Full Transcript for The Mask

not, wasn't a Mexican. I am Santos Escobara, the Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. For over twenty years, I have been a professional wrestler in Mexico, the United States and around the world. I've been a champion, a hero, a villain. I've won and lost, but I always represent Lucha Libre with pride. Lucha Libre, it's tradition, its heritage, its culture, Ladies and gentlemen. The following podcast is scheduled for twelve episodes, and it's all about Lucha Libre. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, Episode two The Mask. Okay, so you remember Don Chava Luteto right, father of Lucha Livre. Well, he's also responsible for bringing the first masked wrestler to Mexico, and this is how it happened. As we know, Don Chava had problems presenting rucha live in Mexico. Everyone was hot and cold. First, nobody trusted him, but then once he started seeing success, things got better. One opportunity that came back to the table after early success was holding fights in the Arena Nacionale. One of the owners offered to rent the arena to Don Java for all of his cards. Woo. Sounds great, right, but the offer came with a catch. If Don Chava refused, they would take away all of his restorers and cut him out. Don Chava had no choice but to accept, and starting in October nineteen thirty three, the EMLLL began to organize fights on Thursdays at the Rena and on Sundays at the Renamoello, the other Mexico City arena we talked about last episode. Things were more or less going okay, but then Don Chava ran into another problem. One of the EML partners, the one from the United States, split from the mL and started running his own shows, and he took all his wrestlers with him, including the Chino A Chiu and Jackie Joe. You see this kind of thing all the time in sports, most recently with Saudi Arabia's Leave Golf League, which has effectively caused a crisis in golf. Big business moves always come with casualties, and the rift in the EML was no exception. But through the form, Donchava bounced back and thought about how he could improve his cards to make up for his last stars. His first move was to partner with Frei Nano, who had founded La Ficion de Lucha Leave It, a newspaper. Fry advised Don Chava to start racing homegrown stars so he wouldn't have to bring pricey lucha artists from abroad. Chava took the advice and hired a martial arts expert to turn local amateurs into professionals, and by April of nineteen thirty four, just a year and a half after he started the EMLL, Don Chava was back on track and on the cusp of a massive stroke of good luck. And by luck, I mean luck and a whim. Don Chava bought a lottery ticket from a guy selling tickets at the arena and he hit it big. If you need a new pin number four to two. Four to two was the winning number. Don Chava won forty thousand pesos that night, enough money to throw a massive anniversary event for the EML. He thought long and hard on how the event could be special, something new and big. This was a chance to recover some of the momentum he had lost when he lost some of his star wrestlers to his former partner. And at some point he remembered the fight he saw in Texas. There was a certain wrestler who always entered the ring with a mass well not quite a mask, but a bala clava type thing he wore over his head, revealing only his eyes and mouth, and Don Java said, that's what I want. I want to introduce a masked wrestler at the anniversary. Seems like such a simple strange choice, doesn't it. You really think some dude in a balaklava is going to help you make the comeback you need. But in don Chava we trust, right, folks, Let's find out. His first decision was who would this mask wrestler even be? Most of his local talent wasn't ready yet. But after sniffing around long and he landed on Cyclone. Mackie remember him. He was a friendly looking guy who lost to Chino Achiu. Donchava approached the irishman with the idea, and as it turned out, Cyclone Macki had in fact already fought with a mask back in the US. For all Java knew, Cyclone was the very same mask wrestler he had seen in a passo. Who knows, but we do have some of the basic facts about Maki. His real name was Corbin Massi, and he was one of the many Luca looties who used the balaklava and the name masked Marble while fighting in the United States. Some accounts say that wearing a mask was actually Massi's idea because he was ashamed to show his face in Mexico, where he had lost to Achi whoever's idea it was, Massi was going to be the guy who was a surprise wrestler at Don Java's big event. So wrestler check. Next up mask Chava put the job on Massy and to get the mask, he was going to have to find someone in Mexico to make something like the one he used back when he was one of the mask marvels in Texas. Remember back then, there was no Internet, no smartphones, no knockofs from China. If you wanted to find something past, you had to get out on the streets and start asking around. So the Irish man started by asking his fellow lucelloes if anyone