Luchas de Apuestas

From Iwe

[edit] Luchas de Apuestas

With the importance placed on masks in lucha libre, losing the mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult, and can at times seriously hurt the career of the unmasking wrestler. Putting one's mask on the line against a hated opponent is a tradition in lucha libre as a means to settle a heated feud between two or more wrestlers. In these battles, called luchas de apuestas ("matches with wagers"), the wrestlers "wager" either their mask or their hair.

"In a lucha de apuesta (betting match), wrestlers make a public bet on the outcome of the match. The most common forms are the mask-against-mask, hair-against-hair, or mask-against-hair matches. A wrestler who loses his or her mask has to remove the mask after the match. A wrestler who loses his or her hair has his or her hair shaved immediately afterward." If the true identity of a person losing his mask is previously unknown, it is customary for that person to reveal his real name, hometown and years as a professional upon unmasking.

The first lucha de apuestas was presented on 14 July 1940 at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago (Velásquez) was so much lighter than his challenger (Octavio Gaona), he requested a further condition before he would sign the contract: Octavio Gaona would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio Gaona won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to a tradition in lucha libre.

[edit] Variants

• Máscara contra máscara ("mask versus mask"): two masked luchadores bet their masks, the loser is unmasked by the winner. This occurred in the WWE, where Sin Cara Azul the blue-masked luchador beat the black-masked luchador Sin Cara Negro on the October 21, 2011 edition of SmackDown (taped October 18, 2011).
• Máscara contra cabellera ("mask versus hair"): a masked wrestler and an unmasked one compete, often after the unmasked one has lost his mask to the masked one in a prior bout. If the masked luchador wins, the unmasked one shaves his head as a sign of humiliation. If the unmasked luchador is the winner, he keeps his hair and the loser is unmasked.
• Cabellera contra cabellera ("hair versus hair"): the loser of the match has his head shaved bald. This can occur both between unmasked wrestlers and between masked wrestlers who have to remove their mask enough to be shaved after the match.
• Máscara o cabellera contra campeonato ("mask or hair versus title"): if the masked or haired luchador loses, the champion unmasks him. But if the champion loses, the luchador is crowned the new champion. An example of this occurred in the IWE, where Scott Wright the masked luchador beat the Intercontinental Champion Khris Jericho at IWE The Bash.
• Máscara o cabellera contra retiro ("mask or hair versus career"): if the masked or haired luchador loses, his opponent must resume his career. But if he wins, his opponent must retire
• Carrera contra carrera ("career versus career"): Loser must retire.