1 00:00:20,324 --> 00:00:21,934 Oh! 2 00:00:37,428 --> 00:00:38,338 She's using mites. 3 00:00:38,386 --> 00:00:39,736 Oh yeah, there, she used it. 4 00:00:39,778 --> 00:00:41,648 Yeah, she's evoking the juju. 5 00:00:41,693 --> 00:00:44,913 - Oh, look! - Yeah! 6 00:00:44,957 --> 00:00:46,217 My god. 7 00:00:46,263 --> 00:00:48,573 What's she gonna do with a... fucking knife? 8 00:00:58,145 --> 00:00:59,445 What's she gonna do? 9 00:02:04,602 --> 00:02:06,172 Kinshasa, the capital city of 10 00:02:06,213 --> 00:02:07,873 the Democratic Republic of Congo, 11 00:02:07,910 --> 00:02:10,090 is Africa's third-largest city, 12 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:12,830 with a population of 11 million. 13 00:02:12,871 --> 00:02:14,221 It also happens to be home 14 00:02:14,264 --> 00:02:18,444 to more French-speaking people than Paris. 15 00:02:18,486 --> 00:02:19,786 It might be hard to believe, 16 00:02:19,835 --> 00:02:22,485 but pro wrestling is incredibly popular here. 17 00:02:22,533 --> 00:02:24,623 The WWE is broadcast every night, 18 00:02:24,666 --> 00:02:28,576 and there's nearly 50 local independent wrestling clubs. 19 00:02:28,626 --> 00:02:30,446 Here, they have their own form of wrestling, 20 00:02:30,498 --> 00:02:32,588 called catch, or witch catch. 21 00:02:32,630 --> 00:02:36,030 Outside of the Congo, it's almost totally unknown. 22 00:02:36,068 --> 00:02:38,068 One thing we do know is that many wrestlers 23 00:02:38,114 --> 00:02:39,994 use fetish and ba koko 24 00:02:40,029 --> 00:02:41,899 which are objects and rituals drawing upon 25 00:02:41,944 --> 00:02:43,734 magical ancestral powers, 26 00:02:43,772 --> 00:02:45,472 to assist them in the ring, 27 00:02:45,513 --> 00:02:47,523 and the fans here still seem to believe 28 00:02:47,558 --> 00:02:49,388 that wrestling isn't staged. 29 00:02:50,866 --> 00:02:52,736 We're meeting with the Champion Jaribu, 30 00:02:52,781 --> 00:02:54,521 who has recently converted to Christianity 31 00:02:54,565 --> 00:02:57,435 after 20 years of practicing black magic. 32 00:02:57,481 --> 00:02:59,311 He's gonna show us around and help us learn 33 00:02:59,353 --> 00:03:03,843 about witch catch wrestling and how it's practiced today. 34 00:03:03,879 --> 00:03:06,099 The champ! 35 00:03:13,628 --> 00:03:15,108 So there are two types of wrestling, right? 36 00:03:15,151 --> 00:03:17,681 There's the witch catch, 37 00:03:17,719 --> 00:03:19,199 and then there's the technical catch. 38 00:04:37,625 --> 00:04:39,575 Do the people that you used to wrestle with witch catch 39 00:04:39,627 --> 00:04:42,457 understand why you had to do what you did? 40 00:05:23,323 --> 00:05:33,383 - Tshilobo? Jesus! 41 00:05:33,420 --> 00:05:34,460 Tshilobo. 42 00:05:35,639 --> 00:05:36,679 Tshilobo. 43 00:05:37,598 --> 00:05:39,208 Tshilobo! 44 00:05:44,561 --> 00:05:47,781 Agh! 45 00:05:47,825 --> 00:05:49,215 Where are we going? 46 00:06:09,847 --> 00:06:11,407 Pastor Claude Kabundi Walesa 47 00:06:11,458 --> 00:06:14,808 is an influential pastor and faith healer in Kinshasa. 48 00:06:14,852 --> 00:06:17,462 His televised sermons reach an audience in the millions, 49 00:06:17,507 --> 00:06:20,027 and Jaribu claims he's responsible for converting him 50 00:06:20,075 --> 00:06:23,505 from witchcraft and guiding him to Christ. 51 00:06:55,327 --> 00:06:57,587 Why is there this relationship between 52 00:06:57,634 --> 00:06:59,334 the fetishes and the wrestling? 53 00:07:32,843 --> 00:07:34,283 So what is the actual process 54 00:07:34,323 --> 00:07:35,803 of freeing someone from the mites? 