Los Angeles, CA — Founded in Los Angeles in 2002 by Rita D’Albert and Liz Fairbairn Lucha VaVoom has defined itself as being the city’s biggest Cinco De Mayo celebration. Taking over The Mayan Theatre for a two-day extravaganza filled with Mexican masked wrestling, sexy burlesque dancers, and a dose of comedic relief, Lucha VaVoom displayed exactly why its title has held up for over 10 years.
Walking into the theater participants were greeted with loads of photo opportunities, including the Lucha VaVoom floral step and repeat. It was everyone’s first stop before setting their sights on the large wrestling ring set in the middle of the stage. The bright lights and the crowd’s enthusiasm foreshadowed the night’s success. The atmosphere was completely different from a few nights before when UK artist NAO had performed at the same venue.
Commentators, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, Tom Kenny and Patton Oswalt made everyone feel right at home. Their banter and sneak-disses towards one another were timely. The audience was able to see the likes of good and evil duke it out in several wrestling matches as each opponent was gunning to claim their victory. There were multiple wrestlers in triple opponent matches and each of them had very unique names. One, in particular, involved the illustrious trio, The Crazy Chickens. Although there were three of them, their fight was no match for their opponents. They were tossed out of the ring one-by-one and sent running back to the coop.
There were a number of special guests spotted throughout the audience including, Jeff “The Roast Master” Ross. Jeff later joined Tom and Patton in the commentator booth and added his comedic flare to the festivities.
Lucha VaVoom mixes the right amount of action with much-needed sensuality to its event. This year’s burlesque performances included the likes of The LA Roller Girls and New Zealand hula hoop world record holder, Marawa The Amazing. And she is amazing! The LA Roller Girls flexed on their skates to “Down In Mexico” by The Coasters. It was unbelievable to witness what they were able to do on a classic pair of skates. Their jaw-dropping flips and airlifts were enough to send anyone to the nearest hospital. The number of hours put into practicing their routine showed and left the crowd bowing down to their expertise.
Following up their performance was the amazing Marawa and that term is used loosely because she’s beyond that. Stomping onto the stage with aggressiveness and commanding the attention of the audience, no one expected hula hoops to be so entertaining. Swinging over 10 rings around her body while moving and shaking across the corners of the stage Marawa wore her title well. As she prepped to go into another routine, she’d throw a hoop in hopes to intensify the crowd’s participation and it worked like a charm every time. Men were drooling over her.
Continuing on with the night Tom and Patton poked fun at the FYRE Festival disaster and helped a guy pop the question to his lucky lady. There were a few World Star Hip-Hop chants being thrown around too.
Closing out the evening of day one’s festivities was Stu Verio. He had to have one of the most abstract performances of the night. Walking onto the stage he was met with boo’s — no one cared about his performance and it showed. He was his own DJ and provided vocals reminiscent of an annoying chant. Progressing through his set, it was clear that Stu wasn’t here for the audience either and would occasionally spit water on them. He turned the camera woman into a humping post and later jumped off of the stage to grope another. Verio engaged in a striptease as his music changed. First taking off his sequin jacket, then his red silk shirt and later the remainder of his clothing leaving him in the smallest red underwear.
But he wasn’t done — his songs about dogs and his favorite private part filled The Mayan. He used the mic to assist in giving himself a boner and closed out his set with blowing his nose in his sock and casually throwing it into the crowd. It had to be the most outlandish thing ever witnessed, but no one could keep their eyes off of him.
It’s safe to say that Lucha VaVoom’s concoction of the Mexican culture, wrestling, sexy women and absurd men make for the perfect Cinco De Mayo pre-game and game day celebration. It’s an event that has to be witnessed with your own eyes and will change the way you celebrate such a historic day.
The organization is currently setting up for their 15th year anniversary taking place on August 3rd. For more information head over to luchavavoom.com.
Be sure to follow Lucha VaVoom on all social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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