For over four decades, El Hijo del Santo has carried one of the most iconic masks in sports history — a symbol of Mexican pride, mystery, and resilience. This autumn, he returns to London for his final UK performances at The Greatest Spectacle of Lucha Libre, held at York Hall, Bethnal Green on Friday 31 October & Saturday 1 November 2025, as part of a vibrant Día de Muertos celebration. From family legacy to cultural identity, El Hijo del Santo’s career has transcended wrestling to become a story of heritage and heart. We caught up with El Hijo del Santo to talk about saying farewell, passing the torch to Santo Jr., and what the mask truly means.
Interview with El Hijo del Santo
Lucha Libre is Mexico’s most popular sport, it is deep-rooted amongst Mexican audiences.
Lucha Libre, more than anything, is a contact sport and a place where people can interact with the luchadores (wrestlers) and be part of the spectacle. This is an important part of why people have fallen in love with Lucha Libre. You can take your whole family to an event where everyone can express their support for “rudos” (heels) or tecnicos (faces), and this involvement and interaction that people have with wrestlers is what makes Lucha Libre very exciting. All this on top of everything that Lucha Libre symbolises, masks and characters.
This year’s show coincides with Día de Muertos, a celebration of life, memory, and spirit. How does that tradition resonate with you, and what role does it play in your farewell performance?
“Dia de Muertos” is a celebration that is very important for Mexicans, the 1st and 2nd of November we celebrate our dead who have transcended from this world, and obviously it is sad, but on this day, we celebrate with “altars” that have food, and offerings that our dead loved in life.
At these events we will have an altar for our dead… it is a union of Lucha Libre and Dia de Muertos. There are characters in Lucha Libre that represent death like Los Hermanos Muerte who were famous in the times of El Santo, Los Cadaveres, Los Espectro, and for this occasion we have invited an iconic wrestler, El Hijo de LA Park, whose character is a skeleton, which audiences will love.
Lucha Libre and Dia de Muertos have a lot in common, El Santo in many of his films fought against death.
→ For more cultural events in Shoreditch, explore our feature on Things to Do in Shoreditch.
The mask has always been central to Lucha Libre’s mythology — a symbol of mystery, honour, and identity. How do you see its meaning evolving for modern audiences?
Masks in Lucha Libre have been hugely influenced by our Mexican ancient cultures. The Mayas, the Olmecas, the Aztecs wore masks from different animals for their wars, they wore masks of Jaguars, Coyotes and more. Mexican Lucha Libre is known for mask wearing wrestlers, a tradition that involves each wrestler creating their own character and persona that they feel they can transmit to audiences. If their personality is aggressive, they will look for an evil character and will be a luchador rudo, and the luchador who enjoys discipline will look for a mask that represents what is positive and good.
Today, many wrestling companies in the USA and beyond have started using masks as we do in Mexico, to create new characters.
During our London show you will see so many masks of different colours and designs. Masks are becoming more colourful and intricate, in the past they were more simple, like my mask that has always been the same.
El Santo was successful when he started… as his character was that of a saint, he needed to be a good wrestler, one that would follow the rules… but it was the opposite, he was a rebel, a rudo luchador, and this made audiences rebel too. It was a hook with audiences. This success made it possible for him to feature in films and build a following in Asia, America and other parts of the world and his mask is a symbol that represents Mexico, in international events like the world cup it is often used, it is important.
You’ve carried one of the most iconic masks in wrestling history — and a name synonymous with Mexican culture. What does the El Santo legacy mean to you personally, and how have you made it your own?
My father achieved the feat of having the mask and the name rooted in Mexican culture with enormous thanks to comic books, the Lucha Libre films he starred in, and of course, what he could perform within the ring. He is such a larger-than-life character, and it wasn’t easy for me to take on his mask and become El Hijo del Santo. I believe I made the legacy my own by primarily carrying the name of El Hijo del Santo. I wanted to make it clear to the public that our personas are different, there is El Santo and then there’s his son. El Hijo del Santo has his own style, his own character and the public responded to this with love and support. I am very fortunate to have had the publics following for 43 years, and to continue this with the next generation.
