August 26, 2024 • 43 mins
Before Hulk Hogan or The Rock, there was a legendary wrestler in Mexico who made history: ¡El Santo! Before becoming a legend, he faced one of the greatest challenges many wrestlers encounter: choosing a name and creating a character. Something that defined his career and legacy, transforming him into a mexican icon.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Okay, sure, underneath the mask, there's a person there. Technically underneath,
Santos Escobar is some guy like me who supposedly has
a name. But you don't come to the ring to
see a guy named Bill or Jorge. You come to
see Santos Escobara. He's a lucha or a champion, a symbol.
You are rooting for something bigger than any one man,
(00:25):
and that's what it means to be a luceallor you
represent something, your real life superhero. This is what makes
lucells so spectacular. It goes without saying that every Lucello
is a professional athlete. Our bodies must be perfect to
execute the moves and sustain the hits, but we are
(00:45):
also performers. It's a show, after all. Everything is big,
so big we have to reach the back row, big
enough that everyone at home watching through the TV can
feel the energy even though they are not there. To
be a luchador is to be larger than life, So
the moment we walk into the arena, we already someone else.
(01:07):
It's like an alter ego, but actually even more powerful
than that. Santos Escobar is not a version of my soul.
He's someone else altogether. Santos escobark is his own man.
The process of constructing the identity of Luceallor starts with
a name. That collection of syllables is how you will
(01:28):
leave or die, how you will be remembered or for God.
You can find out if your name is any good
by eavesdropping. If you stand around you stands and listen
for people to talk about the mask. You'll hear them
talk about who was fighting. Oh yeah, I was there.
What was that guy's name? Right, he was the one
against Santos Escobar. You can tell which one is a champion? Right?
(01:55):
Names are really that important? So many luceall Or names
just don't have the right They're not powerful enough. They're
too long, too short, too weak, to cheesy. Even I
have had my own journey with names. Most of you
(02:15):
probably don't know, but once upon a time in Mexico,
I went by top Secret, a name I took from
my dad. It's not that I didn't like the name,
but it just wasn't right. Now that I'm a superstar
and I have come fully into my own I use
a name closer to my heart. Santos Escoba. It's a
(02:39):
name I love, a name that's in my bones. Now
it's part of me, it's part of the Demi, and
it's part of Luca culture. Now the fans know it.
There's a history. That name is part of the Luca
Livery conversation and will be for years to come. Coming
up with a good name is hard enough, but then
there's a real chanceallenge of coming up with a character.
(03:02):
You know what I'm talking about, The mythology, the theme songs,
the storylines. This tradition of character building goes way back,
and today I want to tell you about a guy
named Rodolfo Gus Manuerta. In more ways than one, he's
the godfather of this sport and the way he created
(03:23):
a persona is at the heart of that. As I said,
it starts with a name. Well, let's just say Rodolfo
started with some whiffs. Eventually he found it and now
that name is written in the annals of Lucca. El
Santo ellen Mascarao de Plata, the Saint, the Silver masks Man.
(03:51):
It's a name that's not only immediately recognizable in the
Lucha Libre universe, it's a name that's become embedded in
Mexican identity. And I think to this very day. There
are still places where the man meets myth of Santo
still lives, maybe not a month today's youngest kids. But
remember Mexico is vast. We have countries within countries and
(04:14):
towns stuck in time in some corners of Mexico. Santo
lives on travel in my country enough and you can
feel him. Okay, So Rodolfo, well, no one really says
(04:36):
that name besides podcasts and history books. El Santo. In
this episode, I'm gonna tell you the story about how
a mere mortal became the greatest Lucalore of all time.
I am Santos Escobata, the Emperor of Lucha Libre and
(05:01):
a WW 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
(05:21):
with pride. Lucha Libre, it's tradition, its heritage, its culture,
Ladies and gentlemen. The following podcast is schedule for twelve episodes,
and it's all about Lucha liber This is Lucha Libre
behind the Mass. Episode three, El Santo and the golden
(05:45):
age of Lucha Libre. Prodorfogusman, the man who went on
to become Santo, was born in nineteen seventeen in a
poor family. He was one of seven kids. He was
born during a tumultuous time in history. Much of the
(06:07):
world was embroiled in the First World War and Mexico
was still in the throes of a revolution. After the revolution,
Rodolfo and his family moved to Mexico City. This is
what a lot of people did during that time. They
came to the capitol looking for jobs and a better future.
The family moved into Tepito, a popular neighborhood in Mexico
(06:29):
City best known for three things. It's commerce, its crime rates,
and its ability to incubate world class wrestlers and boxers
there in Tepito. Rodolfo showed promises an athlete early. He
was always out in the streets playing baseball or football.
Maybe that's where he got his first taste of chingasos
(06:50):
or big hits as they called them in the NFL.
As he got older, he got started on jiu jitsu
and greco Roman wrestling. Rodolpho's brothers were also critical to
his early development. Two of them started wrestling in the
early thirties, right around when Don Chavalalutod started the first
Lucha Libre league and setting up fights all over the country.
(07:11):
Rodolpho was not a full time Lucalod, though he worked
in a textile factory and trained on the side. He
found time to get in sparring rounds with his brothers
at the Mexico City Police Departments Officers Club. The brothers,
Jimmy Guzman, Black Guzman and Black Panther were strong fighters
and had all the makings of stars, but it was
(07:33):
not to be, because in nineteen thirty four, something terrible happened.
Black Panther died in the ring during a match in Puebla.
The Guzmans were born for this, however, and kept going.
Rodolpho continued to train with his other two brothers, especially
(07:56):
Black Guzman, who was just a year older than him,
and it was him who sponsored Rodolpho when he made
his professional debut. The Faithful First Day when Rodolpho entered
the ring for the first time seems to be in
nineteen thirty five, when he was only eighteen years old.
(08:17):
The records are not totally clear, but it seems the
match was in either Arenna de Perral Vigo or in
an arena somewhere in Colonia Guerrero. What we do know
is that Rodolpho fought under the name of rudigush Manna
as a rudo, one of the bad guys. His fighting
gear was as basic as it gets. He wore plain
(08:37):
black shorts and nothing else. He didn't even wear shoes,
instead going berthie. No one knows what happened in his
first fight, but shortly after a scout spotted Rodolfo and
his brothers and invited them to fight in Arina Mexico,
the premier venue in Mexico City. It was time for
the bridelines. This scout was a guy named Jesus Lomeli,
(09:00):
and it was more than a scout though. He was
something of a Lucha liberty jag of old trades, sometimes
a ref sometimes a trainer, always a business man. If
something big was happening in the Luca world, he usually
had his hands on it. Accordingly, Rodolfo and his brothers
(09:21):
were thrilled when he wanted to sign them. At this point,
not Al de Guzman brothers were fighting at the same level.
The best was Black, then Jimmy, and then in Last Rodolpho.
This drove young Rodolfo up the wall. He hated being last,
and he hated always being compared to his brothers. It
makes me think a little bit of Michael Jordan. Jordan's
(09:44):
solder brothers, Ronnie and Larry were quite the bathers themselves,
and Jordan describes his childhood as one long effort of
learning how to bid them. Things started to change for
Rodolpho in nineteen thirty six, when, on the advice of
the Chucco, he started wearing a mask. He also adopted
a new name, Red Men. Yeah see what I mean
(10:10):
about wives, but a new name, new mask. This was
an opportunity, and so with his new persona, Rodolfo aka
Red Men, fought around town against both local and international luceelents.
I had to say it, but it didn't go well.
(10:32):
Red Men just wasn't a fit. Some part of Rodolfo
wasn't connecting with Red Men, and the crowds weren't accepting
the character either. Rodolpho was on the cusp of giving
up Lucha Liver altogether. He threw in the towel throughout
the mask and started doing their labor on construction projects.
