Professional wrestling in Mexico

Professional wrestling in Mexico has existed since the late 19th century, but became popular in the 1930s following the formation of Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, the first widespread Mexican professional wrestling promotion. Throughout the 20th century, professional wrestling had established itself as one of the most popular sports in Mexico, so much so that it has played an important role in national popular culture. Mexican professional wrestling has developed a distinct style and presentation known as "lucha libre", which is characterized by its colorful wrestling masks, rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, spectacular high-flying techniques, and telenovela-inspired sports entertainment elements.
Professional wrestling often competed with boxing in television ratings, with both disciplines reaching their peaks in Mexico in the mid-to-late 20th century, though both continue to be popular in the country. The popularity of professional wrestling in Mexico has fluctuated over the years, and has experienced a major resurgence during the 2000s through 2020s with the "Místico Boom Period" and the airing of lucha libre events on streaming services. With the rise of the popularity of mixed martial arts in Mexico, some Mexican wrestlers have competed in that discipline, notably Dos Caras Jr., El Solar, and Brazo de Plata.
Unlike with other countries, professional wrestling is taken seriously by the Mexican sports press despite its predetermined nature and it is not considered a simple "spectacle" as it is in most parts of the world. Mexican news services and sports journalists do not report nor speculate on wrestlers' real names even if they know the names out of respect for lucha libre tradition, in which the true identity of masked wrestlers is kept secret from the general public. Certain Mexican wrestlers have transcended professional wrestling, notably El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Máscaras – collectively dubbed the Tres Grandes of the Mexican wrestling tradition – became folk heroes and symbols of justice for the common man in Mexico through their appearances in luchador films.
With the globalization of professional wrestling, Mexican cities like Monterrey, Tijuana, and Mexico City have become important venues for foreign-based promotions on annual international tours.

History

The origins of professional wrestling in Mexico date back to the 19th century with the introduction of Greco-Roman wrestling by French soldiers during the Second Franco-Mexican War. The first widely recognized Mexican wrestler was Enrique Ugartechea in 1863, who was known as the strongest man in the country, which caught the attention of brands like Spalding who sponsored him.
In 1910, Italian wrestler Giovanni Raicevich arrived in Mexico with his wrestling troupe. At the same time, Italian businessmen Antonio Fournier brought his Teatro Colón wrestlers to Mexico, including famous catch wrestler Conde Koma, whose fighting style is considered the precursor of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The rivalry between the two wrestling troupes caused a stir among the Mexican population, generating lucrative business for both. In 1921, Belgian wrestler Constant le Marin also arrived in Mexico with his company, introducing León Molero, who had been a middleweight European champion. Two years later, he returned to Mexico, bringing the Japanese wrestler Kawamura, who, along with Hércules Sampson, performed at the Frontón Nacional venue.
In September 1933, Salvador Lutteroth founded Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, the first widespread Mexican-owned professional wrestling promotion in Mexico. For founding EMLL, Lutteroth is considered the "father of Mexican professional wrestling". El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Máscaras – collectively dubbed the Tres Grandes of the Mexican wrestling tradition – emerged as three of the biggest EMLL stars. The three would also wrestle for the Universal Wrestling Association, a major rival to EMLL in the 1970s and '80s. EMLL was later renamed as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. As an alternative to CMLL, [Lucha Libre Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide|AAA Worldwide|AAA] was founded in 1992 by Antonio Peña, who had previously worked for CMLL as a booker. Throughout the rest of the decade, AAA's popularity grew, collaborating with both World Championship Wrestling in 1994 and the World Wrestling Federation in 1997; with the former, it co-hosted the When Worlds Collide event, and with the latter, it co-hosted the Royal Rumble event.
In the 2000s and early 2010s, Mexican professional wrestling experienced a major resurgence of popularity and mainstream awareness during CMLL's "Místico Boom Period", built around performers like Místico and Averno. In 2011, Místico departed CMLL to join the American-based WWE promotion, where he performed under the ring name "Sin Cara".
In the 2010s and 2020s, AAA and CMLL began airing their events on streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube. In April 2025, AAA was acquired by WWE.

