If you are lucky enough to watch Lucha Underground live on the El Rey Network, or dedicated enough to keep up with the show through other means, then you already know how innovative it is for a professional wrestling program. They utilize a unique cinematic style of filming their backstage vignettes, and their brand of episodic story telling gives fans a reason to tune in week after week.
Aside from the technical aspects, there is another way in which Lucha Underground is revolutionizing the professional wrestling industry on TV. It gives all their characters respect and dignity, regardless of gender, race, or background. Sadly, this is a novel concept in the world of professional wrestling, but Lucha Undergound is demonstrating how ridiculous it is that fans are only starting to see this type of equality in 2015. The easiest way to see how Lucha Underground demonstrates this forward thinking mentality is through those characters that on other shows would suffer a much less dignified fate.
Sexy Star and Ivelisse Women have never had an easy road on their journey through the land of professional wrestling. Often seen as second class citizens, women have had to work extra hard for the same respect that men in the industry receive. Things have gotten better in the last ten years but there is a still a stigma associated with gender in professional wrestling. In Lucha Underground, gender doesn’t seem to play such a large role. Although there have been women in other companies who have wrestled against men, in Lucha Underground this has been the accepted norm since the first episode. Sexy Star even has a back story that includes a history of abuse before standing up for herself. I’m not female, so I can only speak from my own perspective, but I would think that some women might find that character empowering, especially since she has proven herself to be a threat to anyone she faces, be it man or woman. Although not as active as Sexy Star, Ivelesse has proven in a short period of time that she is as dangerous as any man, recently scoring a victory over Angelico. With #GiveDivasAChance trending on twitter, having Lucha Underground give their ladies respect and a chance to shine couldn’t be more important than now.
Pimpinela Escarlata There has been a long tradition in professional wrestling of men dressing in androgynous or even effeminate ways. Typically this was done for one of two reasons. Either the character was seen as a comedy act, or a way to play on feelings of homophobia in an effort to get heat. Neither way can really be thought of as all that progressive. Then, we have the case of Pimpinela Escarlata. His cross dresser gimmick is not played up for laughs, and he’s seen as a crowd favorite. That in itself is huge. Most wrestling crowds in North America would react to Pimpinela with disgust, not cheers, but the Lucha Underground crowd appreciates what he does between the ropes, not what he wears to the ring. More importantly than that however is the fact that all of his theatrics are secondary to what he does in the ring. Escarlata is seen as a serious in ring competitor and not once has his choice in attire been used against him or been used to further a storyline. Matt Striker and Vampiro don’t act uncomfortable around him or push the idea that the viewer should be either.
Mascarita Sagrada It should come as little surprise that Mascarita Sagrada is a member of the Lucha Underground roster. The Minis Division has always had a place in lucha libre, and they are some of the biggest stars in Mexico. The same cannot be said of the United States. Minis have had a place on wrestling cards, but were more often than not seen as a comedy or novelty act, and were never given the same respect as their contemporaries in the locker room. In lucha libre, the minis are respected as athletes and performers first, and as attractions second. Lucha Underground has taken this approach and amplified it by not only respecting the contributions and abilities of one of lucha’s best known and admired athletes, but by having him mix it up with anyone on the roster he chooses. Certainly there have been cases of minis mixing it up outside their division in other companies, but typically it is played for laughs, usually at the expense of the mini. Not in Lucha Underground, where Sagrada is seen as small, but proficient.
The most encouraging thing about watching these performers on Wednesday nights is the fact that nobody makes a big deal about their differences. That might seem like a bad thing on the surface, seeing as pro wrestling is a business in which you should try to stand out as much as possible, but for Lucha Underground it is very forward thinking. Each week that we see these performers, Vampiro and Matt Striker talk about what they can do in the ring and rarely mention their differences from the other wrestlers on the show. The fact that Sexy Star is woman, or Pimpinela is a cross dresser, or that Mascarita is a mini is seemingly no big deal whatsoever, nor should it be. They act as if these competitors are no different than Prince Puma or Johnny Mundo, which goes to show that their efforts to be a place of equality is genuine, and not some type of public relations stunt done to make themselves look good or win favor with special interest groups.
Professional wrestling has often times been labeled as low brow and unevolved entertainment for the narrow minded and uneducated. As a life long wrestling fan I always resented that stigma, but could understand why people thought that way, especially when watching some of the more cringe worthy acts of discrimination and prejudice play out on my television screen, even as I became an adult. I would often wondered why pro wrestling hadn’t managed to keep up with the rest of the entertainment world in at least making some progress in the areas of equality. Perhaps now we have a promotion that we can share with our friends and family without being embarrassed about those issues anymore. Lucha Underground has never drawn attention to the fact that in their company, equality isn’t the exception, it’s the norm. Perhaps as fans, it’s time we did that for them.
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