Lucha Liberty

Another weird surprise at Geekfest Denver was a random act of lucha libre.

Slaby was telling me to hang out with his friend, Kim Shively, who was big into documenting the local Mexican wrestling community.

There are no rules in photography, but there are rules in life: when Slaby talks, listen up.

Kim is totally dialed in with Denver’s lucha libre. We split during a break in action at Geekfest and found our way towards a Mexican community fair. It was so off the grid, it was beautiful.

When she first mentioned community lucha libre, I had visions of my time with Noles in East LA, where we had a blast, pure and simple.

This event had its own twist: wrestlers combatting in an outdoor ring in a light rain as the sun was setting.

Again, one of the best things about lucha libre is the interaction with the people. I always get the feeling that these wrestlers are doing a true community service whenever they compete.

Turns out there was another round of wrestling that evening, at a hip bar in downtown Denver. There were rumors that the grapplers were women, but that proved to be false.

A swarm of Geeks attended the event, which was fun to see. The scene was a little surreal and had potential. Though honestly, I was spoiled with the real goods that afternoon with Kim. I saw her in the bar and I could sense she felt the same.

One of the things I love about lucha libre is the transformation that takes place simply by wearing a mask. It’s part of the reason I enjoy wearing mine during a presentation.

It’s also why I decided to have custom masks made for my limited edition of Weird Sports. It was worth it alone to see Slaby as the The Gentleman Caller. So fucking badass.