(10:56):
Destiny had other plans. However, one day, while a job side,
none other than Chucco Omeli stopped by and found Rodolfo.
He told him he needed wrestlers and asked if he
was interested. And what's more, he had an idea to
relaunch Rodolpho's career, a new persona to replace Red Men.
So Rodolfo looked at Chucco and said, hello, I'm in
(11:20):
all right? Pop quiz who remembers the least original name
in Lucha liberty history? Yep, you got it, The mask
Bat two. Remember that story? See The mask Bat two
was the new and improved name Chucco gave Rodolfo, formerly
(11:42):
known as Red Men. But as you remember, the Lucha
Libre Commission ruled that he couldn't use mask Bat as
his name and he was back to the drawing board.
But name aside, Rodolfo had won and he was determined
to never leave the ring again, So he kept looking
(12:02):
for the right name, the name that people would shout
so loud he would be able to hear them all
the way from the locker room. He tried a bunch
of names before finding the right one. He started with
Ellen Mascarado, which roughly translates to the mask one didn't work,
then ellen Cognito kept losing with that one. Also, maybe
(12:23):
something a little spicier, El de Mono, Negro the Black Demon.
Try again, Rodolfo, are you actually going to even survive
in this sport? Finally, in nineteen forty two, already several
years into Rodolfo's wrestling career, chucchol Meli came up with
another idea, something a little more promising than the mask
(12:44):
Bat two. For the record, I have no idea why
anybody ever thought the mask Bat two was a good
name in the first place. Chucco came up with the
idea of forming a team of wrestlers. As a member
of the team, Rodolfo, they don't have to worry about
replicating anybody, Chucco told him, to find yourself, you have
(13:06):
to become someone else, all right. So what am I
supposed to call myself? Rodolfo asked. I have three options
for you, said Chucco, the Devil, the Angel, or El
Santo the Saint. I don't have to tell you which
one he chose. Legend has it that upon hearing El Santo,
(13:29):
Rodolfo smiled wide and said, see yes, that's a good name, okay,
but hold on, we have a problem here. Rodolfo realized
that his whole career he had fought as a rudo
a hill that was his brand. How could he possibly
take a name like El Santo and keep fighting for
(13:51):
the bad guys. When he raised his concern to Don Chucco,
Don Chucco smiled and said even better. Cucco told Rodolfo
that to fight as Santo, he needed to wear a mask,
(14:13):
a silver one. Naturally, Santo went to Antonio, who designed
him a special mask to make it unique. Antonio made
the eye holes in the shape of teardrops, with the
big part of the drop going downwards. For Antonio, aluchador
named El Santo should evoke an angel. Some people say
(14:33):
the first mask of El Santo was sewn with silver threads,
but like much of Santo's life story, that's just another myth.
On June twenty, nineteen forty two, Rodolfo showed up to
the MLLL offices in coloniao Torres and saw his new name,
El Santo on the bulletin. For the first time, El
(14:56):
Santo would be wrestling alongside seven other luchaores in a
s special exhibition event about a royale, as we call
it here in the US. The weight worked in this
case was de Lucellot has entered the ring one by
one and fought and eliminated each other until there was
only two. At that point, a winner would be declared
(15:17):
after a two out of three false match between them.
Seeing his name on the wall in ink with no
way to erase or change it, Rodolpho felt both excited
and nervous. This was a new start and maybe his
last chance to become a Luceello if he didn't succeed
pressure or no pressure. If there is one thing we
(15:38):
know about Santo is that he is a fighter. Rather
than letting his anxiety get to him, he used those
feelings to help create an invincible persona. The day of
the match, he left his house around two in the afternoon.
He walked alone, slowly but surely, towards theyranaving a suitcase
(16:00):
which had, in his own words, the object that would
shape his destiny for the rest of his life, his mask.
As he approached the arena, he docked into an alley
where no one could see him, and down the silver
teardrop eyed mask. The mask as it is with all
Redlucealores transformed him, and when he walked out of that alley,
(16:25):
he left Rodolpho behind and became the Great Elsandre. On
his way to the locker room, El Santo stopped and
made the sign of the Cross in honor of La
Santissi Mabirrin de Wallalupe, our Lady, the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
He asked Lavirgin for strength and luck, just as I
(16:47):
do before every match. Was she going to help him
that night or was he going back to construction. The
night of the Battle Royale was Sunday, July twenty sixth,
nineteen forty two. One by one, the Lucellodus entered the
arena and introduced themselves to the crowd. Most of the
(17:11):
restlers waved their arms to pump up the crowd or
flex their muscles for cheers, but not Santo. Records from
the time say Santo ignored the spectators, walked straight into
the ring and then got down onto his knees on
the mat. He raised his hands and prayed, just as
he did before. By the locker room, the audience got
(17:33):
a kick out of the newcomer spraying. At first, they
didn't even know how to react to boom or to cheer. Slowly,
he warned them over though, and they applauded wildly. Seeing
the apparent faith, they thought that for sure he was
a technical. He was one of the good guys, but
not so fast el Santo was no saint. Once the
(17:57):
fight started, it became all years he was a rudo,
they say. Santo fought viciously, and the initial applause quickly
turned into goose still. He fought well and sudded the
other seven Lucelories. It was a dazzling showcase of talent.
By the end of the evening, only two Lucelaris remained, Cyclone,
(18:21):
Belos the Tornado, and Santo was young Rodolpho finally going
to make his name. Once it was down to Cyclona
and Santo, the format changed and they moved to a
false format, three fALS best two out of three. Santo
won the first one, but then in the second, despite
(18:41):
victory being so close, the Tornado struck back, using his
strongest moves, dives on flying kicks to beat this new
contender in the silver mask. In the third fall, Santo
shot back. Hungry for revenge, he launched himself at Cyclone,
poking at his eye and battering him all over like
he was a punching back. Chucco Lomeli, Santo's trainer was
(19:04):
the ref that night, and he tried to intervene, not
just to punish Santo for his fouls, but also so
no one got hurt. He's fighting dirty, He's a cheat,
the audience screamed, but nothing could stop Santo. In between
batteries ciclone, he threw punches at the ref, and even
though the entire arena was against him at this point
(19:26):
and he had numerous reasons to be disqualified, he somehow
won the match. Maybe someone did a miracle for him.
It was a true period victory. Santo won the match,
but as he left the arena, everyone was cursing him
out Back in the locker room, Santo saw his trainer
(19:59):
bruised from where he hit him. Santo duk of his
mask and covered with sweat, asked for forgiveness. I completely
lost control. Forgive me, don Chuco, I'm not cut out
for this, Santo said. His face was red with shame. HM.
But Don Chucco wasn't offended. No way is that. I'm
(20:20):
absolutely thrilled you found your voice, and it was the
impulsiveness that led to victory. The next day, the papers
declare that Mosque un Santo, what we saw last night
wasn't so much a saint. We witnessed a beast being unleashed.
(20:43):
That was just the kind of review Santo needed. See.
If you're a rudo, you want the booze and accusations,
and the more they hate you, the more they love
you. You've got to be bad so the heroes can be good.
To put it another way, if you're gonna be a villain,
you better be a respectable one. You have to be
(21:03):
willing to do anything to win. You have to think
of the crowd as fuel for the fire. So, despite
being despised, Santo kept his style and the more technicals.
He beat the louder de bush guy. But then something
different happened. El Santo had to face off against another rudo,
(21:28):
a famous one, a Lobo Negro, the Black Wolf from Wahaka.
A Lobo Negro not only was a champion, he had
invented its own unique moves all the Lucas had adopted.
So the night of the match, like usual, when El
Santo entered the ring, he got down onto the mat
(21:48):
and prayed at first, it seemed like those prayers had
been a waste of time. It quickly became clear to
both Santo and the crowd that Santo had been off
more than he could chew, and that a Lobo Negro
was the superior Lucello. So what do you do when
you are outmatched? You fight dirty, and even by Rudo's standards,
(22:14):
Santo went overboard and he started hitting him in the forehead,
a spot known to cause bleeding, and before long, a
Lobo Negro had blood streaming down his face. Cevaro Santo
Chucco Lomelli was the ref at this match, too, and
it was almost deja vus. As soon as he tried
to intervene, Santo attacked him. The fans couldn't help but
(22:38):
be titulated by this new incredible wrestler. His name was
the Saints, but he fought like a devil from Hell.
Rodolfo himself even wondered about this. He was worried that
fans would criticize him for mocking God, but he liked
the name and throwing cushion to the wind, he stuck
with him, and thank god he did, otherwise might have
(23:00):
been stuck with the mask bat three and I think
we all know how that might have ended. Speaking of bats,
in nineteen forty three, less than a year into the
era of El Santo, Rodolfo had to square off against
Murcilla Govelaskis, the original mask bat. The two ended up
(23:26):
having a mask versus Hair duo, a lucha the Apuestas
a reminder there, the matches have incredibly high stakes. If
a mascular challo loses, he or she must rebuild their identity,
and if an unmascular challo loses, they must shave their
head clean. Muscilla Goblaskis had already lost his mask, so
(23:47):
his hair was on the line. And guess what. Santo
achieved his revenge and Velaskis went home both that night.
That wasn't the end of it, though. Santo defeated Mucilla
Govelaskis at another match, becoming the world middleweight champion and
claiming the national title too. Shortly after this big win,
(24:09):
El Santo was invited to compete in an inaut world
match at Arina Coliseo, the venue that Donchava Lutro built
with his lottery winnings. About the event, Don Java said,
I don't know how good alucello. El Santo is but
he's a lucky soul, a part of our destiny. No
small statement from Don Java, who we know already has
(24:31):
a good eye for these kind of things. The inauguration
match was scheduled for April second, nineteen forty three. El
Santo versus Tarasan Lopez. Now Tarsan was one of the
best lucellos in Mexico and Santo was going to have
(24:52):
his work cut out for him. Three years earlier, Tarsan
had won the Best Luceello of the Year award and
he was the current National Wrestling Alliance middleweight champion. But
Santo wasn't faced. He planned to not only inaugurate a coliseo,
but also to strip Tarzanho of his title. But Tarzan
(25:14):
had other plans. Despite his recent string of success, Santo
wasn't ready for him and lost after two falls, suffering
defeat in front of five thousand fans at what was
then called the greatest indoor sports arena in Latin America.
What a bomber he took the defeat hard. Santo had
(25:35):
lost decisively. Despite his best efforts, he simply could not
overcome Tarzan's strength and experience. In fact, the defeat to
Tarzan was the beginning of a rough patch for Santo.
That same year, Tarzan beat him again, and a few
months later, another Mexican luchadore took his national waterweight title.
(25:57):
Mexican grammars are encyclopedias of good saying, and one of
them joviendo sovremojalo. It's raining on ground that's already wet,
and that refers to a bad luck streak. And that's
exactly what was happening to Santo, making matters worse. Some
wrestlers were saying that El Santo was not even worth
(26:18):
their time. One such guy was Jack Bloomfield, an English luchao.
The match happened anyway, though, and was widely publicized, and
here we have one of the most astonishing moments of
the masked wrestler's legendary career. Now, the match started poorly
(26:41):
for Santo. Bloomfield was completely dominating. It was almost as
if he was saying, I told you this guy was trashed,
this is why I didn't want to wrestle. In no
time at all, Bloomfield put Santo in a halt, which
completely immobilized him, no matter how hard he tried. Santo
couldn't move, and then from nowhere Bloomfield ripped his mask off.
(27:07):
What Santo's mask, That's his whole identity, his whole persona.
I didn't know this was a mask versus her match.
What's going on? That's what you might be thinking right now,
and that's exactly how the audience reacted to. But Santo
was savvy and it appears he had planned for something
like this. Beneath his mask, he wore a second mask
(27:30):
identical to the first one, So even though Bloomfield pulled
his mask, Santo was still concealed. This is what legends
are made of. From that moment, the match changed. Santo
used every trick he had, He fought dirty when he
could sneak it by the revs, and in the end
(27:51):
he won. He knocked out the Englishman and left him
bloody on the mat. Santo's bad streak was officially over.
The champion was back, and his reputation for a dirty
fighting rudo was stronger than ever. By the time the
(28:16):
nineteen forties came to an end, Santo had established himself
as a premier luchador. But it was the nineteen fifties
and the ascent of mass media that would turn Santo
into a living legend. It started with television. Mexico started
broadcasting commercial TV in nineteen fifty, roughly ten years after
(28:37):
it got going in the US. On November twenty fourth
of that year, Channel four televised a Lucha livre match.
People tuned in and from then on Channel four would
continue to show wrestling matches every Friday night from the
Arena Coliseo. Broadcast became even more available a few years
(28:57):
later when a man named Ami Ascarraga Vidoreta founded the
Televicentrol Edwards, located right near the arena. The channel started
broadcasting lucha matches live. The best show on Earth now
delivers straight to your living room. Interestingly, the first live
match they showed on January twelfth, nineteen fifty two, wasn't
(29:19):
in an arena. They set up a ring and bleachers
right in the studio, even inviting fans. As for Santo,
he was featured on more and more of televised matches
and through his exposure, got the attention of one particular
fund that would change the course of his destiny forever.
It was a comic book editor named Jose Hey Cruz.
(29:46):
Jose Cruz ran a publishing house and was something of
a renaissance man. He was a sculptor, a painter, a photographer,
a screenwriter, and radio producer, and most importantly for the
story of Santo, he wrote and drew comic books. Crusoe
in the character of El Santo an entire comic book franchise.
(30:09):
The Man in the Silver Mask could be dropped into
all sorts of different kinds of series, and Cruz could
elevate him to a superhero. So Cruz started writing, and
so it was that the image of Santo jumped to comics,
another widely popular form of mass media. In the comic
(30:30):
unlike the Ring, Santo was a good guy, always bowling
forces of evil, much like Superman in the States. Santo's
stories usually took place in dangerous neighborhoods in the city
or poor towns in the countryside. Each issue was thirty
(30:50):
two pages long, and at first they came out weekly,
but the series was so popular that it quickly changed
to a three times a week format. Cruise had hired
a whole team of cartoonists, but they could barely keep up,
so to speed up the workflow, Cruise developed an innovative
(31:13):
montage technique where he invited Santo to his studio or
photo shoots, then included the pictures in the comics, and
this way they could spend most of their drawing time
on the villains, which were figures like werewolves, vampires, zombies,
and demons. La novel last there, that's cat Agria, a
(31:38):
journalist and film scholar. She's explaining how the comics mixed
media style helped imprint the images into readers' brains. After all,
you could stop a comic in your back pocket and
read it a dozen times a day, and that imprint
was strong. Readers became totally hooked on the comic. At
(32:02):
its peak, the Santo Story had a half a million
weekly issues in circulation and delivery trucks specifically designated for
the comic books. The trucks went everywhere, even to tiny
towns that did not have electricity yet. Now, what made
the comic so powerful is that they transformed Santo from
(32:23):
just being an idolized athlete to a fully developed character.
Cruz gave Santo a rich identity, a history. For example,
Cruz paid special attention to Santo's origins, telling the story
of Santo's father, who in the comic dies at the
hands of criminals. With his final breath, he gets Santo
to swear an oath, and he went something like this,
(32:44):
You must promise me that you will follow in my footsteps.
The mask one must never die, and you son are
now the man with the silver mask. Never give up.
Fight for the poor, for the oppressed, for everyone who
needs help, their champion and defender. It's a value system
that Cruz, writer and artist created, but everyone thought it
(33:08):
was the set of values that Santo had in real life.
The magical blend of man and myth proved sensational. Here's
cat Allegria again. Are you named Machendot? She's describing images
of Santo jixtaposed with the Virgin of Guadalupe. Santo, the
ruler who brutally crushed opponents weekly, was literally becoming a saint.
(33:32):
Remember this is the guy who prayed before each match.
It was all coming full circle to get back to
Santo de luchaor His comic book success did not protect
him from challenges from fierce rivals in the ring. One
of them was Black Shadow, sometimes called the robber Man
(33:53):
Elmbre de Goma because he was so flexible like Santo
Black Shat wore a mask, but unlike Santo, he was
a technical one of the good guys. Their match in
nineteen fifty two turned out to be one of Santo's
most iconic. The origins of the showdown was a match
(34:14):
the two had had earlier, one of which Black Shadow won.
At the end of that match, El Santo, in a
risky move, challenged Black Shadow to a rematch, this time
a mask versus mask bout, where the loser would have
to reveal their identity, just as boxers nowadays will tunt
each other for days before a match. Back then, it
(34:37):
was the same thing, and Luccallodis had a habit of
stirring things up. Black Shadow told the press he was
going to rip Santo's mask off along with his head,
telling the papers that he was going to expose the
smug little face heading behind the mask, exposing the ridiculousness
of Santo and his silver mask once and for all.
(35:03):
The bout was set for November seventh, nineteen fifty two.
Tickets for the event sold out almost immediately. The night
of the match, the arena filled up an hour before
anything started. They say they crammed in twelve thousand people
in the arena that night. There was no place to stand,
everyone climbing over each other to get a view. And
(35:24):
just like today's big events, a massive resale ticket market
was making vendor's small fortunes. Bleacher seeds were going from
seven to forty pezzos and the front row seeds went
from twenty five to a hundred. It's not surprised that
people shelled out for this event. These were titans. Makes
me think of Saul Canelo Alvas or Julio Says or
(35:46):
Chavis fights and just imagine being there live, one of
the twelve lucky thousand in attendance. But if you didn't
get a ticket, you could still watch it home. That's
would half a million other Mexicans doing. Okay, here we go.
The clock struck eight and the big event started. Black
(36:11):
Shadow got in the ring first, wearing his gorgeous black
cape and the crowd whitting him with the shower of
a blush. Next came Santo As, always decked out entirely
in his silver, his mask, his shoes, escape his tids.
Things started tentatively during the first fall. Everyone played fair
(36:33):
and they traded holes, neither gaining the upper hand. Then
Black Shadow landed a blow on Santo's face and things
started to heat up. What follow was absolutely brutal. Santo
held him vertical, head towards the mat, feet toward the ceiling. Then,
like a fisherman ending the life of a flailing fish,
Santo slammed a shaking Shadow into the ropes ban Santo
(36:56):
turned around and slammed him again. This time it was
SHOT's bag that hit the ropes bam, but Santo was
not done. Santo threw him all the way across the
ring and then back again bammed. It continued like this
until finally Santo threw Shadow into one of the corner posts,
where he hit his head and back el. Santo was unstoppable.
(37:20):
With Shadow completely incapacitated by Santo's relentless attack, he threw
him once more, bouncing him into the air of the
ropes and struck him with a flying tackle. Then he pounced,
pinning Shadow on the ground. The refs started to count one, two, three,
The last flashed and Santo's arm was raised in the air,
(37:41):
the undisputed winner of the first fall. If you need
to reminding of how good a lucha or Black Shadow was,
note well here that even after the beatdown, he kept fighting.
Not only that he came back. The second fall was
like a mirror image of the first fall. Black Shadow
gave Santo a taste of his own medicine, throwing him
(38:04):
out of the ring and kicking him every time he
tried to climb back in. When Santo finally made it in,
Shadow grabbed him and tried to take him down with
the spinning backflip, but to the crowd's amazement, Santo managed
to escape. Everyone got to the feet and gave him
a standing ovation for this move alone. But even though
he escaped the back flip, Santo was stunged. He dove
(38:25):
at Shadow, but Shadow was ready and slimmed him down
on the mat. Days Santo dived again, but Shadow was
too fast and he punched Santo in the jug which
knocked him flat on his back. Santo didn't get up,
and like that, the second fall went to the magnificent
wrestler in the Black Cape, Black Shadow Titans. Everything came
(38:48):
down to the last fall later Serra KaiA. In the beginning,
he was touch and go. Both of each others caught
each other in strong holes, but each managed to escape.
Then Shadow knocked Santo down with another diving tackle, but
as Santo took the hit, he rolled to the side
and pin Shadow head first on the man. Having the
momentum now, Santo moved quickly, spinning onto his feet to
(39:12):
sit on Shadow's back to try and immobilize Shadow's arms.
But this is Black Shadow. He didn't give up and
broke free. The audience was wrapped and cheering their hearts out.
This really was a match for the ages. Santo chased
Black Shadow down and barrashed him with punches. Eventually he
got him in the corner and threw him out of
the ring, but Black Shadow climbed back and the two
(39:34):
wrestlers flew at each other off the ropes like two
crazed pinballs, each trying to knock the other into bolivion.
Both knew a mask was a stake at night and
by extension, a career. Black shadowed dove again head first
at Santo, but he missed and flew through the ropes
onto the arena, flee Miraculously bruised and bloody, Black Shadow
(39:55):
stood up and climbed back in the ring, battering Santo
with punches, but Santo was ready and unleashing a dazzling
technical Combo cut Shadow in a flying scissor kick and
brought him down into a hold on the match. The
referee started the count Uno dos. You could not even
hear the count because the arena irrupted. It was a
(40:17):
cry of pain. The great Black Shadow had to take
off his mask. Police and photographers rushed to the ring
to protect the luccallodes and document this moment. And then
the unthinkable happened. El Santo started pulling Black Shadow's mask
off with his bare hands. This was an egregious breach
(40:38):
of etiquette. Tradition dictated that Santo gives Shadow his space.
A loser in a wager match was to be given
their dignity and they got to remove their mask themselves.
Before Santo pulled the mask off all the way, another
lucador intervened and kicked him off. It was Black Shadow's brother,
(40:58):
a luchallodo who was on his way to become an
icon in the Lucha Libre universe, his name Blue Demon.
From that night on, Blue Demon would become Santo's rival
in the ring and incidentally his co star in movies.
That story up next in our next episode, Lucha Libre
(41:27):
Behind the Mask, hosted by Santos Escobar, produced by Fernande Strada,
Argumelo and Marianna Coronel. Written in Spanish by Tania Lopez
and adapted in English by Asa Merrit. Story editor Rodrigo Crespo.
Fact checking by Monserrad Maldonado. Research and interviews by Marianna
(41:50):
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
Sonorro Studios. Development by Rodrigo Crespo. Executive producers Camilla Victoriano
(42:16):
and Joshu Weinstein for Sonorro and Giselle Benziz for Iheartsmichael
Tura Podcast Network. Marketing strategy and execution by Claudia Fernandez, Marianairera,
Pauela Perez, Mariana Baron, Wendy Barba, and Berenice Soto. Head
of Marketing, Susanna Marina. Lucha Libre Behind the Mask is
(42:38):
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. Agredeci Mintos specialist
Parakat Algria covered art Carlos Miranda. Thank you to the
(42:59):
CML hell for the permissions granted to record ambient audio
in their facilities.
Okay, sure, underneath the mask, there's a person there. Technically underneath,
Santos Escobar is some guy like me who supposedly has
a name. But you don't come to the ring to
see a guy named Bill or Jorge. You come to
see Santos Escobara. He's a lucha or a champion, a symbol.
You are rooting for something bigger than any one man,
(00:25):
and that's what it means to be a luceallor you
represent something, your real life superhero. This is what makes
lucells so spectacular. It goes without saying that every Lucello
is a professional athlete. Our bodies must be perfect to
execute the moves and sustain the hits, but we are
(00:45):
also performers. It's a show, after all. Everything is big,
so big we have to reach the back row, big
enough that everyone at home watching through the TV can
feel the energy even though they are not there. To
be a luchador is to be larger than life, So
the moment we walk into the arena, we already someone else.
(01:07):
It's like an alter ego, but actually even more powerful
than that. Santos Escobar is not a version of my soul.
He's someone else altogether. Santos escobark is his own man.
The process of constructing the identity of Luceallor starts with
a name. That collection of syllables is how you will
(01:28):
leave or die, how you will be remembered or for God.
You can find out if your name is any good
by eavesdropping. If you stand around you stands and listen
for people to talk about the mask. You'll hear them
talk about who was fighting. Oh yeah, I was there.
What was that guy's name? Right, he was the one
against Santos Escobar. You can tell which one is a champion? Right?
(01:55):
Names are really that important? So many luceall Or names
just don't have the right They're not powerful enough. They're
too long, too short, too weak, to cheesy. Even I
have had my own journey with names. Most of you
(02:15):
probably don't know, but once upon a time in Mexico,
I went by top Secret, a name I took from
my dad. It's not that I didn't like the name,
but it just wasn't right. Now that I'm a superstar
and I have come fully into my own I use
a name closer to my heart. Santos Escoba. It's a
(02:39):
name I love, a name that's in my bones. Now
it's part of me, it's part of the Demi, and
it's part of Luca culture. Now the fans know it.
There's a history. That name is part of the Luca
Livery conversation and will be for years to come. Coming
up with a good name is hard enough, but then
there's a real chanceallenge of coming up with a character.
(03:02):
You know what I'm talking about, The mythology, the theme songs,
the storylines. This tradition of character building goes way back,
and today I want to tell you about a guy
named Rodolfo Gus Manuerta. In more ways than one, he's
the godfather of this sport and the way he created
(03:23):
a persona is at the heart of that. As I said,
it starts with a name. Well, let's just say Rodolfo
started with some whiffs. Eventually he found it and now
that name is written in the annals of Lucca. El
Santo ellen Mascarao de Plata, the Saint, the Silver masks Man.
(03:51):
It's a name that's not only immediately recognizable in the
Lucha Libre universe, it's a name that's become embedded in
Mexican identity. And I think to this very day. There
are still places where the man meets myth of Santo
still lives, maybe not a month today's youngest kids. But
remember Mexico is vast. We have countries within countries and
(04:14):
towns stuck in time in some corners of Mexico. Santo
lives on travel in my country enough and you can
feel him. Okay, So Rodolfo, well, no one really says
(04:36):
that name besides podcasts and history books. El Santo. In
this episode, I'm gonna tell you the story about how
a mere mortal became the greatest Lucalore of all time.
I am Santos Escobata, the Emperor of Lucha Libre and
(05:01):
a WW 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
(05:21):
with pride. Lucha Libre, it's tradition, its heritage, its culture,
Ladies and gentlemen. The following podcast is schedule for twelve episodes,
and it's all about Lucha liber This is Lucha Libre
behind the Mass. Episode three, El Santo and the golden
(05:45):
age of Lucha Libre. Prodorfogusman, the man who went on
to become Santo, was born in nineteen seventeen in a
poor family. He was one of seven kids. He was
born during a tumultuous time in history. Much of the
(06:07):
world was embroiled in the First World War and Mexico
was still in the throes of a revolution. After the revolution,
Rodolfo and his family moved to Mexico City. This is
what a lot of people did during that time. They
came to the capitol looking for jobs and a better future.
The family moved into Tepito, a popular neighborhood in Mexico
(06:29):
City best known for three things. It's commerce, its crime rates,
and its ability to incubate world class wrestlers and boxers
there in Tepito. Rodolfo showed promises an athlete early. He
was always out in the streets playing baseball or football.
Maybe that's where he got his first taste of chingasos
(06:50):
or big hits as they called them in the NFL.
As he got older, he got started on jiu jitsu
and greco Roman wrestling. Rodolpho's brothers were also critical to
his early development. Two of them started wrestling in the
early thirties, right around when Don Chavalalutod started the first
Lucha Libre league and setting up fights all over the country.
(07:11):
Rodolpho was not a full time Lucalod, though he worked
in a textile factory and trained on the side. He
found time to get in sparring rounds with his brothers
at the Mexico City Police Departments Officers Club. The brothers,
Jimmy Guzman, Black Guzman and Black Panther were strong fighters
and had all the makings of stars, but it was
(07:33):
not to be, because in nineteen thirty four, something terrible happened.
Black Panther died in the ring during a match in Puebla.
The Guzmans were born for this, however, and kept going.
Rodolpho continued to train with his other two brothers, especially
(07:56):
Black Guzman, who was just a year older than him,
and it was him who sponsored Rodolpho when he made
his professional debut. The Faithful First Day when Rodolpho entered
the ring for the first time seems to be in
nineteen thirty five, when he was only eighteen years old.
(08:17):
The records are not totally clear, but it seems the
match was in either Arenna de Perral Vigo or in
an arena somewhere in Colonia Guerrero. What we do know
is that Rodolpho fought under the name of rudigush Manna
as a rudo, one of the bad guys. His fighting
gear was as basic as it gets. He wore plain
(08:37):
black shorts and nothing else. He didn't even wear shoes,
instead going berthie. No one knows what happened in his
first fight, but shortly after a scout spotted Rodolfo and
his brothers and invited them to fight in Arina Mexico,
the premier venue in Mexico City. It was time for
the bridelines. This scout was a guy named Jesus Lomeli,
(09:00):
and it was more than a scout though. He was
something of a Lucha liberty jag of old trades, sometimes
a ref sometimes a trainer, always a business man. If
something big was happening in the Luca world, he usually
had his hands on it. Accordingly, Rodolfo and his brothers
(09:21):
were thrilled when he wanted to sign them. At this point,
not Al de Guzman brothers were fighting at the same level.
The best was Black, then Jimmy, and then in Last Rodolpho.
This drove young Rodolfo up the wall. He hated being last,
and he hated always being compared to his brothers. It
makes me think a little bit of Michael Jordan. Jordan's
(09:44):
solder brothers, Ronnie and Larry were quite the bathers themselves,
and Jordan describes his childhood as one long effort of
learning how to bid them. Things started to change for
Rodolpho in nineteen thirty six, when, on the advice of
the Chucco, he started wearing a mask. He also adopted
a new name, Red Men. Yeah see what I mean
(10:10):
about wives, but a new name, new mask. This was
an opportunity, and so with his new persona, Rodolfo aka
Red Men, fought around town against both local and international luceelents.
I had to say it, but it didn't go well.
(10:32):
Red Men just wasn't a fit. Some part of Rodolfo
wasn't connecting with Red Men, and the crowds weren't accepting
the character either. Rodolpho was on the cusp of giving
up Lucha Liver altogether. He threw in the towel throughout
the mask and started doing their labor on construction projects.
(10:56):
Destiny had other plans. However, one day, while a job side,
none other than Chucco Omeli stopped by and found Rodolfo.
He told him he needed wrestlers and asked if he
was interested. And what's more, he had an idea to
relaunch Rodolpho's career, a new persona to replace Red Men.
So Rodolfo looked at Chucco and said, hello, I'm in
(11:20):
all right? Pop quiz who remembers the least original name
in Lucha liberty history? Yep, you got it, The mask
Bat two. Remember that story? See The mask Bat two
was the new and improved name Chucco gave Rodolfo, formerly
(11:42):
known as Red Men. But as you remember, the Lucha
Libre Commission ruled that he couldn't use mask Bat as
his name and he was back to the drawing board.
But name aside, Rodolfo had won and he was determined
to never leave the ring again, So he kept looking
(12:02):
for the right name, the name that people would shout
so loud he would be able to hear them all
the way from the locker room. He tried a bunch
of names before finding the right one. He started with
Ellen Mascarado, which roughly translates to the mask one didn't work,
then ellen Cognito kept losing with that one. Also, maybe
(12:23):
something a little spicier, El de Mono, Negro the Black Demon.
Try again, Rodolfo, are you actually going to even survive
in this sport? Finally, in nineteen forty two, already several
years into Rodolfo's wrestling career, chucchol Meli came up with
another idea, something a little more promising than the mask
(12:44):
Bat two. For the record, I have no idea why
anybody ever thought the mask Bat two was a good
name in the first place. Chucco came up with the
idea of forming a team of wrestlers. As a member
of the team, Rodolfo, they don't have to worry about
replicating anybody, Chucco told him, to find yourself, you have
(13:06):
to become someone else, all right. So what am I
supposed to call myself? Rodolfo asked. I have three options
for you, said Chucco, the Devil, the Angel, or El
Santo the Saint. I don't have to tell you which
one he chose. Legend has it that upon hearing El Santo,
(13:29):
Rodolfo smiled wide and said, see yes, that's a good name, okay,
but hold on, we have a problem here. Rodolfo realized
that his whole career he had fought as a rudo
a hill that was his brand. How could he possibly
take a name like El Santo and keep fighting for
(13:51):
the bad guys. When he raised his concern to Don Chucco,
Don Chucco smiled and said even better. Cucco told Rodolfo
that to fight as Santo, he needed to wear a mask,
(14:13):
a silver one. Naturally, Santo went to Antonio, who designed
him a special mask to make it unique. Antonio made
the eye holes in the shape of teardrops, with the
big part of the drop going downwards. For Antonio, aluchador
named El Santo should evoke an angel. Some people say
(14:33):
the first mask of El Santo was sewn with silver threads,
but like much of Santo's life story, that's just another myth.
On June twenty, nineteen forty two, Rodolfo showed up to
the MLLL offices in coloniao Torres and saw his new name,
El Santo on the bulletin. For the first time, El
(14:56):
Santo would be wrestling alongside seven other luchaores in a
s special exhibition event about a royale, as we call
it here in the US. The weight worked in this
case was de Lucellot has entered the ring one by
one and fought and eliminated each other until there was
only two. At that point, a winner would be declared
(15:17):
after a two out of three false match between them.
Seeing his name on the wall in ink with no
way to erase or change it, Rodolpho felt both excited
and nervous. This was a new start and maybe his
last chance to become a Luceello if he didn't succeed
pressure or no pressure. If there is one thing we
(15:38):
know about Santo is that he is a fighter. Rather
than letting his anxiety get to him, he used those
feelings to help create an invincible persona. The day of
the match, he left his house around two in the afternoon.
He walked alone, slowly but surely, towards theyranaving a suitcase
(16:00):
which had, in his own words, the object that would
shape his destiny for the rest of his life, his mask.
As he approached the arena, he docked into an alley
where no one could see him, and down the silver
teardrop eyed mask. The mask as it is with all
Redlucealores transformed him, and when he walked out of that alley,
(16:25):
he left Rodolpho behind and became the Great Elsandre. On
his way to the locker room, El Santo stopped and
made the sign of the Cross in honor of La
Santissi Mabirrin de Wallalupe, our Lady, the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
He asked Lavirgin for strength and luck, just as I
(16:47):
do before every match. Was she going to help him
that night or was he going back to construction. The
night of the Battle Royale was Sunday, July twenty sixth,
nineteen forty two. One by one, the Lucellodus entered the
arena and introduced themselves to the crowd. Most of the
(17:11):
restlers waved their arms to pump up the crowd or
flex their muscles for cheers, but not Santo. Records from
the time say Santo ignored the spectators, walked straight into
the ring and then got down onto his knees on
the mat. He raised his hands and prayed, just as
he did before. By the locker room, the audience got
(17:33):
a kick out of the newcomer spraying. At first, they
didn't even know how to react to boom or to cheer. Slowly,
he warned them over though, and they applauded wildly. Seeing
the apparent faith, they thought that for sure he was
a technical. He was one of the good guys, but
not so fast el Santo was no saint. Once the
(17:57):
fight started, it became all years he was a rudo,
they say. Santo fought viciously, and the initial applause quickly
turned into goose still. He fought well and sudded the
other seven Lucelories. It was a dazzling showcase of talent.
By the end of the evening, only two Lucelaris remained, Cyclone,
(18:21):
Belos the Tornado, and Santo was young Rodolpho finally going
to make his name. Once it was down to Cyclona
and Santo, the format changed and they moved to a
false format, three fALS best two out of three. Santo
won the first one, but then in the second, despite
(18:41):
victory being so close, the Tornado struck back, using his
strongest moves, dives on flying kicks to beat this new
contender in the silver mask. In the third fall, Santo
shot back. Hungry for revenge, he launched himself at Cyclone,
poking at his eye and battering him all over like
he was a punching back. Chucco Lomeli, Santo's trainer was
(19:04):
the ref that night, and he tried to intervene, not
just to punish Santo for his fouls, but also so
no one got hurt. He's fighting dirty, He's a cheat,
the audience screamed, but nothing could stop Santo. In between
batteries ciclone, he threw punches at the ref, and even
though the entire arena was against him at this point
(19:26):
and he had numerous reasons to be disqualified, he somehow
won the match. Maybe someone did a miracle for him.
It was a true period victory. Santo won the match,
but as he left the arena, everyone was cursing him
out Back in the locker room, Santo saw his trainer
(19:59):
bruised from where he hit him. Santo duk of his
mask and covered with sweat, asked for forgiveness. I completely
lost control. Forgive me, don Chuco, I'm not cut out
for this, Santo said. His face was red with shame. HM.
But Don Chucco wasn't offended. No way is that. I'm
(20:20):
absolutely thrilled you found your voice, and it was the
impulsiveness that led to victory. The next day, the papers
declare that Mosque un Santo, what we saw last night
wasn't so much a saint. We witnessed a beast being unleashed.
(20:43):
That was just the kind of review Santo needed. See.
If you're a rudo, you want the booze and accusations,
and the more they hate you, the more they love
you. You've got to be bad so the heroes can be good.
To put it another way, if you're gonna be a villain,
you better be a respectable one. You have to be
(21:03):
willing to do anything to win. You have to think
of the crowd as fuel for the fire. So, despite
being despised, Santo kept his style and the more technicals.
He beat the louder de bush guy. But then something
different happened. El Santo had to face off against another rudo,
(21:28):
a famous one, a Lobo Negro, the Black Wolf from Wahaka.
A Lobo Negro not only was a champion, he had
invented its own unique moves all the Lucas had adopted.
So the night of the match, like usual, when El
Santo entered the ring, he got down onto the mat
(21:48):
and prayed at first, it seemed like those prayers had
been a waste of time. It quickly became clear to
both Santo and the crowd that Santo had been off
more than he could chew, and that a Lobo Negro
was the superior Lucello. So what do you do when
you are outmatched? You fight dirty, and even by Rudo's standards,
(22:14):
Santo went overboard and he started hitting him in the forehead,
a spot known to cause bleeding, and before long, a
Lobo Negro had blood streaming down his face. Cevaro Santo
Chucco Lomelli was the ref at this match, too, and
it was almost deja vus. As soon as he tried
to intervene, Santo attacked him. The fans couldn't help but
(22:38):
be titulated by this new incredible wrestler. His name was
the Saints, but he fought like a devil from Hell.
Rodolfo himself even wondered about this. He was worried that
fans would criticize him for mocking God, but he liked
the name and throwing cushion to the wind, he stuck
with him, and thank god he did, otherwise might have
(23:00):
been stuck with the mask bat three and I think
we all know how that might have ended. Speaking of bats,
in nineteen forty three, less than a year into the
era of El Santo, Rodolfo had to square off against
Murcilla Govelaskis, the original mask bat. The two ended up
(23:26):
having a mask versus Hair duo, a lucha the Apuestas
a reminder there, the matches have incredibly high stakes. If
a mascular challo loses, he or she must rebuild their identity,
and if an unmascular challo loses, they must shave their
head clean. Muscilla Goblaskis had already lost his mask, so
(23:47):
his hair was on the line. And guess what. Santo
achieved his revenge and Velaskis went home both that night.
That wasn't the end of it, though. Santo defeated Mucilla
Govelaskis at another match, becoming the world middleweight champion and
claiming the national title too. Shortly after this big win,
(24:09):
El Santo was invited to compete in an inaut world
match at Arina Coliseo, the venue that Donchava Lutro built
with his lottery winnings. About the event, Don Java said,
I don't know how good alucello. El Santo is but
he's a lucky soul, a part of our destiny. No
small statement from Don Java, who we know already has
(24:31):
a good eye for these kind of things. The inauguration
match was scheduled for April second, nineteen forty three. El
Santo versus Tarasan Lopez. Now Tarsan was one of the
best lucellos in Mexico and Santo was going to have
(24:52):
his work cut out for him. Three years earlier, Tarsan
had won the Best Luceello of the Year award and
he was the current National Wrestling Alliance middleweight champion. But
Santo wasn't faced. He planned to not only inaugurate a coliseo,
but also to strip Tarzanho of his title. But Tarzan
(25:14):
had other plans. Despite his recent string of success, Santo
wasn't ready for him and lost after two falls, suffering
defeat in front of five thousand fans at what was
then called the greatest indoor sports arena in Latin America.
What a bomber he took the defeat hard. Santo had
(25:35):
lost decisively. Despite his best efforts, he simply could not
overcome Tarzan's strength and experience. In fact, the defeat to
Tarzan was the beginning of a rough patch for Santo.
That same year, Tarzan beat him again, and a few
months later, another Mexican luchadore took his national waterweight title.
(25:57):
Mexican grammars are encyclopedias of good saying, and one of
them joviendo sovremojalo. It's raining on ground that's already wet,
and that refers to a bad luck streak. And that's
exactly what was happening to Santo, making matters worse. Some
wrestlers were saying that El Santo was not even worth
(26:18):
their time. One such guy was Jack Bloomfield, an English luchao.
The match happened anyway, though, and was widely publicized, and
here we have one of the most astonishing moments of
the masked wrestler's legendary career. Now, the match started poorly
(26:41):
for Santo. Bloomfield was completely dominating. It was almost as
if he was saying, I told you this guy was trashed,
this is why I didn't want to wrestle. In no
time at all, Bloomfield put Santo in a halt, which
completely immobilized him, no matter how hard he tried. Santo
couldn't move, and then from nowhere Bloomfield ripped his mask off.
(27:07):
What Santo's mask, That's his whole identity, his whole persona.
I didn't know this was a mask versus her match.
What's going on? That's what you might be thinking right now,
and that's exactly how the audience reacted to. But Santo
was savvy and it appears he had planned for something
like this. Beneath his mask, he wore a second mask
(27:30):
identical to the first one, So even though Bloomfield pulled
his mask, Santo was still concealed. This is what legends
are made of. From that moment, the match changed. Santo
used every trick he had, He fought dirty when he
could sneak it by the revs, and in the end
(27:51):
he won. He knocked out the Englishman and left him
bloody on the mat. Santo's bad streak was officially over.
The champion was back, and his reputation for a dirty
fighting rudo was stronger than ever. By the time the
(28:16):
nineteen forties came to an end, Santo had established himself
as a premier luchador. But it was the nineteen fifties
and the ascent of mass media that would turn Santo
into a living legend. It started with television. Mexico started
broadcasting commercial TV in nineteen fifty, roughly ten years after
(28:37):
it got going in the US. On November twenty fourth
of that year, Channel four televised a Lucha livre match.
People tuned in and from then on Channel four would
continue to show wrestling matches every Friday night from the
Arena Coliseo. Broadcast became even more available a few years
(28:57):
later when a man named Ami Ascarraga Vidoreta founded the
Televicentrol Edwards, located right near the arena. The channel started
broadcasting lucha matches live. The best show on Earth now
delivers straight to your living room. Interestingly, the first live
match they showed on January twelfth, nineteen fifty two, wasn't
(29:19):
in an arena. They set up a ring and bleachers
right in the studio, even inviting fans. As for Santo,
he was featured on more and more of televised matches
and through his exposure, got the attention of one particular
fund that would change the course of his destiny forever.
It was a comic book editor named Jose Hey Cruz.
(29:46):
Jose Cruz ran a publishing house and was something of
a renaissance man. He was a sculptor, a painter, a photographer,
a screenwriter, and radio producer, and most importantly for the
story of Santo, he wrote and drew comic books. Crusoe
in the character of El Santo an entire comic book franchise.
(30:09):
The Man in the Silver Mask could be dropped into
all sorts of different kinds of series, and Cruz could
elevate him to a superhero. So Cruz started writing, and
so it was that the image of Santo jumped to comics,
another widely popular form of mass media. In the comic
(30:30):
unlike the Ring, Santo was a good guy, always bowling
forces of evil, much like Superman in the States. Santo's
stories usually took place in dangerous neighborhoods in the city
or poor towns in the countryside. Each issue was thirty
(30:50):
two pages long, and at first they came out weekly,
but the series was so popular that it quickly changed
to a three times a week format. Cruise had hired
a whole team of cartoonists, but they could barely keep up,
so to speed up the workflow, Cruise developed an innovative
(31:13):
montage technique where he invited Santo to his studio or
photo shoots, then included the pictures in the comics, and
this way they could spend most of their drawing time
on the villains, which were figures like werewolves, vampires, zombies,
and demons. La novel last there, that's cat Agria, a
(31:38):
journalist and film scholar. She's explaining how the comics mixed
media style helped imprint the images into readers' brains. After all,
you could stop a comic in your back pocket and
read it a dozen times a day, and that imprint
was strong. Readers became totally hooked on the comic. At
(32:02):
its peak, the Santo Story had a half a million
weekly issues in circulation and delivery trucks specifically designated for
the comic books. The trucks went everywhere, even to tiny
towns that did not have electricity yet. Now, what made
the comic so powerful is that they transformed Santo from
(32:23):
just being an idolized athlete to a fully developed character.
Cruz gave Santo a rich identity, a history. For example,
Cruz paid special attention to Santo's origins, telling the story
of Santo's father, who in the comic dies at the
hands of criminals. With his final breath, he gets Santo
to swear an oath, and he went something like this,
(32:44):
You must promise me that you will follow in my footsteps.
The mask one must never die, and you son are
now the man with the silver mask. Never give up.
Fight for the poor, for the oppressed, for everyone who
needs help, their champion and defender. It's a value system
that Cruz, writer and artist created, but everyone thought it
(33:08):
was the set of values that Santo had in real life.
The magical blend of man and myth proved sensational. Here's
cat Allegria again. Are you named Machendot? She's describing images
of Santo jixtaposed with the Virgin of Guadalupe. Santo, the
ruler who brutally crushed opponents weekly, was literally becoming a saint.
(33:32):
Remember this is the guy who prayed before each match.
It was all coming full circle to get back to
Santo de luchaor His comic book success did not protect
him from challenges from fierce rivals in the ring. One
of them was Black Shadow, sometimes called the robber Man
(33:53):
Elmbre de Goma because he was so flexible like Santo
Black Shat wore a mask, but unlike Santo, he was
a technical one of the good guys. Their match in
nineteen fifty two turned out to be one of Santo's
most iconic. The origins of the showdown was a match
(34:14):
the two had had earlier, one of which Black Shadow won.
At the end of that match, El Santo, in a
risky move, challenged Black Shadow to a rematch, this time
a mask versus mask bout, where the loser would have
to reveal their identity, just as boxers nowadays will tunt
each other for days before a match. Back then, it
(34:37):
was the same thing, and Luccallodis had a habit of
stirring things up. Black Shadow told the press he was
going to rip Santo's mask off along with his head,
telling the papers that he was going to expose the
smug little face heading behind the mask, exposing the ridiculousness
of Santo and his silver mask once and for all.
(35:03):
The bout was set for November seventh, nineteen fifty two.
Tickets for the event sold out almost immediately. The night
of the match, the arena filled up an hour before
anything started. They say they crammed in twelve thousand people
in the arena that night. There was no place to stand,
everyone climbing over each other to get a view. And
(35:24):
just like today's big events, a massive resale ticket market
was making vendor's small fortunes. Bleacher seeds were going from
seven to forty pezzos and the front row seeds went
from twenty five to a hundred. It's not surprised that
people shelled out for this event. These were titans. Makes
me think of Saul Canelo Alvas or Julio Says or
(35:46):
Chavis fights and just imagine being there live, one of
the twelve lucky thousand in attendance. But if you didn't
get a ticket, you could still watch it home. That's
would half a million other Mexicans doing. Okay, here we go.
The clock struck eight and the big event started. Black
(36:11):
Shadow got in the ring first, wearing his gorgeous black
cape and the crowd whitting him with the shower of
a blush. Next came Santo As, always decked out entirely
in his silver, his mask, his shoes, escape his tids.
Things started tentatively during the first fall. Everyone played fair
(36:33):
and they traded holes, neither gaining the upper hand. Then
Black Shadow landed a blow on Santo's face and things
started to heat up. What follow was absolutely brutal. Santo
held him vertical, head towards the mat, feet toward the ceiling. Then,
like a fisherman ending the life of a flailing fish,
Santo slammed a shaking Shadow into the ropes ban Santo
(36:56):
turned around and slammed him again. This time it was
SHOT's bag that hit the ropes bam, but Santo was
not done. Santo threw him all the way across the
ring and then back again bammed. It continued like this
until finally Santo threw Shadow into one of the corner posts,
where he hit his head and back el. Santo was unstoppable.
(37:20):
With Shadow completely incapacitated by Santo's relentless attack, he threw
him once more, bouncing him into the air of the
ropes and struck him with a flying tackle. Then he pounced,
pinning Shadow on the ground. The refs started to count one, two, three,
The last flashed and Santo's arm was raised in the air,
(37:41):
the undisputed winner of the first fall. If you need
to reminding of how good a lucha or Black Shadow was,
note well here that even after the beatdown, he kept fighting.
Not only that he came back. The second fall was
like a mirror image of the first fall. Black Shadow
gave Santo a taste of his own medicine, throwing him
(38:04):
out of the ring and kicking him every time he
tried to climb back in. When Santo finally made it in,
Shadow grabbed him and tried to take him down with
the spinning backflip, but to the crowd's amazement, Santo managed
to escape. Everyone got to the feet and gave him
a standing ovation for this move alone. But even though
he escaped the back flip, Santo was stunged. He dove
(38:25):
at Shadow, but Shadow was ready and slimmed him down
on the mat. Days Santo dived again, but Shadow was
too fast and he punched Santo in the jug which
knocked him flat on his back. Santo didn't get up,
and like that, the second fall went to the magnificent
wrestler in the Black Cape, Black Shadow Titans. Everything came
(38:48):
down to the last fall later Serra KaiA. In the beginning,
he was touch and go. Both of each others caught
each other in strong holes, but each managed to escape.
Then Shadow knocked Santo down with another diving tackle, but
as Santo took the hit, he rolled to the side
and pin Shadow head first on the man. Having the
momentum now, Santo moved quickly, spinning onto his feet to
(39:12):
sit on Shadow's back to try and immobilize Shadow's arms.
But this is Black Shadow. He didn't give up and
broke free. The audience was wrapped and cheering their hearts out.
This really was a match for the ages. Santo chased
Black Shadow down and barrashed him with punches. Eventually he
got him in the corner and threw him out of
the ring, but Black Shadow climbed back and the two
(39:34):
wrestlers flew at each other off the ropes like two
crazed pinballs, each trying to knock the other into bolivion.
Both knew a mask was a stake at night and
by extension, a career. Black shadowed dove again head first
at Santo, but he missed and flew through the ropes
onto the arena, flee Miraculously bruised and bloody, Black Shadow
(39:55):
stood up and climbed back in the ring, battering Santo
with punches, but Santo was ready and unleashing a dazzling
technical Combo cut Shadow in a flying scissor kick and
brought him down into a hold on the match. The
referee started the count Uno dos. You could not even
hear the count because the arena irrupted. It was a
(40:17):
cry of pain. The great Black Shadow had to take
off his mask. Police and photographers rushed to the ring
to protect the luccallodes and document this moment. And then
the unthinkable happened. El Santo started pulling Black Shadow's mask
off with his bare hands. This was an egregious breach
(40:38):
of etiquette. Tradition dictated that Santo gives Shadow his space.
A loser in a wager match was to be given
their dignity and they got to remove their mask themselves.
Before Santo pulled the mask off all the way, another
lucador intervened and kicked him off. It was Black Shadow's brother,
(40:58):
a luchallodo who was on his way to become an
icon in the Lucha Libre universe, his name Blue Demon.
From that night on, Blue Demon would become Santo's rival
in the ring and incidentally his co star in movies.
That story up next in our next episode, Lucha Libre
(41:27):
Behind the Mask, hosted by Santos Escobar, produced by Fernande Strada,
Argumelo and Marianna Coronel. Written in Spanish by Tania Lopez
and adapted in English by Asa Merrit. Story editor Rodrigo Crespo.
Fact checking by Monserrad Maldonado. Research and interviews by Marianna
(41:50):
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
Sonorro Studios. Development by Rodrigo Crespo. Executive producers Camilla Victoriano
(42:16):
and Joshu Weinstein for Sonorro and Giselle Benziz for Iheartsmichael
Tura Podcast Network. Marketing strategy and execution by Claudia Fernandez, Marianairera,
Pauela Perez, Mariana Baron, Wendy Barba, and Berenice Soto. Head
of Marketing, Susanna Marina. Lucha Libre Behind the Mask is
(42:38):
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. Agredeci Mintos specialist
Parakat Algria covered art Carlos Miranda. Thank you to the
(42:59):
CML hell for the permissions granted to record ambient audio
in their facilities.
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