Convenience Big Store: Hispanic Heritage Month: Luche libre is alive and well in East End

Fans hold their hands out to greet Luchadora LA Spooky and her son during a Lucha Libre fight at Coliseo Houston

Hispanic Heritage Month: Luche libre is alive and well in East End

For the Houston Chronicle's continued coverage in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we turn the spotlight on luche libre, which is having a pop-culture moment now.

For the uninitiated, lucha libre is a style of professional wrestling that is commonly believed to have originated in Mexico in 1863, and grew in popularity in the early 1900s during the Mexican Revolution as a form of distraction from the toils of war. It became the high-flying art that it is today in the 1930s, with the help of promoter Salvador Lutteroth González, who was inspired by American professional wrestling matches he saw while working in El Paso.

Lucha libre means "free fight," and the masks worn by luchadores play into their characters and storylines, while also offering a form of anonymity. They're kind of like Mexican superheroes.

Freelance correspondent Camilo Hannibal Smith takes us into the East End, a historically Latino neighborhood in Houston, to climb into the ring for the weekly lucha libre event where the Latino subculture is alive and well.

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In today's edition, culture columnist Joy Sewing writes a tribute to Third Ward's abundant community and rich history that shaped Beyoncé and beyond; reporter Samantha Ketterer spotlights the faith leaders who are trying to fill in the gap after University of Houston's LGBTQ students lost their safe space to Texas policy; and correspondent Lindsay Peyton shares the story of Houston police officer who helps the homeless get back on their feet.

Welcome back to HouWeAre.

Jaundréa Clay, HouWeAre editor

HouWeAre@houstonchronicle.com

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Luchadores wrestle during a Lucha Libre fight at Coliseo Houston

Photo by: Raquel Natalicchio/Staff Photographer

Weekly lucha libre event in Houston keeps Latino subculture alive

The Sunday lucha libre matches, put on by a wrestler and promoter originally from Tamaulipas, Mexico, who goes by the name of Black Star (real name: Jose Ponce), represent the local face of a pop-culture phenomenon that regularly ebbs and flows in public consciousness. And right now, lucha libre is having a moment.

Ponce, 42, came to Houston a decade ago to work as an engineer, but had long loved lucha libre and he slowly began building his name as a promoter and wrestler on the side. Then he began training students.

His goal, he said, was to develop a roster of local stars who could claim Houston as their place of wrestling origin. But it took Ponce several years and a few breakups with business partners before he found his footing.

Ponce is matter-of-fact about his commitment to lucha libre. "It's one of my vices," he explains. "For me it's not just a business, it's the only vice I have. Of course, it matters to me that people are having fun, it matters to me that Mexican culture has an organized event here in the United States. I like to see the wrestling ring full of kids, I love that the kids are enjoying the mood that we're creating."

What We're Talking About

Last weekend, Queen Bey returned to Houston for a two-night stand of her wildly successful Renaissance Tour. Many fans flocked to Third Ward, eager to snap selfies in the community that raised the superstar singer. But "Beyoncé's homecoming is a reminder of that the soul of Third Ward is locked into the stately brick homes and row houses, the churches and the community centers and the memories of native sons and daughters who grew up here," writes culture columnist Joy Sewing.
Latino communities reporter Jhair Romero spotlights Harris County Public Health's new pilot program aimed at providing accessible care and resources to underserved Latino residents facing severe long-term illnesses.

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A rainbow Lego piece is shown on the shelves during a session of Lunch Church at Noon in the Canterbury Room for a Bible study meeting Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 in Houston. Several LGBTQ-affirming religious leaders at University of Houston continue to serve students in a hope to fill the gap left by the closure of the campus LGBTQ Resource Center.

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One More Thing

Entertainment reporter Joy Guerra has the inside scoop on "American Marachi," a new Alley Theatre production by José Cruz González that "focuses on a group of women who defy conventions and disapproving family members to form a mariachi band" in the 1970s. The show runs through Oct. 22.

From the HouWeAre team of Jaundréa Clay and Joy Sewing, thanks for reading. If this email was forwarded to you, sign up for HouWeAre here. Let us know what you think by emailing us at HouWeAre@chron.com.