Wrestling Coloring Pages

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in the world and one of the most varied, and these wrestling coloring pages travel through several of its forms: the masks and high flying of lucha libre, the ceremony of sumo, the school gym mat and the big show in a ring full of lights.

The ring pages are made for fans of the spectacle. A caped masked wrestler leaps off the top rope, a champion holds a huge belt over his head, two wrestlers lock arms in the middle of the ring, another climbs the turnbuckle, a masked wrestler walks out through the curtain in a burst of sparks and smoke, and a masked tag team slaps a high five while the referee watches. A woman wrestler with long braids and fringed boots poses by the ropes, a hooded wrestler in an embroidered robe waits in the tunnel, a smiling wrestler high fives the fans on his way down the aisle, and a luchador carries a delighted child on his shoulders through the crowd. One page is simply the empty ring, ropes, turnbuckles and steps, waiting for the match.

The mat pages follow wrestling as a school and Olympic sport. Two kids in headgear face off in the gym, a coach kneels at the edge of the mat, a referee gets down on his hands and knees to watch a pin, a young wrestler bows before his match, two wrestlers shake hands, and a referee raises the hand of a young woman who has just won. Training takes up several pages: a takedown drill on a grappling dummy, a back bridge, a leg stretch, a water break with a towel on the shoulders, a tractor tire flipped across a field and a young wrestler lacing his boots in the locker room.

Sumo has pages of its own: a wrestler raising one leg high for the ceremonial stomp, a whole stable training around the practice ring, and a wrestler sitting cross-legged over a steaming bowl of stew. Lucha libre gets its masks: a mask covered in flames and stars, a chibi luchador flexing on a stool, an old craftsman sewing a mask at his workbench, a luchador riding a bicycle through the market, a cat in a mask on a pile of pillows, a mandala of masks around a championship belt and a border of masks, belts and boots around a roaring face. Two villagers gripping a rope belt in a grassy field show the folk wrestling that still draws crowds at country fairs in many places.

Many sports under one name

What most people call wrestling covers very different things:

• Olympic wrestling has two styles. In freestyle, wrestlers may attack the legs; in Greco-Roman, holds below the waist are not allowed. Wrestling was part of the ancient Olympic Games, and it has been part of the modern Games since the first ones in 1896.
• School wrestling in the United States is mostly folkstyle, wrestled on a round mat in a singlet and headgear, with matches decided by points or a pin.
• Sumo is Japan's national sport. Wrestlers try to push their opponent out of the ring, called the dohyō, or make him touch the ground with anything but the soles of his feet. The high leg stomp before a bout is a ritual.
• Lucha libre is the Mexican style of professional wrestling, famous for its colorful masks and its acrobatic high flyers. A luchador's mask is part of his identity, and losing it in a match is a huge event.
• Professional wrestling is a scripted show, with storylines, entrances and championship belts, where the athleticism is real even if the outcome is planned.

Colors for masks, belts and singlets

The lucha libre pages are the place to go wild: masks are traditionally bold and bright, in red, gold, silver, electric blue and black, often with flames, stars or lightning bolts outlined in a second color. Championship belts are gold with colored jewels on a black or red leather strap. School singlets usually come in two team colors, and the sumo pages look best with a pale clay ring, a dark belt and a wooden stable in warm browns.

Simple fighters and full arenas

The easiest pages keep one wrestler or one mask large on the page, like the chibi luchador and the cat in a mask. They are listed under Quick to color, above the grid:

• Luchador cat
• Lucha libre mask
• Warm up stretch

The crowds, the market and the sumo stable are full of small figures. Lots of detail begins with:

• Mask and belt mandala
• Market ride
• Sumo stable

Design your own mask

The best follow-up to these pages is a blank mask. Print the lucha libre mask page twice: color one as it is, and on the second one, fill the shapes with your own colors and symbols. Children love inventing a wrestling name to go with it, and a mask with an animal, a favorite food or a superpower hidden in the design becomes a character of their own. Cut the eye holes out and tie a ribbon on each side, and it is ready for the living room ring.

Printing a night at the matches

Every page is a free A4 PDF drawn at 300 dpi. A4 prints at full size, and on US Letter "fit to page" shrinks the drawing by about six percent so every rope and belt stays on the paper. The printing guide shows the setting. Add to pack puts a whole card of matches into one file. More sports are in the sports coloring pages, the football coloring pages and the basketball coloring pages, and more masked heroes in the superhero coloring pages.