Lucha Dictionary

See Also: Moves Category

Basic terms

• Lucha Libre - Wrestling. Lucha means "fight", and libre means "free"; however, the term is not intended to be translated as "free fighting".
• Luchador - Wrestler. Often misspelled as "luchadore". The feminine form is luchadora, and the plural forms are luchadores and luchadoras.
• Rudo - [Rude] A heel or bad guy. Other common terms are rufián [villain, ruffian] and rudísimo [very rude].
• Técnico - [Technician] A babyface or good guy. Synonyms used are científico [scientist] and limpio [clean].

• Primera caída - First fall.
• Segunda caída - Second fall.
• Tercera caída - Third fall.

Other essential terms

• Batalla - Battle.
• Boxer - Brass knuckles.
• Cabellera - Hair.
• Caída - Fall.
• Campeón - Champion.
• Campeonato - Championship.
• Capitán - Team captain.
• Castigo - Punishment.
• Cuadrilátero - Ring.
• Cuerda - Rope.
• Empate - Draw (tie).
• Encordado - Ring.
• Equipo - Team.
• Escalera - Ladder.
• Esquina - Corner.
• Esquinero - Turnbuckle.
• Ganador - Winner.
• Hexadrilátero - Six-sided ring.
• Jaula - Cage.
• Llave - Hold.
• Lucha - Fight.
• Máscara - Mask.
• Mesa - Table.
• Mini - Midget.
• Pareja - Tag team, partner.
• Pelea - Fight.
• Perdedor - Loser.
• Réferi - Referee.
• Rendición - Submission.
• Retador - Challenger.
• Sangre - Blood.
• Silla - Chair.
• Torneo - Tournament.
• Tercia - Trio.
• Trío - Team consisting of three wrestlers.

