Trump-supporting wrestler riles up Mexican fans
“Right now, I would be considered by the Mexican public as the most malicious bad guy they have,” Polinsky said with a smile before a match Sunday that — spoiler alert — he predictably lost.
Polinsky is happy to endure the boos in pro wrestling’s high-camp show of good vs. evil — and Mexico’s “luche libre” has the added long tradition of foreign villains.
“I’m very proud of the fact that I am able to evoke a genuine hatred, a genuine hate which is generally lost in professional wrestling due to the fact that most people realize that it is what it is — it’s more along the lines of a show,” Polinsky said.
Fan Rafael Martinez, who wore a white-and-gold mask to the match, explained the crowd’s reaction. “What a lot of people think is that if they’re expelling Mexicans from the United States, then why do we want them (Americans) here.”
But even though Sam Adonis has had vile epithets, popcorn and beer thrown at him in the ring, it’s all show in the end.
“I can honestly say I’m pretty surprised how the Mexican public comes to me after each event,” he said. “Those same people that can’t scream enough, can’t get their emotions out enough, are the first ones to come up to me and ask for a picture with their kid, or the first ones to shake my hand and say, ‘Hey, great show.’”
As for the president, Polinsky said he doesn’t agree with all of Trump’s pronouncements, but he still admires aspects of his approach.
“I embrace the fact that he is a villain,” the wrestler said. “He’s going to do what he has to do and what he thinks is right. If you don’t agree with him, that doesn’t really bother him. He’s going to push forward with what he thinks is right, and the fact that he’s embraced his public perception, whether it’s good or bad, I have respect for that.”