55 00:07:35,846 --> 00:07:38,456 Like, how do you remove the Satanic mites from them? 56 00:08:36,994 --> 00:08:38,824 Watching the church's video made me wonder if 57 00:08:38,866 --> 00:08:40,866 Pastor Walesa actually believes that Jaribu 58 00:08:40,911 --> 00:08:42,651 was possessed by demons, 59 00:08:42,696 --> 00:08:44,786 or if he's just creating content for his followers that 60 00:08:44,828 --> 00:08:46,658 has all the excitement and mythical drama 61 00:08:46,700 --> 00:08:48,790 found in witch catch. 62 00:08:48,832 --> 00:08:51,572 To be honest, I'm not sure which is worse. 63 00:10:13,395 --> 00:10:15,655 Knowing that Pastor Walesa was a faith healer, 64 00:10:15,702 --> 00:10:18,442 I expected things to be a little strange... 65 00:10:18,487 --> 00:10:20,177 But I didn't expect the situation to be 66 00:10:20,228 --> 00:10:21,968 this bat-shit crazy. 67 00:10:35,330 --> 00:10:37,720 Jaribu has insisted that we visit Queen Shakira, 68 00:10:37,767 --> 00:10:40,377 a well-known wrestler and practitioner of witch catch, 69 00:10:40,422 --> 00:10:42,512 for a demonstration of her powers. 70 00:10:43,947 --> 00:10:45,857 This seems a bit strange considering his recent 71 00:10:45,906 --> 00:10:47,776 conversion to Christianity. 72 00:10:47,821 --> 00:10:49,561 But regardless, we're curious to learn 73 00:10:49,605 --> 00:10:52,775 about the world Jaribu left behind. 74 00:11:12,628 --> 00:11:14,408 Okay. 75 00:11:14,456 --> 00:11:16,016 Thank you very much for having us. 76 00:11:19,766 --> 00:11:22,116 I guess, it's something we've kind of found 77 00:11:22,159 --> 00:11:23,549 in talking to people here, 78 00:11:23,595 --> 00:11:25,335 especially to people that identify as Christian, 79 00:11:25,380 --> 00:11:28,730 is that there's a real fear of people 80 00:11:28,775 --> 00:11:31,595 that practice ba koko, people that identify 81 00:11:31,647 --> 00:11:32,907 with the older faith. 82 00:11:32,953 --> 00:11:35,223 Why do you think people here are so fearful 83 00:11:35,259 --> 00:11:37,169 of you and your power? 84 00:12:09,772 --> 00:12:11,252 It was a white egg. 85 00:12:11,295 --> 00:12:12,295 Okay. 86 00:12:20,304 --> 00:12:22,614 Wow. 87 00:12:35,232 --> 00:12:36,412 Okay. 88 00:12:39,628 --> 00:12:41,458 One thing that I find particularly interesting 89 00:12:41,499 --> 00:12:45,329 is Jaribu's coming back and wrestling, 90 00:12:45,373 --> 00:12:48,423 but this time, he's left behind fetish catch. 91 00:12:48,463 --> 00:12:53,693 What are your thoughts on him converting to Christianity? 92 00:13:38,078 --> 00:13:40,858 And how long have you been practicing, as far as 93 00:13:40,907 --> 00:13:43,297 being a priestess? 94 00:13:57,967 --> 00:14:01,007 And what are some of these ways that you demonstrate this power? 95 00:15:24,401 --> 00:15:26,711 I'm astonished by the level of theatrics and story lines 96 00:15:26,751 --> 00:15:29,491 that are being played out for our benefit. 97 00:15:29,537 --> 00:15:32,407 What Shakira performed was quite obviously sleight of hand, 98 00:15:32,453 --> 00:15:37,073 but both her and Jaribu treated it as though it was real. 99 00:15:45,031 --> 00:15:47,341 What did he say? 100 00:15:50,427 --> 00:15:52,387 I can't tell if this is the Congo's version of a 101 00:15:52,429 --> 00:15:53,999 wrestling promo, or if there's something 102 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,870 weirder going on here. 103 00:15:56,912 --> 00:15:59,222 Regardless, everyone is so deadly serious 104 00:15:59,262 --> 00:16:01,702 that I can't help but feel obliged to play along. 