Holds, dives and moves

• Candado - [padlock] Headlock.
• Candado Invertido - Front facelock.
• Casita - Stepover armbar with a rolling cradle. Also known as La Magistral, but that term is never used in Mexico and I have only seen it being used in Japan. Allegedly invented by Pepe Casas.
• Campana - Pendulum Submission Hold, used by Halloween and Bull Nakano among others.
• Cangrejo - Crab, mostly a Boston Crab, but it's a generic term. A half Boston crab is known as "medio cangrejo" (half crab), and a Scorpion Deathlock is often called "Cangrejo Japonés".
• Cavernaria - Submission hold in which a sitting attacker places his knees on the lower back of a kneeling opponent, and pulls him back with a chinlock or from the hair. Invented by Cavernario Galindo.
• Cerrajera - Standing octopus hold with a "palanca" (armlock). Invented by Enrique Llanes.
• Cristo - Sort of a suspsended full nelson hold.
• Crotch - Also crotch slam or "crochito". Throws, like a bodyslam or a powerslam. This is a wrong, nonsensical term made-up by the commentators.
• Cruceta - Figure-four leglock. Also referred to as "La Cruceta del Enfermero" since El Enfermero made it popular in Mexico.
• Desnucadora - Literally, neckbreaker. Any powerbomb move is a desnucadora.
• Escorpión - Scorpion (deathlock) aka sharpshooter. Also called Cangrejo Japonés
• Espaldas planas - Literally "flat shoulders", describes both shoulders touching the mat. "Toque de espaldas" is also used.
• Estacas - Monkey flip.
• Estacas Indias - Indian Deathlock.
• Fault/Faul - [Pronounced foul] A low blow.
• Fuerza Punt - A term born in the highspots.com lucha libre boards and designed to describe Fuerza Guerrera's inverted atomic drop.
• Gory Special - Back-to-back backbreaker submission, invented by Gory Guerrero.
• Guillotina - [Guillotine] A legdrop.
• Huracanrana/Huracarrana - A frankensteiner finishing in a double leg cradle (rana). Invented by Huracán Ramírez. The only two correct spellings are the ones mentioned here, all other variations are misspellings.
• Lazo - Lariat.
• Martinete - Piledriver, usually a Tombstone piledriver. This move is banned in Mexico as it's lethal, and EVERYBODY (and I mean EVERYBODY) sells it like death (well, except when somebody screws up and uses it by mistake, i.e. Dandy vs. Antifaz hair vs. mask match).
• Mortal - Any 360 or 180 flip (a moonsault, a somersault bodyblock, etc.)
• Nudo - [Knot] Basically, any submission in which the attacker ties his opponent's legs and/or arms in a knot.
• Nudo Lagunero - Sometimes, images explain things better than words. [Image credit, MTY.]
• Palanca - [Lever] Any armbar.
• Patada - Kick.
• Patadas Voladoras - Dropkick (or flying dropkick). Used in a plural form (patadas) since, at least in theory, both feet connect. In Mexico many wrestlers use a dropkick falling flat on their back, and sometimes this kind of kick is called "Patadas de Canguro a la Fishman" (Fishman's Kangaroo Kick).
• Pescado - Slingshot bodyblock.
• Plancha - [Iron board] Any move in which the attacker connects with his chest/abdominal area, like a splash or a cross body block.
• Puente Olímpico - [Olympic Bridge] Japanese leg roll clutch.
• Puñetazo - Punch.
• Quebrada - A moonsault after springboard off the second drop. Also called Asai Moonsault as it was popularized by Yoshihiro "Ultimo Dragon" Asai- though Asai Moonsault generally refers to the version of the move executed to the floor. The quebrada was invented by the original Fantasma de la Quebrada.
• Quebradora - Generic term for backbreaker.
• Quebradora con giro - Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. "Con Giro" is often misspelled as "Con Hilo" (bad translation from Japanese).
• Quebradora de a caballo - Also, "la de a caballo". Camel clutch, invented by Gory Guerrero but popularized by El Santo.
• Quebradora en todo lo alto - Torture rack.
• Casadora - A luchador throws himself into a wheelbarrow position, often as setup for an armdrag or, sometimes (more commonly in the U.S.), a bulldog.
• Rana - The linked pinning position. A rana is JUST the pinning position, not the actual movement done before reaching that position. The finishing position of a sunset flip is also a rana.
• Reinera - Back-to-back standing (and usually spinning) torture rack. Invented by Rolando Vera.
• Ringuina - Ringo Mendoza's trademark submission where first he grabs his opponent's arm, steps behind him, grapevines his leg and catches him in an back hammerlock. Attacker then rolls to a side, puts his leg onto his opponent's neck and shoulder and forms a grounded octopus submission hold [thanks to Canz for the detailed explanation].
• Salida de Bandera - Over the top rope bump. Also called "Jerry Bump" on the internet, since Jerry Estrada used to be the king of the salida de bandera during AAA's best days.
• Segadora - Spot where a wrestler kicks his running opponent under his thigh, making him jump and bounce off, or through the ropes.
• Senton - Move in which attacker falls over his opponent with his back.
• Suástica - Abdominal stretch variation, with the attacker pulling up his opponent's free leg. Invented by Murciélago Velázquez but popularized by El Nazi.
• Suicida - [Suicide] Particle added after a move (usually a tope or a plancha) to state that it's from the ring to the outside.
• Tijeras - [Scissors] Any headscissors variation.
• Tirabuzón - [Corkscrew] An abdominal stretch.
• Tope - Any move in which the attacker hits his opponent with his head.
• Tope con Giro - Literally, Tope with a twist. Often misspelled as "tope con hilo" (again, bad Japanese translation).
• Tope Suicida - Tope to the outside. Black Warrior, Solitario, El Hijo del Santo, Black Shadow and Ciclon Ramirez rightfully are the gods of the tope suicida.
• Tapatía - [the one from Jalisco] An inverted surfboard.
• Tornillo - Any spinning or corkscrew move
• Valaguesa - Attacker sets opponent on top rope, bending their body forward. He then puts his left shoulder against the back of the opponent's neck, hooks both legs and lifts him off in that position, so he ends up vertically folded on his shoulder. Finally he jumps and kneels down, bending the opponent with a lot of pressure on his neck. The jump is often done after spinning a few times. Often referred to in English as the Muscle Buster or Kinniku Buster (in reference to the "Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E." character's finisher) [thanks to Canz for explanation]

