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And now, Rey Fenix!
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Lucha Libre is a type
of professional wrestling
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that originated in Mexico
over 140 years ago.
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Made popular by the
legendary wrestler El Santo,
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the image of a masked luchador
has become synonymous with
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Mexican culture
throughout the world.
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When Mexican wrestlers
introduced Lucha Libre to
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American audiences, it reshaped
what it meant to be a wrestler
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with their high
top aerial style.
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And in return, US dollars
poured into the hands of
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Mexico's top performers,
with contracts to wrestle
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in the United States.
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But the latest American election
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has thrown all of
this into question.
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I've come to Tijuana to meet
the next generation of stars
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and promoters pushing
Lucha Libre forward,
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and learn how the
Trump administration's
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regressive policies toward
the US-Mexican border
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have left their access to
the United States -
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and most importantly
US dollars - in question.
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Oh.
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There you are!
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Sounds pretty good.
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Oh my god, look at those lips!
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Those are yours.
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Those are your lips!
Look, they're big!
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I need to see your nose.
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Take off your mask.
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It's mine.
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It's mine!
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It's mine now!
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So always I say my breakfast,
my lunch and my dinner is Lucha,
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is wrestling, because I can eat,
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but at the same time
I think in my mind.
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My mind is work, you know.
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You're about to
become a parent.
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Would you want your child to
follow in your footsteps
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and kind of go where you
and your brother went?
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Would you want your
child to become a luchador?
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Really, no.
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Really, no. Uh...
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That career is...
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it's a little difficult.
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The border between
Tijuana and San Diego is
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one of the busiest land
crossings in the world.
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Over 90,000 commuters a day
cross into the United States.
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Today, Fenix is travelling
into the United States
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to wrestle at an event
in Long Beach.
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He'll be making the journey
legally with a newly granted
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work visa that he received
from being cast on
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an American wrestling show.
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Out of all the young
luchadores in Mexico,
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Fenix is one of the lucky
few to have a work visa.
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For me, I cross the
border like all weekends.
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Yeah.
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Every weekend, and that is...
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what's happened.
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I don't care that
three hours is still here,
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you know, before we cross the
border when I am in the ring,
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and I hear the crowd,
you know, tell my name.
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Lucha Libre!
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Yeah, or when the people say,
"Lucha! Lucha!" I don't care.
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Three hours is a
small sacrifice.
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Yeah, it's a small sacrifice.
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When we start, we travel
for 14 or 15 hours in a bus.
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No, it was 21 hours!
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For a show, 21 or 22 hours.
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We did-- We take together
the same bus for 20...
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- 22 hours.
- 22 hours!
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For a show, one show, in a bus.
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Oh, but it's... it's about
the dream, you know?
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It's about... Lucha Libre.
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Look at that, a picture.
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Thanks, bro. Good luck!
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This is my fan.
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But the thing that I saw from
you guys that just blew me away
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is the stuff you
guys do on the streets,
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like the things
you do in traffic.
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When did that start?
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When did you start
wrestling in the streets?
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What do you hope to
get out of Lucha?
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Where do you hope this is going?
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Unlike Fenix, Arcangel Divino
and Ultimo Maldito do not have
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work visas and have
never crossed the border.
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Without owning property or
having a substantial amount of
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money in a savings account, it's
impossible for them to prove
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they are not an
immigration risk.
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Thank you.
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Welcome to the gym.
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Right here?
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Yeah, that wave of wrestlers
that you're talking about,
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luchadores that
came up to America,
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that was my first
exposure watching on TV.
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How important is it
for luchadores to
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be able to go over to America?
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Rey Mysterio is
the most successful luchador
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of his generation.
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It was he who took Mexican
Lucha to the world stage,
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making millions
of fans and dollars
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over the course of his career.
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But those dollars were
made in the United States.
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The average luchador in Mexico
will be paid less than $100
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to wrestle in front of
5,000 screaming fans,
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while the exact same wrestler
will be paid $500 to wrestle
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in front of 300 people
in the United States.
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We will build a great wall
along the southern border!
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Build the wall!
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Build the wall! Build the wall!
Build the wall! Build the wall!
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One thing we've kind of picked
up on conversations we've had
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with a lot of the luchadores
that we've met here is that
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there is kind of like a
fear of what is gonna come
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under the presidency
of Donald Trump.
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Are those founded
in real realities?
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I guess a trend that we're
seeing a lot in wrestling,
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especially Lucha, are
white wrestlers coming down
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and really playing into
sort of the fears of
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what's to come with immigration,
be it people coming down
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being the son of Donald Trump,
or coming down and saying
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racist, inflammatory
things to the audience.
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Is that something that
Lucha has always been?
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Has it always been a chance
for people to kind of vent about
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things that are much larger than
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what's happening
just in the ring?
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So what's the difference
between a rudo and a tecnico?
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Well, can we get in
the ring and you show me
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what makes Black
Spider so dangerous?
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Of course, with you, entiendo.
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Agh!
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Oof!
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Mini Scorpion, thank you
so much for having us here.
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Gracias, gracias.
El campeon.
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So I guess can you
explain a little bit about
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where we are right now?
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Buen.
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How did you as a
champion luchador
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get involved in a space
like this though?
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I mean, it's very hard
to get people to come
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watch your product
when, you know, at night,
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people are being beheaded,
and there's a ma-- you know,
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there's shootings in
the middle of the street.
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You had these cartels in Mexico
who are fighting the government
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and each other for turf.
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You know, obviously
the most important ones
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are all the border towns.
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And the whole
country went to hell.
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And you know, there were
people hanging from bridges,
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and car bombs, and it was
incredible, the violence.
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And people were
afraid to go out.