knew at place in Charro Wayo. A fellow wrestler said he had a guy. Massi knew Charo from the days when they were both wrestling in the States. Anyway, Charro had been in Mexico for a while at this point and knew everyone associated with Lucha Libre, including all the best cobblers. The shoemaker Charo had in mind was named Antonio Martinez. Charro told Massi he was the best guy for a mask because Charro had success as fully ordered custom work from him in the past. Massi would have found Antonio sooner rather than later, even without Charles's wreck. Antonio shop was right near Adnan Nacional, and he focused exclusively on making boots for boxers, so when Lucha lib arrived to Mexico, he quickly fell in love with it. Antonio became a committed fan of Charles. If he was in the arena while Charro was wrestling, he would help him up if he got knocked out of the ring. After everyone had left, Antonio would wait for Charroo outside of the arena to help him

with his backs. Eventually the two became friends, and so it happened that Charro made the custom order he told Massy about. See until that time, Lucia dis wrestled in boxing boots which were heavy and had thick soles. El Charro told him he needed something, a lighter, something with thin soles so he could be quick on his toes. Antonio took up the challenge and designed something nimble and lightweight. The new boots worked great, so great that other luceiaoders flocked to his shop asking for a pair of their own. So on the Fateful afternoon, El Chad brought the Irishman to Antonio's workshop. The request a mask to cover his face was a little unheard of, and at first Antonio was confused. Ahood, he asked, like a monk, No MASSI said something tight fitting that you couldn't pull off of someone's head. Antonio didn't fully understand what the irishman had in mind, but he took a few measurements and told them to come back in a few weeks. Elpin son Araca persona but Yeshorman. Now that's Victor, Antonio's son, his admitting that at first his father thought you could size a mask to a face the same way you can size a shoot to a foot, but that obviously doesn't work that way. Victor inherited his father's business and knows the whole story the Primero and mask can Antonio made the mask out of goat's skin, which was the softest material he could find. He made holes for the mouth, nose, and ice, but Victor says that his dad's first try was a disaster. It was too tight in the loose places and too loose in the tight places. Antonio kept trying new versions, but nothing came close to comfortably fitting a person's face, and this was a problem because he was out of time. He's a lot of work. Window elapsed and Massy came looking for his mask. When the Irishman tried on the crude red mask, he ripped it off and got furious it didn't fit at all. He cursed the poor man out, threw money at him, and stormed out of the shot. He did walk out with the mask though, even though it did not fit and didn't even look good. For that matter, MASSI had a deal with Don Java and he knew he was going to have to worry no matter what. And trust me, I've been in those shoes before, and that's exactly what happened. At the anniversary show on September twenty first, nineteen thirty four, for the first time, the Mexican audience was introduced to a masked Lucha Libre wrestler. That night, a battle between two four inners started the action. One was an American known for being super rough and dangerous in the ring. He got the crowd on his feet, but as soon as they realized how dirty he was fighting, started booing him. They kept booing him for the duration of the fight, which wasn't long because the gringo quickly disqualified himself for breaking so many rules. Next up were the headliners, Fine, a restaurer from Texas who already had earned himself an impressive streak of victories, and the crowd knew well a completely. There was a Lucello in the corner that was much certain. He was a man, He was big, he was strong. But who was he? Where was he from? His face was covered with the red mask, and the audience could only guess n Java's instinct was right. The mystery of a mask lue Cello made the crowd absolutely crazy. We don't have many details about the fight, but what's certain is that after three falls, the undisputed champion was the irishman hidden behind the red mask. The next day, the sports papers were dripping with headlines about the masked wrestler, the mysterious incognito. The officion went so far as to publish an open letter to the wrestler, who are you, mask man? Tell us who you are. To everyone's surprise, the wrestler growed back for reasons, I'm not at liberty to share. No one, for any reason, can know my identity. Ah, what a tease. Whoever it was signed the note the mask marvel, Rumors and gossip chease me, we say in Mexico spread like wildfire. Some people said the masked wrestler was an European aristocrat who had to make sure his family never found out what he was up to lest he lose his status or inheritance. That's a good reason to mask yourself up. Others said that he