If you’re a fan of former Ring of Honor World Champion Rush, he’s part of a neat project with Masked Republic that will release in 2023.
Masked Republic has teamed up with Future House Publishing to make a bilingual trilogy of books that will feature Rush, Dragon Lee, Dralistico, and El Toro Blanco. The book series has been described as fantasy children’s books.
The following is a press release from Masked Republic regarding the upcoming bilingual book series starring The Muñoz Family:
Future House Publishing and Masked Republic Create Bilingual Book Series Centered on Champion Luchadores The Muñoz Family – Dragon Lee, Rush, Dralistico, and El Toro Blanco.
October 15, 2021, Provo, UT — Future House Publishing and Masked Republic are teaming up for an all-new bilingual middle grade series. The trilogy of books will be centered on real-life lucha libre megastars “La Dinistia Muñoz”—brothers Dragon Lee, Rush, and Dralistico, along with their father El Toro Blanco (also known as Bestia del Ring). These fantasy children’s books will feature heartwarming family moments alongside epic fights between the luchadores and terrifying monsters.
The books will be bilingual, filling a need for more authentic Hispanic content for native Spanish speakers. English and Spanish text will be written on side-by-side pages so that bilingual families will be able to enjoy them in whichever language each family member is most comfortable with and those working to learn a second language can enjoy a fun approach to their studies.
Masked Republic’s Director of Development, Hector Rodriguez III, has a background in writing bilingual curriculum for grade-level students. He said, “This collaboration between Masked Republic and Future House truly presents an opportunity to uplift all readers and work toward creating bilingual, bi-literate children who are culturally proficient and embrace diversity.”
“Growing up, I do not remember there being many books with characters with whom I was able to identify,” said Dragon Lee (whose real name is publicly unknown per the long-standing masked lucha libre tradition). “To be part of a series written by and starring Spanish-speaking characters—one that focuses on our culture’s rich traditions both in terms of lucha libre and family—is a real dream come true.”
Dragon Lee is considered one of the greatest high-flying luchadores of the modern era. A multi-time champion in Mexico’s CMLL, Lee is also one of the most popular luchadores in Japan, where he has won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In January of 2019, Lee broke through with American audiences like never before when he signed with Ring of Honor. He is currently both the ROH World Television Champion and one half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions and a star of Lucha Libre AAA.
Dragon Lee’s brother Rush is one of Mexico’s top-drawing superstars, having sold out the historic Arena Mexico multiple times throughout the past decade. In 2014, Rush formed “Los Ingobernables,” the wildly popular faction of rudos (rulebreakers/bad guys) many have compared to the popularity of the NWO during the 1990s pro wrestling boom in the U.S. The eldest Muñoz brother had six championship reigns in CMLL, including the World Light Heavyweight Championship, which he held for nearly two years. In late 2018, Rush joined U.S. based Ring of Honor, where he has held the ROH World Championship twice for more than 500 days combined.
Rush, whose real name is William Arturo Muñoz González, is excited to share the books with his son. “My son already wants to follow in my footsteps and become our family’s first third-generation luchador. He is very excited to read about the monster hunting adventures my brothers and I will go on. But, he knows that we take his education very seriously. My wife and I think that the way the books will feature side-by-side Spanish and English will be a great way for him to be learning in two languages at the same time, maybe without even realizing it.”
Dragon Lee and Rush’s brother, currently known in the lucha world as Dralistico, has been a major star in Mexico’s CMLL promotion for the last nine years and made his Lucha Libre AAA debut this past Saturday night, forming the team of “Los Hermanos Lee” with his younger brother.
Masked Republic founder and CEO Ruben Zamora said of the deal, “Growing up, luchadores were my superheroes. We look forward to teaming with Future House to bring an exciting new story world to middle grade readers which will help add to the still underrepresented number of hispanic children’s titles and retain a truly universal appeal.”
The trilogy will be available in print wherever books are sold, including Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and indie bookstores, as well as on all major ebook platforms. The first novel is expected to release in 2023.