Professional wrestling style

Lucha libre is the term used to describe the wrestling style created in Mexico, characterized by rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, "high-flying" aerial techniques, and colorful masks. While in the rest of the world, the Mexican wrestling style is always known by its Spanish name, lucha libre, in Mexico, it is also known as pancracio and el arte de Gotch. Another distinguishing characteristic of lucha libre is its detailed system of weight classes, possibly inspired by boxing. Each weight class has an official upper weight limit that competitors must abide by and are monitored by the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission, but examples can be found from the history of lucha libre of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to compete in their weight class, including some who have held a weight class' title.
In 2018, the lucha libre style was declared an intangible cultural heritage of Mexico City by the head of the Government of Mexico City.

Professional wrestling promotions

In Mexico, there are numerous professional wrestling promotions, but the two that dominate the modern industry are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. CMLL is the oldest promotion in the world, having been founded in 1933; AAA was founded in the early 1990s. To a lesser extent, the International Wrestling Revolution Group, founded in 1996, and The Crash Lucha Libre, founded in 2011, have emerged as other major national wrestling promotions in the country.
Notable active professional wrestling promotions in Mexico include:

Name	Promoter	Years active	Notes
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)	Salvador Lutteroth III	1933–present	The oldest active professional wrestling promotion in the world.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA)	Marisela Peña Dorian Roldán	1992–present	Founded as a break-away promotion from CMLL by Antonio Peña with the backing of Televisa.
International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG)	Cesar Moreno Marco Moreno	1996–present	Based out of Arena Naucalpan in Naucalpan, State of Mexico.
The Crash Lucha Libre	Unknown	2011–present	Based out of Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Baja California.
Toryumon Casa	Último Dragón	1997–present	Serves as the home promotion for Japanese wrestlers from Dragongate and Pro Wrestling Noah who have been sent on learning excursions in Mexico.
Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF)	Luciano Alberto Garcia de Luna	2000–present	One of the first women's wrestling promotions in Mexico.
Desastre Total Ultraviolento	Crazy Boy	2007–present	A prominent Mexican lucha extrema promotion.
Alianza Universal De Lucha Libre	Hector Guzman	1990–present	The sister promotion of Universal Wrestling Entertainment, a revival of the Universal Wrestling Association.

National wrestling championships

The Mexican National Championships are a group of Mexico-specific professional wrestling championships that are sanctioned by the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission, the de facto national commission of lucha libre in Mexico. While the commission sanctions the championships, it does not promote the events in which the championships are defended, but rather allows the championships to be defended on the events of promotions like CMLL and AAA. The championships are intended to be held solely by Mexican nationals, though exceptions have been made, notably the Mexican National Lightweight Championship was held by Japanese wrestler Mishima Ota and the National Welterweight and Trios Championships were held by American wrestler Rey Mysterio. The earliest Mexican National Championship, the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship, was created in 1926 and bestowed to Mexican wrestler Francisco Aguayo by Mexican-Americans in the United States. Aguayo later brought the championship belt with him to Mexico and on June 21, 1934, firmly established it as a Mexican-based title with his victory over Manuel "El Toro" Hernández in the first championship match ever sanctioned by the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission. The Mexican National Heavyweight Championship is still promoted by CMLL, making it the oldest active championship in professional wrestling.
Over the years the commission has created a total of 13 different championships, seven of which are for various weight divisions in Mexico. Three of the championships are for various forms of male tag teams. They also created two championships for women's professional wrestling, a singles championship and a tag team championship. From 1993 through 2006, the commission sanctioned the Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship, exclusively for Mini-Estrellas, participants in a Mexican form of midget wrestling. From 2008 through the early 2020s, the Mexican National Lightweight Championship was held by Mini-Estrella wrestlers. The commission's most recent championship addition was in 1996 when they created the Mexican National Atómicos Championship, contested for by teams of four, referred to in lucha libre as "Atómicos". Embracing a traditionalist view on professional wrestling, the commission typically only allows its championships to be defended in "normal matches", stripping Psicosis of the Mexican National Middleweight Championship for defending it in a hardcore match. However, at a later point, the commission allowed its Heavyweight Championship to be defended in a steel cage match on a Triplemanía event.
The Mexican National Championships have been promoted by a number of Mexican-based wrestling promotions over the years. CMLL, founded in 1933, has promoted the championships since their inception and currently promotes all remaining Mexican National Championships. In 1992, AAA was formed when booker Antonio Peña and a number of CMLL wrestlers broke away to create a new company. Several of the wrestlers that left were reigning Mexican National Champions and the commission allowed AAA to take promotional control of those championships at that point. In 2006, Mascarita Sagrada, the Mexican National Mini-Estrella Champion, left AAA while still holding the championship, rendering it inactive from that point on. From 2008 to 2011, AAA abandoned all their Mexican National Championships, instead choosing to focus on promoting AAA-branded championships.
The Mexican National Championships include:

