Dubbed the “Salad Bowl of the World,” the Salinas Valley is recognized as one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States. Lesser known, though, is that 80 percent of Salinas’ 160,000 residents are Hispanic, making Salinas, the city with the eighth-highest concentration of Latinx people in the United States.
It is a community located in the shadows of the Monterey Peninsula, an affluent California enclave that is home to a long list of A-list celebrities and politicians and host to the ritzy Pebble Beach golf course. But there is another sport that thrives in Salinas: Lucha Libre.
As a kid, I was glued to the TV, watching high-fliers like Ultimo Dragon, Rey Mysterio, and Juventud Guerrera. I was fascinated by the masked wrestlers that made the leap from the Mexican wrestling leagues to the World Wrestling Federation stage.
But beyond the theatrics of the sport, there is deep cultural significance to its fans in Mexico and abroad. Arena Salinas, founded by Adrian “Kid Azteca” Sanchez, has been hosting Lucha Libre shows in Salinas since 2017. Sanchez started his own wrestling career 35 years ago, and continued the tradition after relocating from Hidalgo, Mexico, as a way of bringing the sport to the Salinas Valley.
Over the years, Arena Sanchez has featured stars of the Cosenjo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co. (the Mexican equivalent of the WWE) like Hechicero, El Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis, Lluvia, Jarochita, Lady Apache and more but, in my opinion, the stable of local talent is the beating heart of this community.
Over the course of several months, I’ve had the pleasure of watching local talent like Los Nuevos Gringos Locos, Tuko Montes, Anarkya Katy, Kalibuz, Diablo Azteca, and many more put their bodies on the line for a crowd of fans that range from kids to grandparents. When not wrestling in Salinas, these luchadors wrestle throughout the Bay Area and have visited the Mission District at John O’Connell High School and elsewhere. There is a level of pride in this craft that goes beyond the ring, and which makes up for the physical toll it takes, if you do it long enough. But to these luchadors, in the end, the bruises are worth it because, in Salinas, they shine.
Beer, popcorn, drama, looks like fun.