The Saint and Other Mexican Superhero Wrestlers
The Masked Crimefighters Unite Against Social Injustice
One of the main differences between American and Mexican wrestling is the wearing of the mask. In Mexico, wrestlers prefer to remain anonymous and their manhood and identity is protected through the mask. Often the loser of a match has to take off his mask and reveal his true identity. It is a form of public exposure and seen as degrading since it involves “losing face” and hence one’s masculinity.
For Mexicans wrestling also has come to be a reflection of life and social and political circumstances. There are those wrestlers who are corrupt, cheat and fight dirty to achieve a victory (the rudos), while others who behave like “saints” and play by the rules (the tecnicos). Often, demonstrating real life tendencies, the rudos, i.e. the “cheaters”, gain victories at the indignation of the audience.
The Appearance of EL Santo on the Mexican Scene
One of the most famous wrestlers in Mexican history is El Santo (“The Saint”, Rodolfo Guzman in real life) who initially gained popularity and a large fan base through comics called “foto-novelas”. El Santo was a tecnico - one of his trademarks is that he recites prayers before each match – and because of many consecutive victories he turned into a Mexican idol during a time where most people endured poverty and hardship.
Later, El Santo participated in many movies acting as a masked superhero wrestler that fights evil and brings justice to the poor and needy. He has made more than fifty low-budget movies in what the movie critic Carl J. Mora calls the “darkest days of the Mexican film industry”. Notwithstanding, El Santo has come to embody a lasting and inspiring symbol that good can prevail over evil.
Current Social Wrestlers and Alternative Political Figures
At present, various social groups have adopted different kinds of masked heroes, the so-called “social wrestlers”, who fight for social causes and for the promise of change among people and government. The social wrestlers have come to represent several diverse issues, ranging from gay rights to the protection of the environment. Superbarrio, for example, is a masked luchador (wrestler, fighter) who protects the innocent and homeless, confronts landlords, organizes demonstrations, and attends government meetings.
Another major political figure, the Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatistas movement in Chiapas wears a ski mask and smokes a pipe, appealing to the Mexican mentality of superheroes. In a figurative sense, he is wrestling for justice for the benefit of the Mexican indigenous people in the revered tradition of the wrestling champions.
Similarly, Hechos Merediano of TV Azteca, a Mexican news program, has a section where the masked Reportero sin Rostro (the Faceless Reporter) appears once a week to denounce immoral and corrupt practices of police officers, government officials and others. He wears a wrestling mask and his voice is often electronically distorted, partly to protect himself from political repercussions, yet also in order to fit into the ideal of a Mexican crime-fighting luchador.
References
Rubenstein, Anne. "El Santo’s Strange Career", printed in The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, ed. Gilbert M. Joseph and Timothy J. Henderson, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2002.
