Lucha Libre and Laughs Celebrates Ten Years of Throwing Down

Comedian and wrestling promoter Nick Gossert thought Lucha Libre and Laughs would be a "one and done" kind of event.

"I didn't expect it to be more than a one-time silly thing we would do and have fun memories," he admits.

Ten years later, it's not just a show, but a local institution — a mix of comedy and wrestling performances that attracts top-shelf independent talent, regularly sells out the Oriental Theater and is frequently cited as one of Denver's best comedy nights.

Initially drawing mainly from the area's lucha libre talent (theatrical wrestlers with colorful masks and high-flying moves), the program has kept its moniker while expanding its scope to include American- and Japanese-style wrestling performances with an anything-goes flair.

"You'll have a masked woman winning the title, and then two minutes later you'll have a fabulous gay man in a pink jacket come out and beat the crap out of a cowboy," says Gossert. "It's the silliest possible mix of the awesomest people imaginable."

To commemorate reaching the somewhat unexpected decade milestone, Gossert is presenting what promises to be one of his best events yet with the Best Wishes Warmest Regards anniversary show. The celebration takes place Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, at the Oriental, with two full nights of wrestlers from around the world combined with the comic commentary that the program is known for.

For commentary, Gossert has lured back the fan-favorite comedy team that helped launch the program, Nathan Lund and Sam Tallent.

"I like to compare us to [legendary wrestling commentators] Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon, because they had a very specific type of chemistry," says Lund. "They fought like an old couple, they were hilarious, and they knew what they were doing as far as adding to a show...so I like to think that we pattern ourselves a little more after the two of them than any other duo commentary team."

Like Gossert, Lund and Tallent have been a part of the "Triple L" program since the beginning. All three were at a Wrestlemania viewing session ten years ago when Gossert made the initial pitch. As a longtime wrestling geek and local comic, Gossert had been dabbling in promoting the sport for comedy festivals and felt there was some intriguing chemistry between the two entertainments.

"There was just kind of something in the energy, about how it matched," Gossert remembers. "And it kind of marinated in my brain for about a year, [until] we were all sitting around watching Wrestlemania...and I was just telling everybody in the room, "Hey, I've got this silly idea, what does everybody think about it?' And everybody in the room was like, 'Heck, yeah, that sounds awesome.'"
Lund and Tallent both had the comedy chops and encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling needed for the fast-paced match commentary. "When I came up with this dumb idea, [Tallent] and Lund were the guys I knew that had good chemistry, were quick on their feet and were funny enough to carry it," Gossert explains.

"He trusted Nathan Lund and I enough to give us the ball," adds Tallent, giving Gossert the lion's share of the credit. "He has just created this force that I'm so grateful to be a part of. And now not only do professional wrestlers from all over the world [take part]...also standup comedians look at it as a notch on their bedpost, as far as to typify that they're doing well in Denver."

The first scrappy shows saw the three comedians making frequent tweaks, but also provided lots of laughs. Tallent recalls a typical situation a wrestler might have encountered in the early days.

"You work out every day and you watch what you eat and you try to get really good at wrestling," he says dryly, "and you then you show up and they're like, 'Okay, this guy's going to sit on you for a while.'"

"The better wrestlers took a little while to realize that this was something that was worthwhile," adds Gossert. "So you'd have a lot of guys...who came to a couple shows in part because they were like, 'What the hell is this thing?'"

As more performers began to check out the show, it became more stylistically inclusive.

"It did start out with more of a template...tied into the local lucha scene," says Gossert. "I was trying to make it like a very distinct thing, and it just mutated very quickly to bring in the best kinds of wrestlers across the board as opposed to making it more of a costume thing."

Lucha Libre and Laughs remains completely unaffiliated to larger wrestling organizations, and "that's why you'll get all the great independent talent," explains Gossert. "You'll get New Japan talent, you'll get Tokyo Joshi princess talent, you'll get AEW talent, Impact Wrestling talent. ... It's the benefit of being what in wrestling is called a 'super indie.' You get toward that top of the food chain and success, and everyone wants to do the show, but you're not tethered by contracts or allegiances to bigger products, so we're allowed to get the best fun-loving people from every direction."
That diversity of talent will be on full display at the anniversary show, with an all-star lineup including three-time Princess of Princess Champion Miyu Yamashita, "Weapon of Sass Destruction" Effy and AAW Women's Champion Masha Slamovitch.

"I mean, either one of these nights would be one of the best shows we've ever done," says Gossert, "and we're doing two of them back to back."

He's still a bit flabbergasted by the program's runaway success. "We've lucked out, and we've transcended to just be part of Denver nightlife. We became the party show where people [are] like, 'Whoa! What the hell is this?' — and then you also have the hardcore wrestling fans who are like, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe this huge star is here in Denver and I get to see them!' You get like this weird mix of people where you know they're coming together just to have a great time and party, and the wrestling and the comedy is the weird cocktail that brought them in the door," he says.

But Gossert's cohorts say his success is no mystery.

"Nick is equal parts ringleader, charlatan, flim-flam man, backdoor man, second-story man...no, I'm kidding," Tallent says. "Nick's really done something that is remarkable, and I'm really proud of him and happy for him."

Lucha Libre and Laughs Ten Year Anniversary Weekend, 8 p.m. Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, Oriental Theater, 4335 West 44th Avenue, $20-$125, holdmyticket.com.