Viva La Lucha Libre Dot Net: Amorales vs. Los Guerreros Del Infierno

Articles, columns, tape reviews, and random observations from the Viva staff
	I was standing about two bodies away from the guard rail in the cramped atrium of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. While I don’t typically fancy myself as the kind of cat who’d drive to a museum in the Bay Area on a Wenesday night, I had heard that an artist who used lucha libre as a medium would be making a rare American appearance. Carlos Amorales had put on a lucha match in a stuffy London art neighborhood a few months back, and this time, he would be dressing two luchadores in hoods that resembled his own face. The two wrestlers were to face each other in a statement about private identify versus public identity. Whatever. There were lucha masks, and I sure do love stuff that has wrasslin’. Simply billed as ‘Amorales vs. Amorales,’ nobody in attendance really knew what to expect. Made up of primarily blonde-dreadlocked art chicks and emo dudes with small-rimmed glasses, the audience densely crowded around a wrestling ring set up in the middle of the museum atrium. As 8 o’ clock rolled around, people began clapping in anticipation of the performance. Before long, Amorales, clad in a suit and lucha mask resembling a balding, mustached man made his way to the ring. Behind him were to men in similar masks (there’s included a red, backward baseball cap, built in to the mask), accompanied by two smoking guapas. Another ‘Amorales’ quickly followed. As I focused in on the last one for a picture, something seemed strange. He was wearing a white t-shirt, but underneath, two singlet straps were clearly visible. So he had some wrestling gear underneath his shirt…no big deal, right? As he rolled into the ring, I finally noticed a CMLL logo printed on the back of his shirt, as well as the unmistakable swagger of a rudo from hell. “Is that Satanico?” Nobody around me had any idea what I was talking about, but I was suddenly very glad I had made the drive to the Museum of Modern Art .

	The Amorales in the suit announced that tonight we would be witnessing a lucha match. Amorales versus Amorales, with Amorales as the referee! The art crowd smirked and giggled at the concept, but were obviously enjoying the artists’ antics. “Wait a minute, referee Amorales has something to say,” announced the suited Amorales, who at this point I assumed was the actual artist. In the unmistakable tone of a man who can summon demons from hell, referee Amorales announced that he was not in fact Amorales at all. After feigning confusion, the two wrestling Amorales’ began wrestling each other. I was surprised at how crisp their moves were, as they performed some pretty impressive spots. They played up the ‘man versus himself’ theme with some cool looking lock up moves, with one wrestler reflecting the actions of the other. After an elaborate display of chain wrestling, one Amorales was able to score the upper hand. As he dropped his opponent with an arm drag, he turned to the crowd to celebrate. Without warning, he began pumping his arm into the air, while slapping it with his other hand. “Whoo, Whoo, Whoo!” I got a chill up my spine. There’s only one other wrestler that perfoms that taunt. The same wreslter who had performed along with Satanico at the London show. Even with the creepy Amorales mask, it became obvious that we were watching Rey Bucanero.

	With this revelation, I speculated as to who the other wrestling Amorales was. Before I could figure it out, the referee turned on him, with essentially Satanico and Rey Bucanero dishing out a brutal beatdown. The crowd was oohing and ahhing at every turn, and it became appearant that lucha libre was winning them over. As the crowd cheered him on, the referee decided that he had enough and removed his mask. The Amorales with the microphone proudly announced that we had been duped. He wasn’t a mild mannered referee after all. He was in fact… “SATANICO!!!” Even with no clue who Satanico really was, the crowd genuinely enjoyed the swerve, and enthusiastically began booing the rudo. Upset by his new ally’s actions, Bucanero-Amorales felt betrayed. Soon, the Amorales twins put their difference aside, and began beating down the veteran heel. Now I’ve seen enough wrestling matches to know what would come next. As the crowd rabidly showed their appreciation for the action in the ring, I turned around to see who would save Satanico. Deep down, I already knew who it would be, and sure enough my suspicions were confirmed… “Oh no, Ultimo Guerrero is coming to help Satanico!” I’d never seen the man live before, so my excitement level was at a dizzying high. The Guerrero Del Infierno cleared a path through the crowd in time to ward of the attacking Amorales’. It was then announced that the match would continue as a tag team affair. I was in lucha fanboy heaven, as the four men put on a superb one fall match. Breaking out all of the cool spots seen of the CMLL shows, the four men did an excellent job of winning the crowd over. The same people that would most likely balk at the thought of watching a professional wrestling match were chanting and cheering, exercising the full extent of their Spanish vocabulary. The Amorales in the suit, who was now officiating the match, counted to three as the Amorales’ managed to pin the rudos in a great 10-15 minute match. The audience gave everybody in the ring a loud ovation as Amorales celebrated with the luchadores. Rey Bucanero removed his mask, with the other Amorales making a suspicious exit from the ring. As I was beginning to think that I’d never know the identity of the unknown Amorales, he quickly returned with a more familiar hood. The mysterious wrestler had been Olimpico the entire time. Amorales removed his mask, and announced the names of all four wrestlers for a final pop from the crowd.

	Afterward, all four wrestlers gladly signed autographs for everybody in attendance. Almost all of the impressed audience crowded around the ring to get a signed memento of the great night of action. Curious art fans asked questions of the wrestlers, with the luchadores looking genuinely gracious of the appreciation they were receiving. Pinche Satanico! The guy joked around with everybody that got his autograph, eliciting many giggles from the cute college girls who would approach him. At the end of a great night, Amorales and company took off in a grand, white stretch limousine. On a side not, enough with the tortillas, already! A trend that started with the Incredibly Stange Wrestling promotion has people flinging corn tortillas at Mexican wrestlers. And while I understand that it’s largely a good natured tradition, these guys flew all the way from Mexico City to perform for you all. While the luchadores probably took it as a joke, I wonder how they felt about the racist undertones of it all. I’m sure it wasn’t too bad though, as Ultimo Guerrero playfully picked one up from the ring, and took a nibble to show he was a good sport. You’re the man, Ultimo! You’re the man.
	-Rip Sexington