Lucha Libre Wrestling: A Border Patrol Body Slam Kevin Gordon - The New York Times
go to original July 11, 2013

In a California lucha libre-style wrestling match, Blue Demon Jr., a self-proclaimed defender of Mexican immigrants, does battle against wrestlers who portray United States border patrol agents. (TheNewYorkTimes)

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.

Read the rest at The New York Times

The above Op-Doc video is a short companion piece to a documentary film, still in production, that follows Blue Demon Jr. and Oliver John as they battle it out in the Pro Wrestling Revolution universe.

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