The March 24 episode of WWE RAW featured the debut of El Grande Americano, which was just Chad Gable’s alter ego. The company provided some backstory for Americano by giving him an AI-generated vignette, and he was billed as reigning from the Gulf of America. With that said, it appears that WWE has now received heat from the lucha community in Mexico due to the character.
While speaking during Sportskeeda WrestleBinge’s Live Q&A, WrestleVotes talked about how people reacted to the El Grande Americano character. While WWE officials liked the match, many fans in Mexico were unhappy with it.
It was noted that some lucha fans felt WWE was making fun of their tradition. In Mexico, lucha libre is very important, almost like a religion. People were also upset that the commentators didn’t react strongly when Dragon Lee lost his mask. In the past, unmasking moments were treated as a big deal. Even though WWE built up the story well, old-school lucha fans were still very upset.
>“They may have shown praise backstage, but the Lucha community in Mexico is p***** off. I spoke to people. If you really think that making what they called a mockery of true Luchadors, you know, that’s like a religion in Mexico. It’s not like, you know, like a funny thing, it’s like a religion. It’s like mocking their religion.>Also, when Dragon Lee was unmasked, they just let him lie there. The broadcasters were not as outraged as people would have been back in the WCW days, ‘Oh my god, This is a tradition in Mexico.’ They built it up very, very well. But from what I understand, as I said, the traditional old school luchadors and the fans that follow that tradition like a religion in Mexico were very upset.”https://www.ringsidenews.com/2025/03/26/mexican-lucha-community-furious-over-wwes-portrayal-of-el-grande-americano-character/ 