One of the most underrated scenes in wrestling is South America. There are many reasons on why this scene has been ignored and why during certain periods of time it has felt stagnant.
One of the problems regarding South American wrestling has to face is the lack of interest in wrestling. During a period of time, there were a lot of wrestling fans but as time went own, the number of fans went down; one of the reasons is that it was difficult to watch WWE programming live for a long time for some countries. Another problem is because of football (soccer), football is the most popular sport in most South American countries and young kids prefer football since it’s an activity anyone can play anywhere.
Historically, some countries don’t have that wrestling historic reference needed for wrestling to be popular in some countries, like Mexican lucha libre has with luchadores like El Santo and Blue Demon. One of the countries with a rich history of historic references is Argentina, with wrestlers like Antonio Rocca (Italian but billed from Argentina) and Pampero Firpo as the best examples.
South America also has the major issue of the lack of wrestling schools, some countries at best just have one wrestling school and even one promotion. However, wrestling is growing in South America and more wrestling school and promotions are being opening every year; which shows the growth of wrestling in the region.
Argentina and Chile are currently the most interesting scenes South America has to offer. Chile, as of this writing, has as many as 25 active wrestling promotions, and with most being based in Santiago (capital of Chile). Argentina has a rich history with the sport, with the very well-known show Titanes del Ring; currently the scene is seeing something similar to a comeback and popularity in wrestling being reignited, and with Legion Nueva Era as one of the most interesting promotions in Argentina.
Besides Chile and Argentina, Brasil and Ecuador have scenes with a lot of growth and potential, as well as a lot of wrestling fans, they just need to be showcased more. Wrestling scenes that shouldn’t be ignore are those of Peru and Colombia as well. Wrestling in South America is growing.
South America has a scene with a lot of potential that very few pay attention, but time will give them the exposure they deserve. Hopefully in a few years, this scene will be noticed more by fans from all over the world.
