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Salvador Lutteroth

Mexican promoter who founded Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre in 1933, introduced masked wrestlers to lucha libre and discovered El Santo.

Quick Facts

Date of Birth3/21/1897
Date of Death9/5/1987
Country of OriginMexicoMexico
OccupationSoldier, Civil servant

Biography

Salvador Lutteroth González (21 March 1897, Colotlán, Jalisco – 5 September 1987) is regarded as the father of Mexican professional wrestling. In 1933 he founded the company Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), which, under the name CMLL, became the longest continuously operating wrestling promotion in the world.

At 17 he joined the Mexican Revolution and, as a lieutenant and captain, fought under General Álvaro Obregón against the forces of Pancho Villa; by 1923 he had reached the rank of first captain. After leaving the army he worked as a property inspector for the tax office. Around 1929 he moved to Ciudad Juárez, where, watching matches in El Paso, Texas, he discovered his passion for professional wrestling.

He founded EMLL with his financial partner Francisco Ahumada, initially at the Arena Modelo. He later built the Arena Coliseo, opened in the mid-1940s, and the Arena México. He introduced masked wrestlers to Mexican professional wrestling and discovered the wrestler El Santo.

In 1924 he married Armida Camou Olea from Hermosillo in Sonora; they had four children.

Associated Martial Arts

Lucha LibreOrganisation / official→

Mexican professional wrestling known for masks and aerial moves. Matches go to two falls out of three, and since 2018 it has been intangible cultural heritage of Mexico City.

Organisations