Kinds of match

• Bull Terrier Match - Chain match that be either a regular match (with pinfalls and submissions) or a match in which you have to touch the four corners to get the win.
• Captain's Fall Match - a match where two teams of multiple competitors compete in an elimination match and captains are assigned to both teams. The purpose of the match is to score a fall over the captain to get the win. Eliminations may occur until the captain is not pinned and the team loses if a captain is pinned and there is no need to eliminate other competitors. This type of match may involve a lucha de apuestas between captains. The winning captain could take mask or hair of the captain of the losing team.
• Cuadrangular - Four way match.
• Cuadrangular de la muerte - Four way match in which they are all in the ring at the same time, and the two first wrestlers to be pinned have to face each other in a regular "lucha de apuestas".
• Lightning match - Often called by the mixed-language term "match relámpago", this match is for one fall (instead of the usual best of three) and has a time limit of ten minutes.
• Lucha de apuestas - Either a hair vs. hair, hair vs. mask or mask vs. mask match. Sometimes luchadores wager their beards, titles or cash. Basically, a match where both guys bet something.
• Lucha en Jaula - Cage match.
• Lucha en Super Libre - No DQ match. Often called "lucha en super libre sin referi" meaning the ref is only there to count to three or to make sure the opponent submits. In both AAA and EMLL some Super Libre matches have finished in a DQ, though.
• Mano a mano - A singles match.
• Relevos atómicos - [Atomic tag match] Eight-man tag.
• Relevos australianos - [Australian tag match] Six-man tag.
• Relevos increíbles - [Incredible teams match] Match in which both teams are composed of wrestlers from both sides (rudos and tecnicos) or bitter enemies, hence the "incredible teams" term.
• Relevos sencillos - [Regular tag match] A simple tag team match.
• Relevos suicidas - [Suicide tag match] A tag team match in which the losers face each other in a hair vs. hair, hair vs. mask or mask vs. mask match.
• Relevos Triple A - Mixed teams with women, men and minis.
• Ruleta de la Muerte - [Roulette of death] Losers advance tournament, with the finals being a hair vs. hair, hair vs. mask or mask vs. mask match.
• Torneo Cibernético - [Cybernetic tournament] Elimination match in which two teams face each other until all the members from a team are eliminated.
  • There's a variant called "Torneo Cibernético de la Muerte", in this one to get "eliminated" you must defeat somebody (pinfall/submission) and the two final wrestlers face each other in a hair or mask vs. hair or mask match. If two, or more members from the same team are the only men left, they have to wrestle each other anyway.
• Triangular - Three way match.
• Triangular de la muerte - Three way match where all wrestlers bet their hair or mask. Usually, the three guys are in the ring at the same time and they have an elimination match. The winner of this little match saves his hair or mask, and the two losers battling in a regular "lucha de apuestas".

Weight classes

• Peso Completo - Heavyweight.
• Peso Crucero - Cruiserweight.
• Peso Semi Completo - Light Heavyweight.
• Peso Medio - Middleweight.
• Peso Welter - Welterweight.
• Peso Ligero - Lightweight.
• Peso Pluma - Featherweight.

See Weight Classes for more.

Body parts

• Antebrazo - Forearm.
• Boca - Mouth.
• Brazo - Arm.
• Cabeza - Head.
• Cadera - Hip.
• Cara - Face.
• Cintura - Waist.
• Codo - Elbow.
• Cuello - Neck.
• Cuerpo - Body.
• Dedo - Finger.
• Dientes - Tooth.
• Espalda - Back.
• Espaldas - Backs or shoulders (depends on context).
• Estómago - Stomach.
• Frente - Forehead.
• Garganta - Throat.
• Hombro - Shoulder.
• Ingle - Crotch.
• Mano - Hand.
• Muslo - Thigh.
• Muñeca - Wrist.
• Ojo - Eye.
• Oreja - Ear.
• Pecho - Chest.
• Pierna - Leg.
• Pie/pies - Foot/feet.
• Puño - Fist.
• Rodilla - Knee.
• Tobillo - Ankle.

Idioms

• Molero (a) - Term used in the Lucha Libre slang. A "Funcion Molera" is a Lucha Libre show which is celebrated in patronal feasts, barrios, schools, festivals, and certain private events. In this kind of events luchadors work for free or for a plate of mole (or any other meal). In these shows there are amateur wrestlers, novices who want to improve their skills, and veterans who passed their prime. This term is often used dispectively "luchador molero" is translated as starving wrestler. In a way is the Mexican equivalent for a C-Show (or even lower).

Other phrases used by commentators

• ¡Aguas! - Look out!
• ¡Ojo! - Look out!
• Seis por seis - Six by six (often refers to the ring size in meters)
• Vaya - what a... (when followed by a noun)

Quick Spanish pronunciation lesson

For a more detailed reference on Spanish pronunciation, see this page on SpanishDict.

=== Vowels ===7

• a (ah) as in mama
• e (eh) as in get
• i (ee) as in police
• o (oh) as in no
• u (oo), similar to the oo in boot

Consonants

• c before e or i is soft; otherwise it is hard.
• d is softened to the voiced "th" of "the" except after a pause or after l, m, or n.
• g before e or i sounds like a Spanish j (see below); otherwise, like a hard g in English.
  • gu sounds like "gw" if followed by a or o, but like a hard g if followed by e or i.
  • gü (with the diaeresis, used rarely before e or i) always sounds like "gw".
• h is always silent, except as part of "ch" or certain loanwords.
• j most closely resembles the English h, but harsher. (More specifically, it is the"same as the "ch" in German "Bach", or the "ch" in Scottish "Loch".)
• ll sounds like an English y, or sometimes more like an English j, depending on accent.
• ñ has an "ny" sound, recognizable in "piñata" and "jalapeño".
• qu sounds like the English k, never kw.
• rr is trilled, as is a single r at the beginning of a word or after n, l, or s.
• v can sound like a b, an English v, or somewhere in between, depending on accent.
• z and soft c can sound like "th" in Spain; elsewhere, they are like s.