was a played out wrestler no one wanted to hire anymore, so this was his way back in. I know a few that have done the same thing. Even with all the suspicions, doubts and theories, one thing was certain. La Manville Mascarada was an absolute heat on phenomenon. Massy, of course, was thrilled. Who doesn't want to win and what professional entertainer doesn't want to be at the center of the conversation. I know, I do. His only gripe was with the mask. It just didn't fit. Given Antonio's work, Massi took advantage of the trip to Europe to see if he could find someone there who could make what he needed weel shack dot a. According to Victor Antonio's son, Massy went all over Europe, France, Italy, Germany, but no one wanted to help him because they didn't want to get it wrong, and so the Irishman went back to Mexico and showed up at Antonio's shop with his tail between his legs, asking for another mask. Antonio knew he had made some mistakes on the mask, but hadn't forgotten how badly the Irishman had treated him, so he refused to make another mask, saying he had already wasted too much time and material on this project and that working with that veto just wasn't worth it. The Irishman had no choice but to humble himself. He apologized for everything and offered to pay in full for any additional materials in labor Antonia decided to give him another chance. Victor explains that this time Antonio did it differently. He developed a far more sophisticated system, which included seventeen different measurements of Mass's face. It's the same set of measurements that Victor still uses today. Antonio changed up his materials this time around as well. The first time he had made the mask with two pieces of leather, this time there would be four. Another change was he left the back of the mask open for flexibility. Antonio also added laces to better secure

the mask while the wrestlers moved just like shoelaces, but for your head. The Irishman went back to the workshop to try on the new version and was thrilled it fit like a globe. In fact, the design was so effective that it's been almost a century and the mask has stayed the same. Victor has kept the formula exactly the same, just like a perfect molipoblano recipe. Okay, so back to the action. La Maraville and Mascarada started showing up all over town on posters. The fans not only accepted this new breed of mask wrestler, they loved him as for the actual red mask, with the sweat and the ewes. It would feed the irishmen better and better. So he asked Antonio to make six more so he would have a supply. He would need them because over the next few years, La Maraville Mascarada had fights all across Mexico. He defeated famous Luca ODIs from all over the world, and his career went through the roof. By nineteen thirty six, it is fair to say La Maravillen Mascarrada was a megastar and On November fourth, the newspapers in Mexico City announced he would face off against the Syrian wrestler ben Ali mara Lla, also known as Al Shaikh and no it's not the same one that used to troll Hulk Hogan day in and day out. The match would be a lucha de abostas mask versus hair. Now, Lucha Theoistas are a huge part of Lucha libre and if you don't know about them, listen close with Alucha the aboised us. Everything is at stake for Ali, his hair was on the line. That meant if he lost, he would have to cut his hair in front of the whole arena. And if the mask Restaural lost, well, he would have to take off his mask, ending the mystery of his identity. The fight went down on November fifth, nineteen thirty six. We don't know the details, we do know the result. One of the restlers lost the wager and their career was changed forever. It was the Irishman. He could not overcome the Chikh and lost the fight. When the time came for him to remove his mask, Arina Nacional descended into chaos and the crowd rushed the ring. They were shouting, whistling, and moving as close to the mask restler as possible. Everyone was dying to know who had been hiding behind the red mask for the past two years, and without even knowing it, the crowd that night witnessed something historic, the first Mexican Lucha lit a match where Luchalord was unmasked. De Luchadord pulled off his mask and dropped it to the match and the crowd learned the truth. It was Coorbin Massy, the beloved Irish known as Cyclone Macki. The defeat destroyed Corbin. He was so undone that he went all the way back to the US where he had started his career, never to return to Mehic, but nevertheless, thanks to Massi's run, masks for here to stay. In fact, this was just the beginning of the tradition. But before we get there, let's check in on Donchava littro So. In nineteen thirty five, he decided to give up wrestling and try his hand at the furniture sales again. He opened a new shop. Just kidding, just kidding, Donchava isn't going to let us down like that. Things were actually going great for him. Lucha liiver was so successful in the capital city that he had started organizing fights all over the