Hugo’s Lucha Libre celebrates Mexican culture from the top rope
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DENVER — “Ay, ay, ay, ay,” the crowd cheered as Big Mami stepped into the ring.
Spectators lined the stands as cameramen maneuvered outside the ring to get shots. In the back, “Hugo’s Lucha Libre” shone brightly on the arena screens, illuminating the wrestling ring.
In a bedazzled black and pink dress, Big Mami fended off not one, not two, but six luchadoras inside the square arena.
Big Mami shoved every charging luchadora, slamming the women to the ground as the crowd chanted, “Mami!”
One of the luchadoras, Luna, gripped her head in pain as she rolled out the ring, catching her breath. Two minutes later, she, along with the other five luchadoras, got their revenge by kicking Big Mami as she lay sprawled in the ring.
“It’s Mexican culture,” said Luna, whose real name is Ashley Soto. “I love the running. I love the jumping. I love the fighting. I just love it.”
Luna participates in Hugo’s Lucha Libre, a Colorado-based lucha libre school and promoter her father, Hugo Soto, runs.
Over the past 12 years, Hugo’s Lucha Libre has become a staple in Colorado’s wrestling scene, providing a glimpse into Mexican culture.
Video: Carly Rose, Rocky Mountain PBS
Lucha libre is a style of professional wrestling that originated in Mexico in the 1800s. Known for its high-flying acrobatic fighters in distinctive masks, the sport rose in prominence in the 1950s with the introduction of the EMLL (Mexican Wrestling Enterprise) and culture-defining luchadores like El Santo and Blue Demon.
Hugo Soto started attending lucha libre shows in Mexico when he was five years old. He was fascinated by the mystique of the sport.
“You never know with the masks. You might’ve had a neighbor who was the biggest lucha libre star but you just never know,” he said.
In the sport, many wrestlers don a mask, rarely revealing their faces or true identities.
Hugo Soto’s daughters, Ashley (Luna), 23, and Leslie (Puma), 25, took interest in the sport 13 years ago when they saw it on TV. At the time, Denver’s lucha libre scene lacked the spectacle that Hugo Soto had seen in Mexico.
“I didn’t see the spectacular, the lights, the smoke. Every little thing[that] makes a big show,” he said.
He took it upon himself to start his own school and company, one where his girls could participate in the sport and learn about the culture. He brought in teachers from Mexico to show the wrestlers how to fight and perform authentically.
Today, Hugo’s Lucha Libre shows feature all the lights, the smoke machine and the grandiose energy of a traditional lucha libre show. The school has 16 members and hosts events throughout the year, including trips to Mexico.
Luchadores go through rigorous training to stay in shape.
“Once you’re up in the ring, everything is very real,” said Luna Soto.
Luna’s favorite move is the “code red.” She usually uses the move as a finisher — a move to win her the match — on an opponent. Once she kicks her opponent down, Luna runs to the corner of the ring, climbs to the top of a rope and backflips right on top of her opponent.
On August 3 inside Arena 4 Caminos at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, luchadores duked it out inside the ring. From slaps and shoves, to acrobatic jumps and kicks, luchadores fed off the crowd’s energy to move along the fight.
Audience members heckled, luchadors egged on the crowd, and sometimes fights spilled outside the ring as wrestlers threw each other all over the arena.
In addition to the acrobatic combat, lucha libre functions as a storytelling device, weaving in plots and characters like a soap opera. Audiences understand alliances and rivalries between rudos (villains) and técnicos (heroes).
In this way, wrestlers may pre-arrange the outcomes and storylines. But the show inside the ring always involves improv — and a whole lot of skill.
“Lucha libre is special, it’s magic. There’s a magic that’s not seen,” said Anubis, a luchadore in Hugo’s school. “To [audiences] it might be flippity flippy, but it’s storytelling at its best, with ruthless aggression of course.”
Anubis requested anonymity, maintaining the obscurity and mystique that draw audiences in to see the wrestlers.
Anubis plays a rudo and loves the energy of the crowd.
“I believe that if they’re not booing, I’m not doing a good job,” he said.
Many young fans love the culture of lucha libre and show up in masks and t-shirts featuring their favorite luchadors.
“I really enjoy how they fight, it’s cool and exciting,” said Lionel Lopez, 10, who attended the show with his two friends. This was their fifth lucha libre event of the year.
“Seeing people jump off the rope and do moves on one another is so unique,” he said.
“I always feel like [the kids] are supporting me,” Luna Soto said. “I love giving them attention, kisses. When I’m up in the ring, I have to do my moves so I don’t disappoint them. That’s what makes this sport special — it’s Mexican culture.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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