105 00:16:21,067 --> 00:16:23,977 - You're okay? - Yeah. 106 00:16:49,965 --> 00:16:52,095 This is Club Zamba, which is another 107 00:16:52,141 --> 00:16:54,841 wrestling training facility here in Kinshasa. 108 00:16:56,928 --> 00:16:58,928 Jaribu is the one who brought us here. 109 00:16:58,974 --> 00:17:01,414 Jaribu has been kind of taking us around this whole time, 110 00:17:01,455 --> 00:17:03,885 introducing us to various people that kind of 111 00:17:03,935 --> 00:17:06,975 are former friends, at least how he's explained it to us. 112 00:17:07,026 --> 00:17:10,026 These are people that still practice the fetish catch, 113 00:17:10,072 --> 00:17:12,682 still practice ba koko, and of course, 114 00:17:12,727 --> 00:17:15,077 he's converted to Christianity, but he somehow 115 00:17:15,121 --> 00:17:18,561 still has friendships and ties with these people. 116 00:18:11,133 --> 00:18:14,143 Okay... okay. 117 00:19:03,098 --> 00:19:10,148 Hot angle. 118 00:19:10,192 --> 00:19:11,632 Ready for battle? 119 00:19:15,980 --> 00:19:17,900 "Bo"! Tshilobo! 120 00:19:19,549 --> 00:19:20,939 And-- what? 121 00:19:22,073 --> 00:19:23,813 - Tshilobo! - Yeah! 122 00:19:23,858 --> 00:19:26,948 Tshilobo! 123 00:19:35,522 --> 00:19:38,092 This is a roadshow. 124 00:19:38,133 --> 00:19:40,353 Wrestlers parade themselves through the streets, 125 00:19:40,396 --> 00:19:43,916 gathering fans as they make their way to the ring. 126 00:19:43,965 --> 00:19:46,005 There seems to be so much riding on Jaribu and 127 00:19:46,054 --> 00:19:48,194 Yalala's match that I don't know if what we're gonna see 128 00:19:48,230 --> 00:19:50,150 is gonna be wrestling, or if it's gonna escalate 129 00:19:50,189 --> 00:19:53,239 into a legitimate brawl. 130 00:19:53,279 --> 00:19:55,239 We've been walking for about 20 minutes, 131 00:19:55,281 --> 00:19:57,981 just amassing more people behind us. 132 00:19:58,022 --> 00:20:00,422 Everyone's dancing, celebrating, 133 00:20:00,460 --> 00:20:03,330 but that's not to undermine the real stakes here. 134 00:20:03,376 --> 00:20:05,246 For Jaribu, there's some real stakes. 135 00:20:05,291 --> 00:20:07,381 He said if he doesn't win today, 136 00:20:07,423 --> 00:20:10,863 he may revert back to the fetish catch, 137 00:20:10,905 --> 00:20:15,255 and may leave behind his conversion. So... 138 00:20:15,301 --> 00:20:17,691 Pretty, pretty heavy stakes in this one. 139 00:21:24,674 --> 00:21:27,854 So he's evoking his juju at the same time, 140 00:21:27,895 --> 00:21:29,545 as in the other corner, 141 00:21:29,592 --> 00:21:33,512 Jaribu was praying to Jesus, praying to God, I guess, 142 00:21:33,553 --> 00:21:37,343 and invoking his ba koko in the form of Jesus. 143 00:21:47,828 --> 00:21:51,048 - No-sold it. - Tshilobo, yes. 144 00:21:51,092 --> 00:21:52,442 Trying to use his mites. 145 00:21:58,534 --> 00:22:01,714 Every time Yalala tries to use his juju on Jaribu, 146 00:22:01,755 --> 00:22:04,185 he's, he's no-selling it. 147 00:22:04,235 --> 00:22:06,235 But you can tell they're both wrestling. 148 00:22:06,281 --> 00:22:07,801 Like, this isn't a shoot. 149 00:22:07,848 --> 00:22:11,458 This is definitely a wrestling match that we're seeing there. 150 00:22:14,681 --> 00:22:15,771 Yes! 151 00:22:17,074 --> 00:22:19,344 Yeah! 152 00:22:50,281 --> 00:22:51,501 - He win. - He won? 153 00:22:51,544 --> 00:22:53,984 And now, Jaribu win. Jaribu win. 154 00:23:25,969 --> 00:23:28,279 Kayfabe is the wrestling term for presenting 155 00:23:28,319 --> 00:23:32,189 staged performances as authentic athletic competition. 