These 43 years have spanned 3 generations of luchadores. One generation that have fought against El Santo, and El Hijo del Santo. The second generation are the children of those luchadores, many have fought against me, and now those children are parents too. I carry the name El Hijo del Santo because it has given me many triumphs and because I don’t want to betray the name of El Santo. El Hijo del Santo is my own persona, it was born with me in 1982.
Your influence has inspired generations of wrestlers worldwide, from Mexico to the U.S. and beyond. Looking back, what moments stand out as defining your journey — both in and out of the ring?
For me it gives me a lot of pride to be, and I want to be, an example or an inspiration for future generations, because the career of El Hijo del Santo has been a largely successful one, spanning 43 years of history. Careers within Lucha Libre are as they are with any profession, they need to tell a story. The story of El Hijo del Santo is based on championship wins, world championships, international championships, in masks, scalps and other trophies won. The luchador that hasn’t won scalps and masks doesn’t have a story; they don’t have that strength in their career which is why many young luchadors look to the career of El Hijo del Santo. Independently from my wrestling career one of my achievements is taking on the persona of El Santo and creating a brand, we have achieved a business creating products such as t-shirts, masks, hats, accessories and all other forms of merchandise. That is another part that many luchadores see and become inspired by, and they create businesses from their own personas. It brings me great pride that the next generation are inspired by El Santo and by El Hijo del Santo.
This year’s Greatest Spectacle of Lucha Libre marks your farewell performances in the UK. How does it feel to bring your legendary career to a close here in London, a city that has embraced Lucha Libre with such passion?
To say goodbye in London for me signifies an enormous nostalgia, London opened its doors to us back in 2008, 2010 and we’ve always had great success here. The public slowly started to get to know Mexican Lucha Libre, they’ve gotten involved with the luchadores and their personas and that brings great happiness to all of us luchadores present in London. Of course, this will be the last time El Hijo del Santo fights in this incredible city and that obviously makes me really sad because I need to say goodbye to the public here, but at the same time I feel glad because I believe the British public will be happy to accompany me in this farewell.
Sharing the ring with your son, Santo Jr., must be incredibly emotional. What has it been like to pass the torch to the next generation and see your family’s legacy continue?
I feel extremely happy that Santo Jr will carry the legacy. I think it’s important for everyone to know that it was in London that Santo Jr made his debut in 2015 and is now continuing his career. He has all the tools to make a great luchador, he has stature, good weight, good technique and now I leave him to fly solo. To fight alongside him in the ring for me is a beautiful thing, it is something I would have loved to do with my father. To now have him in my corner is very emotional and I believe that for him it is important as well as emotional, it is important to fight in the same corner as El Hijo del Santo. To leave this mask and this persona in the hands of the next generation, I have a lot of faith and trust that this legacy will continue living across the corners of the world and of course, in London.
As you prepare for your final UK performances, what message would you like to share with the fans who have followed your incredible career across borders and decades?
To all the generations that came before me and to all those new generations in Europe and across the world, I would love you to keep supporting Lucha Libre. Lucha Libre is such a spectacular and family friendly sport and to keep supporting our Mexican wrestlers.
Now, this legacy will continue in the hands of my son, Santo Jr, the blood of my blood. The legend of Santo is like the crown of a king, it must go from parents to their children. It gives me so much pride because today Santo Jr is the new Santo, and El Hijo del Santo will retire from the ring. I will keep working under this persona to bring you more surprises. We will see what these surprises will be, perhaps an expo showcasing the history of El Santo with historical memorabilia that I want to show the world with all my love.
I will see you soon and enjoy our Mexican Lucha Libre!
xxx
THE GREATEST SPECTACLE OF LUCHA LIBRE
Venue: York Hall, Bethnal Green, London
Dates: Friday 31 October & Saturday 1 November 2025
Doors open: 7:00 pm | Show starts: 8:00 pm
Tickets: www.luchalibreworld.com