1960s Coahuila/Durango lineups added to the luchadb

I added 1960s lucha libre lineups, mostly from the cities Torreon and Gomez Palacio to the luchadb database earlier this month. This covers every year from 1960 to 1969. They’re integrated in the different pages of this site, and they’re also just available here. This is a slow continuing project to mine the El Siglo de Torreon archive for lucha lineups and results.

Events per year:

year events
1960 9
1961 11
1962 3
1963 11
1964 11
1965 41
1966 40
1967 81
1968 43
1969 8

Again, that’s an inflated number, including events found from other sources (including the old magazines that I should’ve gotten back to by now but no.) There’s actually 133 posters in this batch, down from 274 in the last group. That’s why this one is a turnaround.

The events included are mostly ones at Plaza de Toros Torreon. Posters/reports from the period confirm there were other buildings holding events, but they’re not advertising in the paper. It’s also for certain not all the events at the Plaza de Toros, though the bullfights themselves seem to happen more often in this time period. There are fairly regular event listings from 1966 to 1968 and rare information otherwise.

That poster is maybe the most useful stuff I found.  It’s the September 25, 1966 lineup and appears to be a title change that’s usually been reported as being in November. It’s a small correction, but we can give Polo Torres an extra 40ish days for his title reign.

There are very few articles mentioning lucha libre in this decade in the paper. It’s almost never about the lucha libre itself; it only makes the paper when something goes badly and fulfilling the expected stereotypes. In 1962, two arenas are closed for not being properly licensed. A car gets robbed outside of an arena. There’s was a protest about card changes in 1965. Gonzalo Gomez gets in trouble for his foreigners not having work permits in 1966. Los Espinos get into a fight with fans. Neighbors complain about the noise from the late-running lucha libre show in 1966. And again, and a few other times, saying the same thing. There’s also the basketball players complaining about luchadors messing up the floor at the Auditorio article, something that gets repeated just about every year until they build a new Auditorio and don’t let anyone but AAA TV run in that building.

There are a few serious crimes that get mentioned. The most serious are the murders of Espanto I & Misterio Negro II in Monterrey, a shocking enough story that it makes Espanto’s hometown paper. Both are shot in a bar by the owner. The police note it happened so suddenly that they didn’t have time to defend themselves.

Karloff Lagarde misses shows with a spine injury in 1961, though there’s no lineup ever mentioned. Lucha libre from Guadalajara airs on TV at times during this decade. Santo wrestles a few shows during this time but also shows up on a variety show at the end of the decade.

At this point, I only have to do the 1950s (where there seems to be more), and probably not a lot in the 1930s & 1940s to be done with this part forever.