Championship	Division	Created	Abandoned	Notes
Featherweight Championship				Was primarily promoted on the Mexican independent circuit.
Lightweight Championship			—	Currently promoted by CMLL; was once promoted exclusively for Mini-Estrellas.
Welterweight Championship			—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Middleweight Championship			—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Light Heavyweight Championship			—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Cruiserweight Championship				Was primarily promoted by AAA.
Heavyweight Championship	Over		—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Tag Team Championship	Two man tag teams		—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Trios Championship	Three man tag teams		—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Atómicos Championship	Four man tag teams			Was primarily promoted by AAA.
Women's Championship	Women		—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Women's Tag Championship	Female tag teams		—	Currently promoted by CMLL.
Mini-Estrella Championship	Mini-Estrellas			Was primarily promoted by AAA.

Foreign wrestling tours in Mexico

WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling company based in Stamford, Connecticut, has held annual tours in Mexico since 2004. The first event was held on April 3 of that year at Arena Monterrey in the city of the same name. After the success of the first WWE event in Mexico, WWE's Raw brand returned to Mexico in November 2004. In 2011, the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City would host the first Mexican television taping of WWE Raw; days later, the same venue was host to an episode of WWE SmackDown. As of July 2024, 89 WWE events have been held on Mexican soil.
Other non-Mexican professional wrestling companies have toured the country. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held a house show at Arena Monterrey in November 2006. In September 2019, British wrestling promotion Fight Club: Pro held their first event in Mexico in collaboration with The Crash Lucha Libre. The following month in October 2019, Major League Wrestling held their first event in Mexico in collaboration with The Crash Lucha Libre; MLW has since held collaborative events in Mexico with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. On March 4, 2023, the National Wrestling Alliance held their The World is a Vampire event in collaboration with AAA at Foro Sol in Mexico City; the event drew over 30,000 spectators, making it one of the highest attended wrestling events in the history of Mexico. On June 30, 2023, Japanese wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling held their inaugural event in Mexico, Fantastica Mania México, in collaboration with CMLL; Fantastica Mania México has since become an annual collaborative event held by NJPW and CMLL. On June 18, 2025, All Elite Wrestling held their Grand Slam event in Arena México.

Mexican wrestlers abroad

Being a wrestling power, Mexico has exported a large number of professional wrestlers abroad, working for promotions such as WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Noah, among others. Most of them carry the Mexican lucha libre wrestling style with them, while others change their styles to better fit those of their adopted countries and promotions or mix the lucha libre style with other styles of professional wrestling.
Several Mexican wrestlers have won professional wrestling championships, including prestigious world championships, in a country other than their own. Alberto Del Rio has held the WWE Championship and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, for a total of four reigns. In ROH, Bandido and Rush are two-time ROH World Champions, with Rush's second reign being the third-longest in the title's history. Blue Demon Jr., son of the eponymous legend, held the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship for 501 days. Pentagón Jr. won the Impact World Championship, although his reign was one of the shortest in the title's history. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. has been GHC Heavyweight Champion in Pro Wrestling Noah, being to date the only Mexican to achieve a world heavyweight title in Japan. Mexican wrestler Luis Mante held the Open the Dream Gate Championship, an openweight championship in the Japanese Dragongate promotion. Thunder Rosa is the only Mexican woman to have held a world championship in the United States, winning both the NWA Women's Championship and the AEW Women's Championship.
Among the Mexican male wrestlers who have excelled abroad are:

Among the Mexican female wrestlers who have excelled abroad are: