Adversaries: Magdalena Caballero-Morales

Magdalena Caballero-Morales (1925-2006) was considered a pioneer for women in lucha libre, or wrestling. Inside the ring, she fought her opponents ferociously. And outside of it, she became a figure for women who went against the grain at a time when women’s participation in contact sports was banned in Mexico City.

For Further Reading: 

• The ring's masked matriarch
• Celebramos la vida de la dama enmascarada 
• Luchadoras, contra machismo y misoginia en el cuadrilátero: "Algunos compañeros intentaron lesionarme"
• Inside the Magnificent World of Luchadoras 

This month we’re talking about adversaries. These women fought against systems, governments and – sometimes each other to break barriers in their respective fields. They did unthinkable and sometimes unspeakable things to carve out their place in history.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Wamanica. This month, we're talking about adversaries, women who
fought for their place in history, whether they fought to
get to the top of their sport against how society
perceived them, or fought with each other to be champions.
We're talking about women who broke barriers and sometimes did
seemingly impossible or unspeakable things to carve out their place

(00:26):
and history. Like the barrier breakers we're covering throughout the month,
our partners at CAMRI are inspiring women to seek knowledge, creativity,
joy and experiences that will continue to push boundaries. Today,
we're talking about a trailblazer in Mexican wrestling known as
Ladama and Mascarata, the Masked Woman. She was the first

(00:48):
woman to don Mexico's iconic luchadora masks, that is until
she lost it in a bet with her rival. Meet
Magdalena Cabayera Morales. Magdalena was born in nineteen twenty five
to a family of circus performers. From a young age,

(01:08):
she was trained in the ways of the big Top.
Her specialty was an act where she would swing from
a rope which she held with her teeth. When she
was fifteen years old, Magdalena met a dashing lion tamer
by the name of Andres Ramos. She fell for the
handsome and charming fellow circus performer. The two got married

(01:30):
and had six children, but Andres was a womanizer, so
eventually Magdalena decided to leave him. She set out on
her own with their six kids. To make ends meet.
Magdalena began boxing. She was of average height five foot five,
but she was relentless. Her intense fighting style caught the

(01:51):
eye of a promoter one night, and he suggested she
try her hand at another sport, wrestling. Magdalena was an intrigued.
By the nineteen fifties, Mexico's Lucha Libre had developed its
own unique style, and a following fans went wild for
the athletes, who wore colorful masks and performed acrobatic, high

(02:12):
flying maneuvers not previously seen in wrestling. But Magdalena and
other women faced resistance in entering the male dominated world.
In fact, in nineteen fifty seven, the controversial politician Ernesto
Uruturtu declared a ban on women competing in contact sports
in Mexico. City. At that point, Magdalena had already started

(02:35):
her career. By nineteen fifty two, she'd entered the ring
and decided to don a mask. She's believed to be
the first woman to wear the luchadora mask, and she
wasn't going to stop because of some ban. In just
a few years, the masked woman was one of the best.
Her childhood in the circus came in handy. One of
her signature moves was climbing to the top of the

(02:56):
ring's ropes and then launching herself horizontally with her feet
aimed directly at her opponent's neck. She would bite, punch,
and even break chairs over the backs of her opponents.
The fighting was ferocious, and Magdalena's kids recalled how she'd
often come home bleeding. Once she even broke her leg.

(03:17):
In nineteen fifty five, one year after women's participation in
contact sports was technically outlawed in Mexico City, Magdalena claimed
the belt for the inaugural national Women's Championship. They competed
about five hundred miles north of the capitol in Monterey.
The wind was short lived. Less than a year later,
she lost the title to a new wrestler, a fierce

(03:40):
young woman who had just made her debut. Rama Gonzalez
was athletic, tough, and creative, just like Magdalena, and she
was from a family of circus performers, also like Magdalena.
In fact, they were from the same circus family. The
two wrestling stars were cousins. Records from this time a body,

(04:00):
but Magdalena and Arima fought in match after match. Their
rivalry proved so popular that they held a high profile
betting match on October fifth, nineteen fifty eight. In these matches,
the competitors would put something on the line. As Magdalena
and Irma prepared to face off, they put it all
on the line. Erma bet her hair. If she lost,

(04:21):
she'd have to shave her head, and Magdalena bet her
whole persona her mask. While we have no record of
exactly what happened, it resulted in Magdalena, the masked woman,
being unmasked. Arima won she got to keep her hair
for now. Both women continued fighting, and it's believed that

(04:41):
in nineteen sixty one, Magdalena triumphed and Arima was forced
to shave her head. As a result. Magdalena and the
other Luchadoras traveled throughout the American Southwest, going up against
American wrestlers, and it was lucrative. She made more than
enough to support her family. Magdalena and Arima also wrestled

(05:01):
in a few films like Doctor of Doom, directed by
Renick Cardona, who was well known during the golden age
of Mexican cinema. Vendetta the Night were the greatest wrestling
match in history, fighting for at twenty five thousand dollars
person in Debta versus Gloria Beda Meda. Eventually, Magdalena walked
away from the ring. She decided to spend more time

(05:24):
with her family. For more than a decade, they traveled
around Europe. This time, Magdalena followed her kids on their
own circus tours. Magdalena bought land and settled near Tampa, Florida.
Her kids and then her grandkids went on to be
circus performers, though that way of life is increasingly obsolete.

(05:44):
Magdalena died on March eleventh, two thousand and six. She
was eighty one years old. Irma meanwhile went on to
be one of the most well known wrestlers in Mexican history.
She traveled around the country and abroad in her decades
long career. She's still alive and competed well into her sixties,
sometimes alongside her daughter, who became a part of the

(06:06):
new generation of buccadoras. All month, we're talking about adversaries.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at
Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister
and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.