Sin Cara Coming to the WWE...

So as some of you may have heard, the WWE signed a new wrestler from Mexico earlier this week. His name, Sin Cara aka Mistico. So with this new wrestler signed to the organization, the one question that remains is: who is this guy? Well the answer to that is, I have no clue.

Unless you follow lucha libre, unlike me, then you will not know who this masked warrior is. So if you are expecting me to tell you Mistico is, don't. Instead, I would advise you to take a look at his wikipedia page to learn more about him.

But the point of this blog is to talk about the influence that lucha libre has on the WWE. Yesterday there was an article posted on AOL Fanhouse. In the Q&A article with Rey Mysterio, he was asked various questions about his career and the new video game that he is in: WWE All-Stars.

But one of the things he was asked involved lucha libre and its influence in the WWE. Here are a couple of excerpts from the article with Fanhouse.

What are your thoughts right now about WWE and the growth of the audience in the Hispanic market? It looks like there is more focus on it now than ever before.
I think it's awesome. I think every time WWE expands their market it's a step further and forward and not backwards. At one point, their main market was Europe and Europe is still huge. We're exploring South America now and it has given us a great response with attendance at live events and with ratings on television. So, why not take it to the next level and possibly travel more into South America which we are doing already, perhaps even bringing them a little extra touch with maybe a couple years down the road even a WrestleMania or a pay-per-view.

What are your thoughts about WWE signing Mistico (who will be known as Sin Cara)? He's been a huge star in Mexico for years and now he's making his way to WWE.
I think the opportunity now shown is that the doors are open for anybody that has the quality to be part of WWE. You have the talent, you have the desire to be a superstar, come and the doors will be open and if you can make it, you'll be one of the top dogs. Alberto's a big proof. When I came into the United States, I pretty much followed the Guerreros and Jerichos, a path as they just left Mexico and went on to ECW, WCW and WWE. So it was kind of a little train that we were taking around. It kind of feels good in a way that those doors have been opened for other Mexican wrestlers. Like you said, now with Mistico coming in, I want to say that I think those doors were eventually opened by the talent that myself, Eddie and a lot of wrestlers that started their careers in Mexico have opened up for other guys.

With what Rey Mysterio mentioned above and I have said in the past couple of posts is that lucha libre is expanding the spectrum of wrestling. You are now seeing more high-flying and speed influence in the ring. Before it used to be muscle versus muscle. But now, you have to be able to do so much more in the ring than just body slam your opponent. And with this influence being seen in the WWE, you are now getting a new audience to the brand. More people are starting to tune into Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown to see Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio and in the near future, Mistico.

And for the business aspect, this is putting more money into the business. And that makes WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon very happy. Because after all, at least for him, it's all about the money.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806



*Photo from wikipedia and excerpts from AOL Fanhouse

Something a Little Different...

So as many of you know, this blog is about lucha libre and its influence on American wrestling. Well for this week's post, I going to take a break from the happenings of the wrestling world to talk about something else. A movie I saw last weekend that relates to Mexican wrestling.

"Read some books" or "Get that corn out of my face" are some of the memorable lines from the movie Nacho Libre. Now you may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with lucha libre. Well it all has to deal with lucha libre, well at least some of it.

For those you haven't seen the movie or it's been a while since you have seen the movie, here is a summary of the movie (courtesy of imdb.com).

Now that you have either refreshed yourself of the movie's plot or now know what it is about, let talk about it. On the surface, the movie might seem like it just another comedy made for kids. Well that might be so, but you really have to look into it and see the influence that lucha libre has on it.

One of the things I would like to point out is the sacristy of the mask. In one of the matches, Ignacio and his partner are scheduled to fight two midgets that look like lions, at least that's how I see them. During the match, one of the lion people attempt to take off Ignacio's mask but he fights back. Now, maybe the primary reason why Ignacio is trying to keep his mask on is because he doesn't want his identity revealed to the orphans and the church, but maybe the underlying reason is because of the tradition of lucha libre.

In the lucha libre culture, when a wrestler wears a mask, it is basically a part of him. It is a part of his identity. He is known for the mask and many fans will either recognize him or wear it because they like him and/or the mask.

So, when Ignacio was fighting off the lion person, again I really don't know what to call him or it, he really was trying protect his identity of a tradition wrestler rather than just protecting his identity from the church. He is someone who has wanted to be a luchador his whole life, and was trying to respect the culture of the sport by protecting one of the most sacred things, the identity of a mask luchador.

Well that concludes this blog post for the week, but if anyone out there knows what those lion people are called, please send me a comment because I really would like to know who or what they are. Thank you.

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806



Photos courtesy of Comingsoon.net and Stomptokyo.com

My thoughts on The King of Mystery

If you happen to read my past couple of posts, you know that I've been talking about Alberto Del Rio's win at the Royal Rumble. As much as he does deserve the attention, this is another wrestler I would like to talk about that also has ties to lucha libre. He is Rey Mysterio.

