds of guys going SPLAT one after the other. This is a spot going back many years & one that appeared many times in the WCW lucha matches when the Mexican wrestlers started coming over to do trios matches. The reaction to me pitching this spot was general confusion & downright embarassment. "That seems so silly". Yes, the Mexican wrestlers thought a traditional Mexican wrestling spot was silly. Now, if the Young Bucks & Kenny Omega decided to do that spot on Dynamite next week, I have no doubt that spot would then show up all over Mexican wrestling shows left & right. Is that irony? Maybe the irony is I've literally seen those six guys do that spot back when they did indy shows - directly taking it from lucha libre - and the same Mexican wrestlers who look at those guys as the best wrestlers in the world refused to do the spot because 'it's too silly'.

This is what I mean about Lucha Libre losing it's identity. The Mexican wrestlers themselves these days are embarassed by traditional Lucha Libre. Not even just the bottom of the barrel awful backyarders, it goes right to the top. Some of your favorite luchadors in AEW/WWE now scoff at traditional lucha clips. It really bothers me.

It also makes me feel very silly. All this time I championed how great lucha libre was & now the people who have been left the reigns of this great sport/spectacle/whatever you wanna call it are all completely embarassed by the stuff that used to draw thousands of people to the thousands of arenas in all of Mexico compared to the hundreds (or less) that fill buildings now outside of CMLL or major WWE Mexico events. How else is it supposed to make me feel besides that I wasted my time fighting for validation of a style that is now looked at as embarassing? What does it bode for the future of Lucha Libre when the big names setting the example for the future are outright saying we have to do it like the Americans & Japanese do because that's what's right.

I found myself sitting down to watch lucha matches & dreading the next Destroyer or Spanish Fly or no-sell strike exchange or even just fireman's carry to set up a weak splash off the top rope. There was no more excitement over what creative sequence would come next, no getting a good laugh from comedy spots, no getting sucked into the emotion of fans cheering on one guy over the other. Every "esto es lucha" chant sickens me as much as a "this is awesome" chant these days.

What happened, and it was inevitable, is I have outlived lucha libre. As they say, nothing lasts forever.

The good news for those who always hated the fact a white Canadian kid actually knew his shit & was a loud supporter of true lucha libre - you guys have won. I'm just about out. You got what you wanted. It's in your hands now. Let's see how it plays out.

For now I'm immersing myself in old footage, which I take great joy in. I've never been the type to hate watch. Any kind of wrestling was always supposed to be an escape, something that makes me happy. So I want to watch things that do just that, not watching in fear of what repetitive spot or sequence I'll see next in a parody match.

I'm also drowning myself in collecting old results/lineups for the Lucha DB. Something else I take great enjoyment in doing! I find it poetic if we're being honest. I feel like doing this (filling in history gaps, preserving history for anyone who may want to look it up one day, reminiscing about all the fun eras of lucha libre I experienced) is the perfect way to end my fandom of lucha libre. One final thing to give back before I close the door & likely say adios to something I once loved. Bittersweet.