156 00:23:32,236 --> 00:23:34,536 This illusion used to be how things were everywhere, 157 00:23:34,587 --> 00:23:36,147 but starting in the 1980s, 158 00:23:36,197 --> 00:23:38,027 the walls of secrecy began crumbling and 159 00:23:38,068 --> 00:23:40,458 wrestling fans saw behind the curtain. 160 00:23:40,506 --> 00:23:42,026 However, kayfabe is still 161 00:23:42,072 --> 00:23:43,682 alive and well in the Congo, 162 00:23:43,726 --> 00:23:47,026 and fans seem unaware that the fights are predetermined. 163 00:23:59,089 --> 00:24:00,609 Tshilobo! 164 00:24:06,749 --> 00:24:08,619 One of the hardest things a wrestler has to do 165 00:24:08,664 --> 00:24:10,584 in their career is lose to someone they know 166 00:24:10,623 --> 00:24:13,153 they surpass in every way. 167 00:24:13,190 --> 00:24:15,320 Yalala has been as open as he can 168 00:24:15,366 --> 00:24:16,796 without breaking kayfabe, 169 00:24:16,846 --> 00:24:18,536 but it's obvious by his demeanour that 170 00:24:18,587 --> 00:24:22,367 this loss cuts deeper than just the match. 171 00:25:20,954 --> 00:25:25,484 Oh, that's heavy! Very heavy! 172 00:25:36,578 --> 00:25:38,578 When we arrived at the pastor's house, we were gonna 173 00:25:38,624 --> 00:25:40,504 sit outside and just, we thought we were just gonna pick him up 174 00:25:40,539 --> 00:25:42,579 and go to the church with him, but at that point, 175 00:25:42,628 --> 00:25:44,588 we were told that we were supposed to come inside. 176 00:25:44,630 --> 00:25:47,940 We were also told that we're to leave our cameras in the van 177 00:25:47,981 --> 00:25:51,591 and not record any of what was going on. 178 00:25:51,637 --> 00:25:53,987 And once we got into the room, he sat us down, 179 00:25:54,030 --> 00:25:57,560 introduced us to his two very large security personnel, 180 00:25:57,599 --> 00:26:00,209 who stood in front of the door, and then 181 00:26:00,254 --> 00:26:02,004 it was explained to me that I was going to be giving 182 00:26:02,038 --> 00:26:05,478 a speech today. We went over the content of the speech. 183 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,960 He then edited my content, and put in some things that 184 00:26:09,002 --> 00:26:10,832 he thought that I should include. 185 00:26:10,873 --> 00:26:13,623 This is one of the more unusual situations I've ever 186 00:26:13,659 --> 00:26:16,529 been in, in my entire life, but off we go 187 00:26:16,575 --> 00:26:19,055 to a Congolese mega church 188 00:26:19,099 --> 00:26:24,019 to help him convert more disciples. 189 00:26:24,060 --> 00:26:27,630 So, we're always involved in someone's game here, 190 00:26:27,673 --> 00:26:29,073 we're finding out. 191 00:26:29,109 --> 00:26:32,719 It just depends who's game it is at any given time. 192 00:27:39,135 --> 00:27:41,135 - Amen. Amen. 193 00:27:54,629 --> 00:28:03,859 Tshilobo! 194 00:28:17,565 --> 00:28:19,475 It's hard to put into words exactly how I felt 195 00:28:19,523 --> 00:28:21,533 in this moment. 196 00:28:21,569 --> 00:28:23,269 The church was making a documentary on 197 00:28:23,310 --> 00:28:24,920 us making a documentary 198 00:28:24,964 --> 00:28:26,494 as part of their promotional material 199 00:28:26,530 --> 00:28:28,050 to convert more people. 200 00:28:32,798 --> 00:28:35,148 But since they want me to give a speech, 201 00:28:35,191 --> 00:28:37,671 I'll give 'em one they won't forget. 