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Pro Wrestlers Try For Comebacks In Southern Oklahoma

Posted: Dec 21st 2009 By: CMBurnham

It's a Saturday night at the Tivoli Theater, and a dozen men are shivering in spandex.

They packed themselves into the theater's backstage, converting it into a makeshift locker room. They braved the cold temperatures to attract 100 people to a show that hasn't been to Ardmore in several years-professional wrestling.

Al Farat, a longtime pro wrestler and co-owner of the National Wrestling Alliance Oklahoma, organized the show to promote the reopening of his wrestling school in the Carter County town.
"We're trying to restore the old NWA brand here," Farat said. "We hope to provide professional wrestling entertainment here in Ardmore that hasn't been here in some time."

On this Saturday night, wrestlers from Ardmore, Ada and as far away as Oregon came to the Tivoli to compete for titles, perform for the crowd and beat each other to a pulp.

As the audience trickles in, the wrestlers huddle backstage. They plan the moves to use against each other in their fights as they change from street clothes into their wrestling outfits. The referee comes to each wrestler to find out what move will be used to finish each fight. After the wrestlers bow their heads and pray for safety and success, the matches begin.

One of the night's hometown heroes charged the ring in an Indian headdress and wielding a tomahawk. Joe Herell, who wrestles as "Ky-Ote," is an Ardmore native and 2007 graduate of Dickson High School. Herell said he idolized pro wrestlers since childhood and started training every weekend three years ago to join their ranks. He hopes to eventually perform for World Wrestling Entertainment or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

"As long as you get exposure, that's all that matters," Herell said. "That's everybody's goal, man."

Herell fought his boss, Farat, who wrestles as "Prince Al Farat," a caricature of Middle Eastern stereotypes. Farat walked out to Middle Eastern music, dressed like an Arabian sheik.
"I'm not getting in that ring if the crowd starts that 'USA! USA!' crap," Farat yells into a microphone. The audience roundly boos him, chanting "USA" immediately.

Farat, who is of Lebanese and Mexican ancestry, acknowledges the "Prince" persona is meant to draw on the fears and prejudices prevalent in the current political climate.

"German and Russian characters were popular in the '40s and '50s," Farat said. "Later it was Asian characters like Professor Tanaka, and in the '80s it was characters like the Iron Sheik."
Ever since the war on terror began, Farat said Arab-themed villains have come back into vogue.
"With my gimmick, I can take anyone in this locker room and get the crowd to cheer for them, because I'm so hated," he said.

During the fight, Farat tries several dirty tricks to beat Herell, including deceiving the referee and pulling out a concealed weapon-a sharpened stick, complete with fake blood. Herell wins in the end, and the crowd roars as Farat flees backstage.

"It was perfect," Herell said. "We had the crowd right in our hands."

The sole female wrestler backstage is the only one without someone to fight. Twenty-year-old Erica Torres of Porterville, Calif., fights as "La Reina de Corazones," or the Queen of Hearts, whenever she has someone to fight.

"There's not that many female wrestlers out here," she said. "I love to fight whenever I can."
She acted as the "valet" for male wrestler Dane Griffin, who later fought Carlos "El Latino" Musquiz for the light heavyweight title. Valets are there to either excite or antagonize the crowd, encourage the wrestler or distract the referee while the wrestler breaks the already rarely enforced rules.

Torres wrestled as an amateur for 12 years in California before attending Oklahoma City University on a wrestling scholarship. She later left the team and the school and planned on beginning a mixed martial arts career before her father steered her toward going pro.

"My dad used to do professional wrestling back in California when I was smaller, so I thought I'd give it a try," she said. "I started doing it and I fell in love with it."

Torres said the hardest part about being a pro wrestler is finding other female wrestlers to compete against. The easiest part, however, are the dietary requirements.

"I don't have to cut 20 pounds every week," Torres said, laughing. "I like to eat."

The outcomes may be predetermined, but the injuries are all too real. James Washburn of Ardmore, who wrestles as "Kunna Keyoh," said he was briefly knocked out during his match with Montego Seeka.

"When I gave him an elbow drop from the top rope, my head hit the canvas real hard," he said. "I didn't start remembering anything until I got (backstage) and sat down."

Washburn said he and the other wrestlers are trained on how to fall safely and convincingly, but accidents happen.

"A lot of people say it's fake, but I've got X-rays that prove it's not," said Gabe "The Babe" Himenos, a wrestler from San Antonio.

"I have bruises on my body and scars on my face that prove it's not, and it hurts like h---."
The wear and tear is taking its toll on Musquiz, the defending light heavyweight champion. He grew up watching his uncle wrestle professionally in Mexico, and resolved to wrestle himself. He began in 1992, but said his time is almost up.

"I'm 37 years old and my body hurts," Musquiz said. "I told my wife I wanted to quit at 40, because you don't want to look ridiculous as a 40-year-old wearing spandex."

Herell was more optimistic about his chances in the industry.

"I always say I'm going to die in the ring," the young wrestler said. "I'm not going to quit until my body says I have to."

With the last match over, the wrestlers shuffle backstage, packing costumes away in suitcases and changing back into street clothes.

"We always go home brokenhearted, because the show is over," Himenos said. "The hardest thing for a wrestler is the ride home, because the glory, the fame, it's all over and it's back to the real world."

Tags: Al Farat, NWA-OK, NWA, Ky-ote Joe, WWE, TNA, La Reina de Corazones, Dane Griffin, El Latino, Kunna Keyoh, Montego Seeka