juicy

Last night's adventure centered on seeing Luche Libre at the Colonial. For the uninformed, that's H-town's Mexican wrestling. We got there in time for the warm-up match and stayed for another two matches after that. In between, children climb up into the ring and wrestle and kick and swing on the, well, what are those called? The stretchy bars that enclose the ring... I kept trying to convince my friends that it would be funnier if there were monkeys in there wrestling with the kids but no one was going for that idea.

If you haven't seen wrestling before, and Mexican wrestling in particular, it consists of opponents dressed in flashy outfits grappling, slapping, kicking, jumping on and generally pounding each other. They also call each other names, question each other's sexuality and insult everyone's mother. They have wrestler names like the Doberman and their costumes are supposed to evoke that persona.

The most fun occurs when the wrestlers throw each other out of the ring and start fighting in the audience. People start throwing bottles (plastic) at them, rattle folding chairs and get in on the name-calling. It's a great spectacle and seeing it makes you want to get your own mask and stretchy outfit and pick a wrestler name. I already have mine: l'avispa. I'll be working on my costume and my moves.