‘Border Patrol Body Slam’

By Kevin Gordon, New York Times

A year ago, I stumbled across a Pro Wrestling Revolution show in the Mission District of San Francisco and soon found myself standing up and screaming, “Mexico, Mexico!” along with an almost entirely Latino crowd. The promoter Gabriel Ramirez wanted to bring lucha libre, traditional Mexican-style professional wrestling, to the United States. When he dressed American professional wrestlers as Border Patrol agents to play the main villains, he knew he had a lucrative idea that would appeal to Latino audiences. More than entertainment, however, what he built is a type of Theater of the Oppressed, where social hierarchies are turned upside down and where, unlike in some media coverage, the Mexicans are the heroes.

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[Screenshot courtesy NewYork Times/Kevin Gordon]

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