202 00:29:17,843 --> 00:29:21,503 We've come from very far away in Toronto, Canada. 203 00:29:23,631 --> 00:29:26,291 And I heard many stories about Congolese catch. 204 00:29:29,855 --> 00:29:33,595 But I'd also heard of the Champion Jaribu. 205 00:29:37,210 --> 00:29:39,910 He had left that behind because he had found Christ. 206 00:29:43,825 --> 00:29:48,915 So yesterday, we came and we got to see Champion Jaribu 207 00:29:48,961 --> 00:29:55,101 in the ring, and sure enough, through his mite in Christ, 208 00:29:55,141 --> 00:29:58,931 he was able to overcome his opponent. 209 00:30:06,282 --> 00:30:09,462 - Whoo! -Whoo! 210 00:30:09,503 --> 00:30:10,723 So I say to you... 211 00:30:10,765 --> 00:30:13,855 Tshilobo... - 212 00:30:13,899 --> 00:30:15,159 Tshilobo. 213 00:30:18,207 --> 00:30:21,987 I said, I said, tshilobo!. 214 00:30:22,037 --> 00:30:24,127 I said, tshilobo! 215 00:30:25,562 --> 00:30:28,092 I said, tshilobo! 216 00:30:31,612 --> 00:30:34,142 I said! Tshilobo! 217 00:30:36,269 --> 00:31:00,509 - Tshilobo! Jesus! 218 00:32:52,971 --> 00:32:56,631 So, yesterday at the match, no one seemed to pay. 219 00:32:56,670 --> 00:32:58,800 Everyone just came in for free. 220 00:32:58,846 --> 00:33:00,236 Does it normally work that way? 221 00:33:00,282 --> 00:33:03,982 Like, I'm curious how you get paid as a wrestler. 222 00:35:06,234 --> 00:35:09,934 For wrestlers in the Congo, a clear paradox exists. 223 00:35:09,977 --> 00:35:12,407 Their fans demand they use sorcery in the ring and 224 00:35:12,458 --> 00:35:14,758 in their services as witch doctors, 225 00:35:14,808 --> 00:35:17,028 but then the general public shames the wrestlers 226 00:35:17,071 --> 00:35:18,941 and calls them Satanists, causing them 227 00:35:18,986 --> 00:35:22,416 to be pushed further to the margins of society. 228 00:35:22,468 --> 00:35:24,688 In a country where the average person survives on 229 00:35:24,731 --> 00:35:27,431 less than a dollar a day, it's a vicious cycle 230 00:35:27,473 --> 00:35:31,223 that only exacerbates their poverty. 231 00:37:43,957 --> 00:37:46,567 The interesting thing about Pastor Walesa is that 232 00:37:46,612 --> 00:37:49,182 he's criticizing wrestlers for being false prophets and 233 00:37:49,223 --> 00:37:52,623 Satanists, but then he uses the same magic and pageantry 234 00:37:52,661 --> 00:37:55,101 to promote his church. 235 00:37:55,142 --> 00:37:58,012 By converting one of the most popular wrestlers in Kinshasa, 236 00:37:58,058 --> 00:38:00,408 he's very cleverly gained direct access to 237 00:38:00,452 --> 00:38:03,412 a huge new audience. 238 00:41:24,917 --> 00:41:27,307 Given the lack of, you know, 239 00:41:27,354 --> 00:41:30,274 financial rewards, given the physical risk, 240 00:41:30,313 --> 00:41:33,493 and given the social stigma attached to it, 241 00:41:33,534 --> 00:41:38,024 what keeps you both wrestling? 242 00:42:48,130 --> 00:42:50,660 I think of anywhere I've been in the world, 243 00:42:50,698 --> 00:42:55,528 this is the most exciting style of wrestling I've ever seen. 244 00:42:55,573 --> 00:42:59,193 What you're able to do with what little you have 245 00:42:59,228 --> 00:43:02,968 in terms of a ring and in terms of, you know, 246 00:43:03,015 --> 00:43:06,185 training facilities, it's unbelievable. 247 00:43:06,235 --> 00:43:09,195 You, you guys capture that crowd in a way that 248 00:43:09,238 --> 00:43:13,418 I've never seen wrestlers capture a crowd, 249 00:43:13,460 --> 00:43:15,240 and it's beautiful.