country, Puebla, Monterey, Vera, Cruz, Guadalajara, Pachuca, everywhere. Really, business was absolutely booming. But then Arena Nationale, the one in the historic center of Mexico City, caught fire. Arena Nationale is the one owned by the guys who forced Donchava to rent from them. But by the time this fire was over, there was nothing but ash. There would be no more boxing or wrestling matches. It was hard to find even a single seat that wasn't fully destroyed. The fire freed don Chava from the less than ideal business commitments with the arena owners, but also left him without a premier venue for his shows. Don Chava decided he wasn't going to put himself in a precarious renting position ever again, so he got down to work and started building the new arena from the ground up. It was called the Arena Colisel. He was able to finance the ambitious construction with another windfall, and guess where it came from. He won the lottery again. Seriously, some people don't believe it, and maybe you don't either. But that's how the story goes and wherever the money came from. Thanks to don't Chava's good luck, Lucha Libre stayed alive. Let's post for a second to look at the calendar. It's now nineteen thirty eight. In a year, Germany will invade Poland and start World War Two. In Mexico, a new president is about to make the enormous decision to nationalize Mexico's oil industry. We're only a few decades away from the era where every home in the developed world has a TV. Things are moving quickly, and Lucha Libri was also on the move because on April third, nineteen thirty eight, the first mass restaurant one hundred percent born, raised and trained in Mexico, stepped onto the MEHAE can lose a scene. The mask Bat his first match was one for the ages, and frankly, I guarantee you it must have been better than any Batman movie. They say. The mask Bat entered the arena in a black mask and wearing a great black cape, something like Hercules meets Dracula. Maybe he walked slowly towards the ring, surveying the audience, menacing mysterious daring the crowd to question him. Here's a play by play account. With each step he took towards the ring, a step of darkness followed, like the feeling of being followed by footsteps. The arena was dead and silent. He was the master of suspense crawls, just thinking about it. Once the crowd finally came to their senses. Not really knowing what else to do, they began to whistle. Finally, the bat made it to the ring. There, looking out of the crowd, he raised his right hand, blessing the audience. Some people responded positively, but others saw the gesture as a provocation and started to yell at him. Then, in one fluid movement, with the grace of a magician, the bat took off his cloak and something extraordinary happened. According to one account, a

cloud of bats flew forth and, blinded by the lights of the arena, flew up towards the ceiling. For a moment, the arena was silent. This was absolutely unheard of, and for this Mexican crowd it was too dark to stomach. Everyone resumed their attack on the bat, screaming insults at him. People even threw beer bottles and cigarettes at him. The mask Bat would need an easy opponent when the crowd was this much against him, but that was not to be because he was up against Jack O'Brien, an Italian Mexican citizen who has been immortalized in Lucha libre history because of several holds he invented, like the deadly tirabuson for examply, a challenging hold where you make your opponent immobile by grabbing their wrists and twisting their arm so their chest is unprotected and they can move their neck. We don't have too many details from the match, but we do know that Jack O'Brien won. It was the Bat that beat himself. He didn't lose on falls. It was disqualified for bringing too many rules eye gouging, binding, hair pulling, closed fist punches. Who knows how many, he wrote. Nobody could keep count chit loser respect the rules. The entire arena had turned against him, and the referee as well. Of course, who was this mask rudo? Who was this dirty fighting bat? No one there knew, of course, but I'm going to tell you the whole story. The real name of the mask Bat was Jesus Velasquez Quintero. He was born February twenty second, nineteen ten, on a small ranch in Guanajuato, a city in central Mexico. This is where the mummies are. As a kid, Velasquez loved going to luchai Vermatchez and he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a lucello. It's possible the first wrestling show he ever saw was the one year anniversary of EMLL the spectacular fight we talked about earlier and see that would track because if Belasquez was there, he also was likely blown away by the presence of a mysterious mask wrestler, La Maravillen Mascarada. Whether he was there or not, it was that tradition that he followed, and despite losing that first match, the mask bat had a glorious future ahead of him. He quickly recovered from the loss and started rocking up wins. Within a few months, he was one of the most well known lucca otes in the country. To show just how famous he was, I'm going to