La Herida Abierta : Lucha Libre in the US-Mexico Borderlands

Lucha Libre has become one of the most visible markers of Mexicanidad, so ubiquitous with Mexican culture that it attained UNESCO recognition as an intangible cultural heritage. While this sporting tradition has been respected for its cultural value, critics of Lucha Libre denounce the mass displays of violence in the ring. Yet, audience interest in watching Lucha Libre has steadily increased with companies, like CMLL and AAA, experiencing a new peak in viewership and engagement unseen since the “Golden Age” of the 1940s to 1980s. Audiences keep returning to consume a violent sport that has predetermined outcomes. The current scholarship of Lucha Libre attempts to explain this popular interest as celebrations of Mexican culture and tradition, while shying away from the allure of violence in the sport. Inspired by the theoretical contributions presented by Aristotle, Barthes, Debord and Anzaldúa, I argue that through the violence on display in Lucha Libre, both the performers and audience can achieve cathartic moments through simulation of current social problems. Through ethnographic participant observation and analyzing published interviews from luchadores, I demonstrate the differences in how Lucha Libre is currently performed in Mexico City versus within the US-Mexico borderlands. As my research concludes, in both cases Lucha Libre can provide a cathartic experience for performers and audience, but Lucha Libre in the borderlands evolved using Mexicanidad and violence for cathartic release against political problems faced by the audience, like discrimination and immigration issues, to create a new understanding of the new subject of the borderlands.