Cholita Wrestling, Part II
We quickly realize that this is what we'd expected: entertainment, rather than any real-life bouts, if there were any lingering doubts about that. You can tell that many smacks and thumps are mere grazes that barely touch the hairline, that wrestlers who are bodyslammed easily bounce off the mat as if they'd just been tossed onto a bed of cotton.
Most matches are quite predictable, and the fan favorite will win. What is even more remarkable is the political incorrectness of it all. While we are munching on popcorn and downing water or beer, this puny little wrestling association is not above pitting men against women, or alleged straight against alleged homosexual.
The first cholita we see in action has the misfortune not so much as having to fight a man twice her size but being subjected to the whims of the ref, one Mr. Ramiro, a pin-striped ref who has never called a fair match in his life and is not below dishing out a little punishment of his own to wrestlers as he sees fit. In this case, it's the cholita who bears the brunt of his punishment. Mr. Ramiro is ridiculously biased, meaning the three count the cholita would need to win the match takes a full hour, and the cholita is frequently tripped up once there's a promising series of punches or haymakers she is able to muster against her opponent. The match ends when the crooked ref is thrown out of the arena and led off by security guards. Predictably enough, the cholita wins, the audience gleefully laps this up, and it's on to the next match. In between, both she and her opponent are sent crashing into the row where we are sitting, so we need to move quickly so as not to get crushed by either wrestler.
Finally two cholitas are pitted against each other. One of them is Rebecca La Loca, who quickly confirms how she has earned the name. She smashes everything from tables and chairs to wooden crates over her opponent, helps herself to various other illegal tools like water bottles, and finally produces a pair of sheers that she claims will help her cut her opponent's hair. She manages to tie the braids of her opponent to the ropes of the ring. Somehow Rebecca's opponent is freed and proceeds to win the match, but not before Rebecca La Loca is disqualified for her illegal use of a ladder that she produces from underneath the ring.
In between we see matches featuring Frankenstein and later the big bad wolf. Needless to say, the wolf enters the arena in grand style, clearing many of the seats that were occupied by little kids. Frankenstein is remarkable in that he goes after everybody, including the ref and fans sitting ringside.
The last match pits another cholita against a guy wearing tights in hot pink…of course this feeds right into the audience's feeding frenzy who chant maricon (queer) every chance they get. You have the cholita doing everything from grabbing the maricon's private parts to prancing around the ring mocking the guy's supposed queer behavior. Again, not something the political correct audience in the west would stand for, but if you need a phony enemy, people here seem to know who they are, given their limited means.
When we finally leave the arena, we are freezing and find out why.
As we board the bus, there is actual snow coming down from the skies of El Alto. This, after 75 degrees earlier in the day? Unreal, but then again so was the spectacle we just witnessed in that run down old gym.
Most matches are quite predictable, and the fan favorite will win. What is even more remarkable is the political incorrectness of it all. While we are munching on popcorn and downing water or beer, this puny little wrestling association is not above pitting men against women, or alleged straight against alleged homosexual.
The first cholita we see in action has the misfortune not so much as having to fight a man twice her size but being subjected to the whims of the ref, one Mr. Ramiro, a pin-striped ref who has never called a fair match in his life and is not below dishing out a little punishment of his own to wrestlers as he sees fit. In this case, it's the cholita who bears the brunt of his punishment. Mr. Ramiro is ridiculously biased, meaning the three count the cholita would need to win the match takes a full hour, and the cholita is frequently tripped up once there's a promising series of punches or haymakers she is able to muster against her opponent. The match ends when the crooked ref is thrown out of the arena and led off by security guards. Predictably enough, the cholita wins, the audience gleefully laps this up, and it's on to the next match. In between, both she and her opponent are sent crashing into the row where we are sitting, so we need to move quickly so as not to get crushed by either wrestler.
Finally two cholitas are pitted against each other. One of them is Rebecca La Loca, who quickly confirms how she has earned the name. She smashes everything from tables and chairs to wooden crates over her opponent, helps herself to various other illegal tools like water bottles, and finally produces a pair of sheers that she claims will help her cut her opponent's hair. She manages to tie the braids of her opponent to the ropes of the ring. Somehow Rebecca's opponent is freed and proceeds to win the match, but not before Rebecca La Loca is disqualified for her illegal use of a ladder that she produces from underneath the ring.
In between we see matches featuring Frankenstein and later the big bad wolf. Needless to say, the wolf enters the arena in grand style, clearing many of the seats that were occupied by little kids. Frankenstein is remarkable in that he goes after everybody, including the ref and fans sitting ringside.
The last match pits another cholita against a guy wearing tights in hot pink…of course this feeds right into the audience's feeding frenzy who chant maricon (queer) every chance they get. You have the cholita doing everything from grabbing the maricon's private parts to prancing around the ring mocking the guy's supposed queer behavior. Again, not something the political correct audience in the west would stand for, but if you need a phony enemy, people here seem to know who they are, given their limited means.
When we finally leave the arena, we are freezing and find out why.
As we board the bus, there is actual snow coming down from the skies of El Alto. This, after 75 degrees earlier in the day? Unreal, but then again so was the spectacle we just witnessed in that run down old gym.
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