You can say that I've watched wrestling in two phases, one when I was younger (mainly watching just to watch it) and the other time is currently now (knowing more about the sport now). When I started watching it more intensively, if that is the right word to use, I started to watch Rey Mysterio's matches for some reason. It might have been because he was wearing a mask or because he was performing moves I had never seen before in the squared circle. But whatever the reason, he started to become one of my favorites in the business.

But today, he and John Cena, are starting to get a bad reputation. No, it's not because they are bad guys in the ring, but because they have been the so-called posters boys of the PG era. Rey Mysterio has always had his back against the wall. Whether because he is undersized at 5'6" or he is older than some of the guys on the roster, he is always been considered the ultimate underdog. But I think because of this, this is the reason why so many kids like him. Sure you can say the colorful masks that he wears might appeal to them, but because he is good role model to them. When all odds are against you, he has found some way to climb the mountain again and again. Perhaps his biggest climb occurred when he won the Royal Rumble and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 22.

But the one thing I would really like to touch on is the lucha libre influence he has brought to the WWE. I remember watching his first match against Chavo Guerrero on Smackdown, and remember saying 'who is this guy.' He was jumping off the turnbuckles and the ropes that support the ring. He was also moving around the place like he had somewhere to go. Then the end of the match finally came....



Sorry about Michael Cole's Spanish on the video, it's pretty horrible lol. But the point I wanted to illustrate was the wrestling style of Rey Mysterio. Not only did he bring a new wrestling style to mainstream wrestling and influenced some of today's young stars (wrestlers like the high flyer Evan Bourne), but proved to everyone that you did not have to be big and muscular to make it in the wrestling business. You just have to heart...

Source of pic at top of page: wrestlingvalley.org

-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806

Drum Roll Please...

So as many you know, Alberto Del Rio won the Royal Rumble last week. So the question was, which title was he going to go after; the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship. Well he didn't make us wait that long as he announced this past Monday Night Raw that he would challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 27 (of course who he will face will be determined at the Elimination Chamber PPV later this month). But this post is not intended to talk about the week's past happenings. It's purpose it to talk about whether Del Rio should be pushed to main event at Wrestlemania 27.

There are many people out there, especially in the internet wrestling community, that think Del Rio is being pushed too fast. And I can understand why people think that way. He has only been wrestling in the organization since August 2010, yet he was booked to main event at the Super Bowl's version of wrestling. But when you look at it, there could not have been any other choice if you wanted a new face in the title hunt.

When you look at Del Rio, he is someone who can do it all; he has the mic skills, the charisma and the wrestling ability to do it in the ring. In today's wrestling world, you are not only looked at how well you wrestling, but also if you can entertain. There have been many wrestlers who have been excellent in the ring, but had little or no mic skills. People like Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, both of whom were wrestlers in college, were really never pushed because they lacked the entertainment part of the business. Let's face it, Del Rio knows how to get a crowd to be against, whether talking them down, showing off his expensive cars or having his personal ring announcer (now if that does not say cockiness, then I don't know what does).

Another thing I that seen posted on some websites is he going to be pushed like Jack Swagger. For those who don't remember, Jack Swagger won the Money in the Bank match at last year's Wrestlemania. He later on became champion within a month, but really did not display the qualities of champion. He was made out to be someone who would find the easy way out to win rather than winning a match fair and square. Many thought he was pushed too fast and may be one of the reasons why you don't really hear too much about him on Friday Night Smackdown now. But for me, there is one major difference between Swagger and Del Rio: Swagger was stale. He was someone who was okay on the mic, but not someone who was really going to wow you or do or say something that was going to make you hate him. With Del Rio the moment his music hit and his announcer starts talking in Spanish, he can hear all the boo's in the arena. Once again it all has to do with entertainment aspect of the business.

The last argument I hear why Del Rio should not have won the Royal Rumble is: why him? Well I ask why not him? I see some of the comments people leave in discussion rooms about how they are tired of the same people in the title hunt and how there is nobody ever new. It's always John Cena, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Edge, etc. Well you finally go your wish of someone new, but now you don't like for some odd reason. Well if you want someone new, but now Del Rio, then who. Now I can understand if you want John Morrison in there (I would be all for that he has some amazing athleticism), but name someone else. One of the guys from the Nexus or The Corre, child please. Those guys are mainly there just to beef the feuds they have against each other. Plus most of them are mid-carders right now, not main event material yet... The point is Del Rio is the only new face out there that has main event material, no offense to the other guys.

Let's just it, Alberto Del Rio was the only logical choice to win the Royal Rumble, if you wanted someone new. And it's not just because he's fresh and new, but it's mainly because he can entertain. If a wrestler can't get the crowd be with him or against him, then they won't be going anywhere for some time.

Oh, in case you have not seen what Del Rio's entrance looks like check out the video below. Also, the photo of Del Rio at the top is courtesy of bleacherreport.com



-Christopher J. Valverde

Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806