Call me a sucker for old school wrestling but even as a kid, I loved the idea of wrestlers losing a match and getting their head shaved. It was simple enough for even a kid to understand: if this guy loses, he will be embarrassed by his opponent and walk around bald. Wrestling is at its best when it is simple. So what happened? Over the past few years, we have seen less and less of these matches and when they do happen, like on AEW Rampage for October 1st, 2021, it is for a nothing feud that isn't treated with the same respect or huge nature that the ones of the past have.
I guess the first thing we should cover is: "What is a Lucha de Apuestas match?" Simply translated it means matches with wages. In other words, one or both opponents put up either their mask, hair, title or even career at times. The first one took place on July 14, 1940 between Murciélago and Octavio Gaona with Gaona being victorious and Murciélago being forced to unmask. With this, a tradition that is still active in lucha libre was born.
In the past these simple but effective feuds all over the territories in the past and even in more moden companies like WWE, WCW, and TNA. One of the most memorable feuds I remember from being a kid was Jeff Jarrett spending months cutting other people's hair only to lose against X-Pac at Summerslam 1998 to lose his hair. There was also the fantastic Edge vs. Kurt Angle Hair vs. Hair Match, which would give Angle his iconic look for the remainder of his career and also the Punk vs. Rey Mysterio match with Punk losing his hair and spending months under a mask. These are all phenomenal examples of modern usages of a Lucha de Apuestas match.
It is frustrating to see time and time again companies and wrestlers throw away money by not turning a simple haircut into a feud. One of the biggest modern examples is Baron Corbin. All throughout Corbin's WWE run, he had long black rockstar hair that looked like shit because he was balding on the top of his head. It was a bad look, but it weirdly worked because he was a heel. In April of 2018, Corbin randomly appeared on TV with a new look and no hair. He was shaved bald! WWE even posted a video on social media showing Corbin getting his "new look". Why wasn't this done as an angle?
Let me paint you a picture: Corbin spends weeks and months mocking a babyface on Smackdown. The draft comes along and Corbin is drafted to Raw. He makes a big speech about how he was a dominant force on Smackdown and blah blah heel shit, only for his babyface opponent to appear and demand one last match with Corbin before he leaves the brand. Corbin agrees but at a price: if he wins, the babyface will have his head shaved bald. The babyface agrees but only if Corbin's hair is on the line too. Corbin agrees because he is a cocky heel and the match is set.
You build it up for a few weeks, maybe Corbin shaves the head of a jobber, a referee or someone backstage. Something to add some heat to this. On the go-home show before the PPV, you have the babyface get his hands on Corbin and tease cutting his hair and maybe he cuts a little piece off. Just enough to make the fans want to see it on PPV. We go to the PPV and naturally the babyface wins and Corbin is shaved bald to a big pop. Maybe even have the people that Corbin humiliated on TV in the build-up help out as well. So now, the babyface got a big win and looks like someone for beating the big heel and Corbin goes to Raw and is able to get his heat back with his new look. On top of all that you gave the people a real feud with stakes and consequences for losing and something to look forward to on PPV. So tell me: what was better pro wrestling? An angle with a PPV payoff or a wrestler just showing up with a new look for no reason?
This is just one case of a wrestler getting rid of their long hair with no reason or angle on TV. Doplh Ziggler at one point in April of 2011 was given a "new look" and had his trademark long blonde hair cut and dyed brown. This was JUST after Wrestlemania and would have easily been a Wrestlemania angle to give Ziggler and his opponent a nice boost for the big PPV. Instead, Ziggler showed up on Raw with a new look that made him look like everyone else on the roster and made him stand out less. It lowered him, and he didn't even get a big PPV payday and feud out of it. Rusev, or Miro as he is known in AEW, hurt himself by showing up for TV with his hair cut. This reportedly caused some people in the office to be upset and it is easy to see why. This could have easily been an angle or feud for TV but instead this brute of a man just showed up with a new haircut for no reason.
These are just a few examples of money being left on the table for what could have easily been angles to help these get over on TV, help their opponent get over, and give us an easy to follow and logical storyline. Even Ring of Honor was smart enough to use a wrestler wanting to get rid of their long hair as an angle. In World Title feuds with Adam Cole, both Michael Elgin in 2014 and Jay Lethal in 2016 had their trademark mullet and dreadlocks respectively cut by Adam Cole and his teammates on TV in the build up to their PPV title match. In return, Cole got a lot of heat for this, the babyfaces got over and the match made money because it was on PPV. Wrestling is at its best when it is simple.
There is another kind of Lucha de Apuestas as well. This one is even more important because the wrestlers aren't fighting over their hair, they are fighting for their very identity, the symbol that their fans rally behind: their mask. Mask vs. Mask matches are a rarity now in America and even more when we do get the more common Hair vs. Mask or Title vs. Mask match, more often than not the wrestler risking their mask doesn't lose. There are obvious exceptions as during the Monday Night Wars, WCW had several luchadors lose their masks on TV, only for most of them to put them back on in Mexico or other promotions.
To this day in Mexico, AAA and CMLL usually feature at least one big Lucha de Apuesta every year. While a multitude of wrestlers such as La Sombra (or Andrade El Idolo), El Hijo del Fantasma (or Santos Escobar), Villano III and Dr. Wagner Jr. have lost their masks in these matches, the more common result is a wrestler losing their hair. However, they still make the hair cutting feel important. In fact, AAA usually has a Lucha de Apuesta main event Triplemania, their Wrestlemania show. The lucha libre inspired Dragon Gate makes a big spectacle of unmasking or shaving a wrestlers head with their Dead or Alive PPV, which commonly has the stipulation attached to their main event. Why doesn't America use this stipulation as wisely?
With the rising influence and interest in lucha libre starting up again in the United States maybe we will see a resurrection of sorts in this classic wrestling stipulation. We already have seen the glorious and gory return of War Games to wrestling with NXT, MLW and AEW, so maybe Lucha de Apuesta matches are next? Maybe we can see Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus risk their hair and masks respectively for a shot at the AEW Tag Team Titles. Maybe The New Day and The Usos will revive their great tag team feud and risk their hair for one last shot at each other. Maybe we will see the big rematch of The Young Bucks vs.The Lucha Brothers this time with hair and masks on the line! We will just have to wait and see, but I truly hope we don't let a classic and simple wrestling stipulation fade away into history. After all: wrestling is at its best when it is simple.
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