Mexican Wrestling Housewives
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The hotheaded Mexican housewives taking on the macho world of Lucha Libre
Hotheaded housewives in Mexico are stepping into the wrestling ring to take on the macho world of Lucha Libre.
A wave of women from low income families are earning their living by smashing each other to the free-fighting canvas on a regular basis.
The bouts pay between $10 to $200 - a pittance compared to the lucrative contracts earned by male competitors - but in a country where the average annual wage is $6,000.
And the sport, which is steadily growing in popularity, is also providing an outlet for victims of domestic violence keen to stand up to their abusers.
Fight! A wave of women from low income Mexican families are earning their living by smashing each other to the free-fighting canvas on a regular basis
Smackdown: Lycra-clad female wrestlers do battle on the canvas to earn between $10 and $200 per fight
Catrina, 56, who named her character after the Calavera Catrina 'The Elegant Skull,' began competing 27 years ago to defend herself from her husband - and now fights five or six times each month.
He used to beat her and then abandoned her with four children. She did not go to school and thought wrestling was a good way to make a living and support her family.
She said: 'I started because I was a domestic violence abuse victim. I did it to defend myself from my husband. That's why I started practising it.
'I was sick of the abuse. One day I went to a Lucha Libre fight and saw that women also took part. I thought it was a good way to defend myself.'
Out of the ring: The fights often spill into the spectator areas
Smashing time: A spectator is unwittingly pushed out of his chair by a wrestler, as delighted children in the audience look on
Dama X, another fighter, said Lucha Libre was dominated by machismo, before adding: 'There is a lot of macho behaviour in this sport and I would like to support female wrestling.
'Women are humiliated in some fights but in most cases, women give a good fight. Unfortunately some arenas look for youth and beauty but not good wrestlers.'
In contrast to their male counterparts, women wrestlers are unable to pay for medical treatment to treat injuries sustained during battle.
Catrina needs weekly physical therapy sessions to treat a torn ligament, and most wrestlers train for three hours per day and sustaining an injury could place their livelihoods at risk.
Preparation: Wrestlers apply their make-up and adjust their costumers in the moments before battle
Let battle commence: They might look like ordinary housewives outside of the ring, but once they cross the rope they are no-holds barred fighters
But it is all part of the job, said Selva Slavaje, who balances family life with her training. She said: 'I try to make time for my training. In the morning I drop my daughter off at kindergarten, my baby stays with me.
'We collect my child at 1 o'clock and then go to the gym. I take food with me, I train and then go home. I help with their homework and then we go to sleep.'
Female wrestlers or luchadoras compete in the CMLL World Women's Championship as well as the AAA Reina de Reinas Annual Championship. In 2000, the all female promotion company Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) was founded.
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