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The Season of Smackdown

Posted: Jun 21st 2011 By: CMBurnham

A few years ago, Boston Avenue was desolate after 5 p.m.

Now, patrons crowd the sidewalk late into the evening at Elot? Caf? & Catering just to catch an update on Tulsa?s newest craze: masked wrestling.

The Elot? Luchador Wrestling Federation, modeled after one of Mexico?s most popular sports, stemmed from what was meant to be a one-time marketing ploy for Cinco de Mayo last year.

?There was such a demand for it,? said co-owner Libby Auld. ?People loved coming to watch it, and we?re always wanting to do something new to attract attention.?

While around 250 attended the debut, the cozy eatery had to take the ring outside for at least 2,000, a nearly tenfold fan base, only a year later at the 2011 fiesta.

One of the bartenders, Dane Tannehill, trains the family of grapplers, which has grown from a handful of volunteers to a few dozen part-time employees.

?Dane is the blood of the federation,? Auld said. ?He?s like a little boy. He gets just as excited as my 7-year-old.?

The ELWF practically has become a business within a business. The restaurant holds the same license as the BOK Center and SpiritBank Event Center do to host wrestling, mixed martial arts and boxing, and colorful T-shirts characterizing the luchadores hang near the bar to be sold. Members of the federation even have to go through a taut application process.

?They really have to prove themselves,? Auld said. ?They have to be Elot? Luchador Wrestling Federation material.?

During the masked wrestling season, which runs from Cinco de Mayo to its other outdoor bash, Luchapalooza, in the beginning of October, showdowns take place every first and third Thursday of the month. The off-season features themed exhibition matches.

With a broken nose, two cracked ribs and a concussion ? as well as ?quite a few toes and fingers? ? as proof, Auld said, this wrestling is as good as fake gets.

?We try to make it as real as possible,? Tannehill agreed.

But while the entertainment is such a complement to the business side of 514 S. Boston Ave., the impetus has never been revenue.

?Quite frankly, we couldn?t even afford it in the beginning,? Auld said. ?We kind of opened the bar out of necessity. There is a higher margin on alcohol than there is on healthy food at a cheap price.

?Ultimately, we just do it to have fun. It has impacted business positively, definitely, but really it?s the residual effect we get from it. People come here because they want to see the luchadores, but while they?re here they?re like, ?Man, this place is kind of cool? and ?Oh, I didn?t know they had organic Mexican.? Then you?ll see them the next day in line.

?We?re really showing people there?s something going on down here. That?s the added bonus.?

Auld said she hopes the unique activity inspires others to bring more to the Deco District.

?I would love to see more restaurants and retail move down here,? Auld said. ?This is the perfect area to grow because there are a lot of buildings with vacant ground floors.?

The luchadores inspire not only new tenants, but also the service community.

Locals may have seen them ? clad in their wrestling getups ? handing out refreshments at Tulsa Tough or testing their endurance at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and Undie Run to raise money for good causes.

?They do things in the community all the time that are just hilarious and fun,? Auld said. ?