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The drug cartel
violence in Mexico
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doesn't just affect
border communities.
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Over the last decade, the entire
country has seen periods where
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the rates of narco-related
crime spike drastically.
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It's a vicious circle
exasperated by the outdated
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drug war tactics of the US
and Mexican governments.
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The general fear of violence has
kept tourists and locals away
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from Lucha shows, and made it
harder for luchadores to
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earn a living inside Mexico.
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So beautiful.
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Car upholstery!
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The significance
of the mask in Lucha Libre
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cannot be overstated.
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Masked luchadores never
remove their masks in public
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unless forced to by
an opponent in the ring.
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One week before his death,
the greatest masked wrestler
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of all time, El Santo,
after 50 years of being
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totally anonymous, finally
showed the public his face.
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Oh, okay, you know?
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One of the people that saw
Arcangel and Ultimo Maldito
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was Konnan, a legend
in Lucha Libre.
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Originally from Florida, he
became a sensation in Mexico
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before returning
to the United States
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to wrestle for
the top promotions.
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After his career
in the ring ended,
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he left to create his
The Crash.
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Konnan is credited with
discovering, among others,
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the great Rey Mysterio Jr.
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I always say and my wife
always says the same thing.
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You know, first off,
I thank God for
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the opportunities that
have been given to me.
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And after God, I
know it's Konnan.
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Konnan is the person that
opened up the doors for me.
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When I saw Arcangel
Divino and Ultimo Maldito,
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I saw them in a video.
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And I said wow,
how crazy is that,
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what they're doing, and
they're very talented.
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Yeah.
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And so I had them both come
to AAA where I used to work,
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and they went out
there and they killed it.
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You wouldn't-- Bro,
they were incredible.
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And I was like bro, those
are two future superstars.
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So when I had my own promotion,
the first thing I did was like
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find those guys, let's
put 'em in the ring,
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and let's see what happens.
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Fenix has
come to Florida for
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the biggest weekend
in wrestling.
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Over 100,000 wrestling fans
have descended upon Orlando
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to witness some of the best
wrestlers on the planet,
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both on and off the main events.
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This is his opportunity to be
seen by bookers and promoters
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from around the world.
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00:34:26,737 --> 00:34:30,045
His performance in the ring
will directly determine
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the trajectory of his career,
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and his ability to
provide for his family.
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Introducing first, Rey Fenix!
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00:35:43,901 --> 00:35:46,643
The Luchadores!
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00:35:50,299 --> 00:35:52,171
Fuck you!
207
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,708
Holy shit!
Holy shit! Holy shit!
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One, two, three!
209
00:36:25,247 --> 00:36:28,250
Luchadores!
210
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It's awesome, bro.
211
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,136
It's... I can't believe it, man.
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00:36:45,180 --> 00:36:49,402
It's like my brother and me,
we bowed to the room.
213
00:36:49,445 --> 00:36:51,055
We can't believe it.
214
00:36:51,099 --> 00:36:52,666
It's like man, really?
215
00:36:52,709 --> 00:36:54,929
I was like please, slap me!
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00:36:54,972 --> 00:36:57,845
You know, it's
like a dream, man.
217
00:36:57,888 --> 00:37:02,502
And I say to my...
angels, thank you.
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00:37:02,545 --> 00:37:03,851
Yeah.
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Because...
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Because Lucha, wrestling,
221
00:37:13,817 --> 00:37:16,951
that's the one that
changed my life.
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00:37:16,994 --> 00:37:22,043
Changed my... my life,
my family life.
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I only can say thank you.
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00:37:27,744 --> 00:37:31,487
And I promise my
family, my friends,
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00:37:31,531 --> 00:37:34,273
everybody, the angels
in the sky, I promise!
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I take the opportunity.
227
00:37:38,059 --> 00:37:40,322
I never...
228
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never... never say no.
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Gracias.
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00:37:46,372 --> 00:37:47,851
Thank you, everybody.
231
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Gracias a Dios.
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00:37:50,941 --> 00:37:52,465
And this is
just the beginning, dude.
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I know.
234
00:37:56,947 --> 00:37:58,166
Dude, that's fucking awesome.
235
00:37:58,209 --> 00:37:59,776
- Yeah, thank you, man.
- No, thank you.
236
00:37:59,820 --> 00:38:01,300
- Thank you, bro.
- Dude, thank you.
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Lucha Libre, when I
started, was all Mexicans.
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Those were the only guys
that knew how to do it,
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and those were the
guys that did it.
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So for me to now see that
it's a global thing like it is,
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00:38:18,926 --> 00:38:21,885
or for me to now see
fans meeting each other,
242
00:38:21,929 --> 00:38:24,279
doing each other's chants,
that's cool, bro.
243
00:38:24,323 --> 00:38:25,846
That's really cool.
244
00:38:25,889 --> 00:38:29,197
It's almost like when hip hop
wasn't just a black or Latino
245
00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:31,504
thing anymore, it was
like a worldwide thing.
246
00:38:31,547 --> 00:38:32,983
That's cool,
that's what you want.
247
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Oh shit!
248
00:42:43,712 --> 00:42:46,759
I think like the big thing I'm
taking away from my experience
249
00:42:46,802 --> 00:42:50,284
here in Tijuana along the border
is the hope that Lucha provides
250
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for so many people here.
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We've met people that
come from very little,
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and the fact is
through wrestling,
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through Lucha Libre, they've got
the hopes of maybe, you know,
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reaching that level that
Rey Mysterio reached,
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like affecting people
all over the world.
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But there is a massive barrier
between making an okay living
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as a luchador in Mexico
and being able to kind of
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live comfortably as
a wrestler in America.