The Internet Is Going NUTS Over This Spanish Wrestling Match

Sabre grabs a headlock, but Kid takes him to the ropes. This p*sses Zack off; he applies it that bit too long, he’s a little too slow letting go. He hooks the leg to maintain the illegal advantage. It gets feisty here. There’s a tenseness to this tête-à-tête. It’s all a bit cagey, but not respectfully so. There’s a fight going on, not a match—a fight the home country hero is in with a genuine chance of winning. For a countryman versus import affair presented in front of an equally feisty crowd, the psychology is perfect.

But Zack isn’t without his supporters either; they chant his name, to the tune of Seven Nation Army, after he floors Kid with a waistlock takedown. This just adds to and heightens the din, and even this exchange, a simple move on the face of it, is performed with genuine character. Kid doesn’t fall to the mat; he flails as he is driven smack into it. He recovers to reach the ropes, and again, Zack covers his body, refusing to immediately release the hold.

You read a lot about the “little things” in wrestling—the nuances that separate those who draw you into the story versus those who make you reach for the X on your browser tab. As Zack eventually releases the hold, Kid shoots him a look. With his eyes only—and there’s nothing overtly theatrical about this, nothing that removes you from the shoot-style tone—he asks Zack what the f*ck he’s doing. Where’s your sense of sportsmanship? Who’s the international star here? Who’s getting more of the purse?

Kid gets the better of a fluid chain wrestling exchange. Zack gets on his bigger d*ck bullsh*t again. Kid is past looking now; he shoves him halfway across the ring. This incenses Zack, who contorts him into a positively gruesome shape and stands directly on his neck. Kid escapes, and bends Zack’s ankle into an awful, unnatural position by the ropes. It’s his turn not to break the hold, no matter how harrowing the squeal it evokes. The camera hones on Kid’s face. He stares a hole through Zack. This is a fight on his terms now—he asked for it—and the crowd are lit up by the prospect of this pure, manifested hatred.

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