Lucha Libre

Nature: Aggresive Origin: Leona Flourish: Evasive

As show wrestling spread throughout Prisma, it became particularly popular in United Leona. While show wrestling has had its ups and downs as a form of entertainment over the years, a special variant of show wrestling, Lucha Libre, remains a cultural touchstone of Leonan culture. While show wrestling typically entails two beefy behemoths battling it out with each other, Lucha Libre is somewhat different. While it does have more ordinary show wrestlers, a culture of superheroes and villains was fostered. Masked men and women wearing magic masks dominated show wrestling, both in terms of wins and popularity. The lucha libre heroes in particular became folk heroes among the Leonan people, with Aguila Deslumbrante Sr. in particular becoming a national icon.

Lucha Libre means "free fighting" in the Leonan language, and this name truly embodies the nature of the style. While show wrestling itself is already flashy, lucha libre takes it to another level. Lucha Libre drops the muscle mass in favor of lighter builds and even crazier, acrobatic wrestling moves such as the Suicide Dive, Tornado DDT, and 450 Splash. The crowds in Leona favor daring moves of agility, and Lucha Libre separates itself from show wrestling by being far more focused on acrobatic combat. As such, its Flourish is Evasive.

Core Principles

There are a few key elements to those who practice Lucha Libre. These elements are central to the martial art's key concept: Performing daring acrobatic maneuvers to the cheers of the crowd.

• Dives & Splashes: Lucha Libre favors flying moves in which the luchador jumps off from a high position to smash down into an unsuspecting foe. Over the years, Luchadors have been one-upping each other as they've developed more showy and flashy means of doing so, incorporating differet spins and movements into their aerial maneuvers.

• Showier Throws: While show wrestling already uses flashy wrestling moves, Lucha Libre amps just about everything to 11. Instead of a DDT, a luchador will find a way to do a Tornado DDT. Why use a powerbomb when you can use a Sunset Flip? A kick is too simple, use a dropkick instead!

• Luchadors Don't Block!: Just like show wrestling, lucha libre matches rarely feature luchadors blocking or avoiding attack. While some evasive maneuvers are fine (so long as they are flashy and entertaining), intentionally trying to avoid damage is considered coward behavior in lucha libre culture! Instead, luchadors build up their toughness and conditioning, making them surprisingly study and resilient to pain despite on average appearing smaller than the average show wrestler.

Weapons

When weapons are allowed in lucha libre matches, especially in mask vs mask bouts, they can be surprisingly deadly with weapons they find. Most are uniquely tied to the nature of show wrestling matches.

• Steel Chairs: Just like show wrestling, the steel chair is a vital part of the lucha libre arsenal. Typically, a luchador will go under the ring to find spare chairs used to prop up seats inn the arena. These chairs will then be used as surprisingly effective bludgeoning weapons.

• Light Tubes: Death matches will sometimes feature strange improvise weapons, such as light tubes! Luchadors will shatter light tubes over their opponents heads, sending glass and numerous fluids all over their opponent! If a luchador is expecting a tough battle, they just may bring a few with them.

• Ladders: Yes, luchadors have even managed to turn stepping ladders into deadly weapons. Typically, a luchador will prop up a ladder so that they can jump off from it and hit their opponent with a deadly aerial maneuver. However, it isn't uncommon for a luchador to just take a ladder and smash it into their opponent's head.