tell you a little story. I already mentioned how Donchava Lutode had started recruiting and training amateur wrestlers to become professionals. Right, Well, one of these guys graduates from training and makes his debut in the ring. He comes out for the first time to introduce himself, and he introduces himself as none other than El Murcielago Mascarado Segundo, the mask Bat two. Seriously, who is this guy? Blaskis must have thought, until now he'd been the one and only bat in the luchalire universe. How many mask bats can one sport have. He had no idea who this wrestler could have been, or that this kind of thing could even happen. It was so far from reality that the Mexican Boxing Commission certainly didn't have any rules about such a thing. But Belaskis went to them to complain, no one should be able to take my name, he surely thought. One thing Belascas didn't know was that it wasn't the restler's idea to steal the name, but actually his trainer. The trainer thought this would be a quick way to get a new wrestler a little bit of name recognition, fame by association. Right, that's how big the mask Bat already was on the wrestling circuit. The mask Bat one sued mask beat two and one. The title of Elmurci Mascarado was his and his alone, and the other wrestler had to stop using it immediately. Belasquez carried on and by the time nineteen forty began, his career was boosted by a rivalry with another Luca lord named Octavio Gahana, a world middleweight champion. Don't ask me why or how this rivalry started, because I don't know, but what seems to have happened is that during their first clash things got quite violent. To raise the stakes, Gahana challenged the Bat to a rematch una Lucha de Apostas, this time with the Bat's mask on the line, the stipulation if he lost, he would have to take it off. The Bat agreed, but on one condition. The stipulation if Gahana lost, he would have to cut his hair off. Despite the massive match, many referred to this match as the very first Luca de albostas in the Lucha Libre universe or wager fight. Whether it was the first or the second, this match helped make the Lucha de ap ostas popular, and they have since become a hallmark of Mexican lucha Liba, an invaluable heritage in the Lucha Libre universe. To prepare for the big rematch, each wrestler fought in a series of smaller matches against other wrestlers. During this time, the BAT went on a winning streak, winning four strade matches where the losers had to cut their hair off. Then, in July nineteen forty, the scheduled rematch game. We don't know the specifics, but we do know the bad lost and with La Marville Mascarada, everyone was dying to know who the man behind the mask was. Now. Remember when Massive lost, he ran back to the US broken because everyone knew who he was. But the stars delivered different destinies to every Luccao, and for the Bat, it was different l Murcilla when Mascarado was revealed as Jesus Belskis, but he simply pivoted to the simplest option possible, El Murceilla Gobleskis. From here on, he fought without a mask. He even beat Gayona in a rematch and became the national champion. Velaska's time at the top was short lived, however. Just a year after he won the title in nineteen forty three, he lost the belt to none other than the restler who had that first years the name El Murciela Mascarado Segundo. It appears Velasquez had won in court but lost in the ring where it counts that Lucador's name was Rodolfo Gusman, and by the time he beat the bag his new name was already known, El sand Ellen Mascarado de Plata, the one with the silver Mask. He's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, legend in the Lucha Libre universe. And I'm going to tell you everything about the incredible story of Elsando on the next episode of Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, hosted by Santos Escobar, produced by Fernande Strada, Argumelo and Mariana Coronell Written in Spanish by Tania Lopez and adapted in English by ASA Merit editor Rodrigo Crespo. Fact checking by Monserrad Maldonado, Research and interviews by Mariana Coronel with help from Fernandez Strada, Daniel Padilla and Saul Cortes. Mixed and sound designed by Daniel Padilla. Studio Recordings in Orlando, Florida by High Hello Studios. Studio recordings in Mexico City by Daniel Padilla, Fernando ga Laviz and Andres Baena in Sonoro Studios. Development by Rodrigo Crespo. Executive producers Camilla Victoriano and Joshu Weinstein for Sonorro and Gisel Beancez for iheartsmikeel Tura Podcast Network. Marketing strategy and execution by Claudia Fernandez, Mariana Herera, Paola Perez, Mariana Baron, Wendy Varva and Bernice Soto. Head of Marketing, Susanna Marina. Lucha Libre Behind the Mask is a Sonoro original series for Iheartsmichael Tura podcast Network. Listen to more podcasts in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Agradecimentos Specialist Para Victor Ortiz E, Patricia Celis Vanegas, Covered Art Carlos Miranda. Thank you to the CMLL for the permissions granted to record ambient audio in their facilities