When Cody Rhodes, at the beginning of his music, says “Wrestling has more than one royal family”, it has a very different meaning to me than to most. Of course, he’s talking about the Rhodes name, but for a Lucha Libre fan? You have no idea how many royal names exist. I can talk about the legacy and the heritage of the names like “Santo”, but instead we are going to focus on a very specific on that most people don’t immediately recognize: Muñoz.
It’s not often that two siblings, let alone three, can claim that they own the top of the card in a promotion since the time of the Von Erichs. In CMLL that is exactly the case. With two out of the three brothers recently joining ROH, and the increasingly changing landscape of pro wrestling, La Dinastia Muñoz is on the cusp of taking over the wrestling world. It all started with El Toro Blanco.
To say that CMLL superstar Rush is on the rise would both be an understatement, and false. He has been on top of the CMLL card for years now, he is a mainstay on the Friday Night Arena Mexico Show. He is a large part of pop culture in Mexico, and is one of the lead causes of one of your favorite Pro Wrestling Tees shirt. While he displays many rudo (heel) tendencies, he considered himself un technico differente (different type of babyface). He followed the path that many wrestling giants took to become popular. A once a popular babyface that was part of a trio’s team with Marco Corleone (former WWE superstar Mark Jindrak) and exotico Maximo, they were known as El Bufete de Amor.
Once the stable disbanded, the crowd turned on him, known as the most hated wrestler on the CMLL roster by fans, it wasn’t until he became a cocky, arrogant wrestler did his stock begin to rise. It was in 2014 that he and La Sombra would form Los Ingobernables. From there, they would go to create riots in Mexico, an arguably more popular chapter in Japan, and begin a takeover of the United States, all while being TRANQUILO. Between them, and their Japanese Chapter Los Ingobernables de Japon, thousands of shirts are sold out of Pro Wrestling Tees. The Ungovenables started in 2014, as La Sombra and Rush became despised by the CMLL faithful, they decided to turn heel, and in quite possibly the most heel move ever, do not recognize themselves as heels. In the Black and White world of rudos, or technicos in CMLL, to present a new concept as more of a gray area such as Steve Austin, took CMLL by storm. Los Ingobernables are main eventers in CMLL, and their current, and former members are not only ubiquitous but growing. In fact, Major promotion in the world has either an alumnus, or current member of Los Ingobernables, and they are keeping it TRANQUILO.
His brothers are fellow main eventers Mistico (the second version) and Dragon Lee. While they all have a complicated history as rivals and tag partners, these brothers have effectively taken over CMLL with their charisma and unique characters. Dragon Lee and Mistico have made their debuts for larger American promotions, with Rush signing in Ring of Honor this opens the door for more Luchadores to enter the promotion. Dragon Lee, of course, is best known for his rivalry with Hiromu Takahashi. Their rivalry began in Mexico, having a series of stellar matches in Arena Mexico. Dragon Lee is so popular he participated in the Mexican version of Exathlon, a fitness-based competition. Ironically, the current Dragon Lee, is not the first. The first Dragon Lee is also the second Mistico. When the original Mistico left CMLL, Dragon Lee was given that gimmick, and he passed The Dragon Lee name to his brother. The now current Dragon Lee. Lucha Libre names can be confusing.
All three men have incredible histories in Arena Mexico, all of the carrying a name, with pride in themselves and each other. Two of the three have signed exclusive contracts in the US with Ring of Honor. This is great for Lucha Libre fans, but more importantly, ROH fans should be excited.
The biggest impact noticed about the fact that Rush and Dragon Lee being signed, is the number of eyeballs added to Ring of Honor. While the internet is definitely helped, the common Lucha Libre fan in Mexico only knows of WWE, maybe Impact. The amount of people that just learned of ROH is staggering. This also includes Hispanic fans in the United States. Rush is an absolute superstar; his brother is already established with ROH fans with his feud with Hiromu. ROH just gained Hispanic stars that they can run with, and they’re already made. They’ve hit the jackpot. Ring of Honor is truly beginning to recognize that power of Lucha Libre. While they’ve had Lucha stars before, they’ve always been on the undercard as filler matches. Ring of Honor was always more preoccupied with British and Japanese wrestling. Roh has always had a roster full of highflyers, inspired by Lucha Libre, yet no actual Lucha Libre on their active roster. La Dinastia Muñoz, and possibly other major Lucha stars, coming to Ring of Honor is one of the best developments in the Lucha Libre world, as well a pro wrestling in general. It’s a great time to be a fan.
Al final,
Pase lo que pase, no pasa nada.
