Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Women’s wrestling has certainly grown and prospered in recent years. All the talk of the Women’s Revolution is very real, as we are now seeing more and more women in high profile matches and even main eventing big shows. Before we can talk about the current crop of female talents, we must first look back into history to find the true trailblazers of women’s wrestling. This is wrestling history….this is wrestling HERstory.
In the 1940’s, Mildred Burke and a female contingent that consisted of Mae Young and others toured Mexico City. The wrestling tour was so successful, Mexican promoters wanted to capitalize on women being involved in Lucha Libre. Luchadoras made their debut in Mexico in 1955. As a wave of females were competing across the country…the Mexican government ruled that women should not be involved in competitive sports and were banned from wrestling in the capital of Mexico City. The government believed that only men were physically capable to play sports like soccer, boxing and even wrestling. The belief was that women belonged as homemakers, wives and mothers.
That unwritten law lasted for nearly 30 years in Mexican athletics. While women still wrestled on the outskirts of the capital…the real money and exposure was in Mexico City. Many fought against the rule, but would often fall on deaf ears. One woman named Maria del Angel, was a member of a family filled with luchadors. She fought hard to be able to wrestle in the capital and received help from a few luchadors, referees and other male personnel in Lucha Libre.
It wasn’t until EMLL promoter Paco Alonso joined their cause in 1986…that the governing body listened. Alonso’s power and influence helped overturn the rule and women were allowed to once again wrestle in Mexico City. Their first show back was on December 14, 1986 for the EMLL promotion. One of the trailblazers in the fight for equality…Maria del Angel…made the most of her newly found opportunity.
Initially in her career, Maria del Angel competed as a babyface, but her career skyrocketed in popularity once she became a heel or “rudo” and formed a trios team with fellow luchadoras…Tania and La Diabólica named Las Guerrilleras. The trios feuded with many of the big babyface luchadoras of that era and helped open the door further for future luchadoras.
Not only was del Angel a star in the world of Lucha Libre, she also helped train upcoming luchadoras like Rosa Negra. After her retirement from wrestling, Maria del Angel was honored at a ceremony for her contributions in Lucha Libre at Jalisco Arena in Guadalajara on March 23, 2014. Sadly, on that day, she suffered a stroke and was put on life support. Two days later on March 25…her family made the tough decision to take her off life support and she passed away. Maria del Angel was just 49 years old at the time of her death.
Read more about Wrestling Herstory here