By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
With face makeup that’s as much Ziggy Stardust as a tribute to his proud LGBTQ+ lifestyle, Sabino Garcia knows how to catch the audience’s attention.
His merchandise booth – a simple brown table – stood out among the others Sunday at the Del Rio Civic Center because of the colorful Pride flag that adorned it. With matching rainbow-colored fan in hand, and a physique covered in body glitter, the 29-year-old professional wrestler was happy to pose with fans and sign autographs with anyone who asked.
When showtime arrived, he was part of Texas Wrestling Entertainment’s opening match against his teacher and mentor, Rudy Gonzalez, a 40-year veteran of the business. Gonzalez played the heel to a “T”, antoganizing the fans with barbs about Del Rio and cautioning the referee to keep Garcia, who wrestles as Sabino Blaze, away from him, not because of any kind of homophobia, but the more modern fear of COVID.
Garcia took his lumps and gave them back in spades. Cheated out of a win initially, he would get his revenge with a roll up and a 1-2-3 from the referee, sending him to the locker room with the win and the fans cheering with joy.
For a man with just three years of training, Garcia is quickly showing a grasp for a business that hasn’t had many openly gay wrestlers but has used the gimmick of the feminine-acting male for as long as its been part of the American psyche.
Gorgeous George was one of the most popular male wrestlers of his time, but he was chastised for his pomposity and femininity. He wore robes, had his hair perfectly coiffed, had a manservant who sprayed the ring with a disinfectant suited for George and tossed custom hairpins into the crowd as a trademark. Years later Adrian Adonis and “Exotic” Adrian Street were making American fans a little uncomfortable with their shocking makeup and style of dress. Goldust’s gimmick was meant to shock and disturb his opponents, but was a far cry from Dustin Runnels, the man who portrayed the character. Former Ring of Honor World Champion Dalton Castle was almost always accompanied to the ring by The Boys, a pair of scantily clad assistants who aided their “master” in various ways during his matches. Castle has never addressed his sexuality and has hinted he may never do so.
In Mexico, there’s even a name for the style of wrestling such as this – Exótico. Some of the more famous of them are legends such as Cassandro and Pimpinela Escarlata.
In recent years, the LGBTQ+ community has seen itself represented in various promotions.
Former WWWF Intercontinental Champion the late Pat Patterson was gay as was former WWE World Tag Team Champion Darren Young and the late Chris Kanyon.
Currently, WWE star Doudrop, formerly Piper Niven, is bisexual as is former WWE US Champion Orlando Jordan. Former WWE NXT star Jake Atlas is openly gay as is AEW star Sonny Kiss and WWE Smackdown General Manager Sonya Deville. Nyla Rose, a transgender star in AEW, was the company’s second-ever women’s champion.
Garcia became a wrestling fan as a teen, but it was from watching the women wrestle, not the men. His favorite was former WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze, from which Garcia drew inspiration for his name.
Though he had a background playing tennis and competing in track and field, Garcia said he worked in retail before he decided to give pro wrestling a shot. A friend of his who was already a professional wrestler gave him Gonzalez’s number and Garcia decided to take his shot.
“I knew about the showmanship from what I saw on TV. What I didn’t realize was the physicality of it all. It’s tough and really physical. Those first weeks of training really opened my eyes,” Garcia said.
It took nearly a year before Garcia would have his first match. The physical part he had overcome. Now it was time to debut his gimmick, the openly gay Sabino Blaze.
“When I first decided to go that route I began questioning myself being openly gay in the world of pro wrestling. I went back and forth with the idea but it was Rudy who said, ‘You need to be you.’ Then at a seminar with Dr. Tom Pritchard he said, ‘I see something in you. Just be you.’ They both said you don’t understand it right now, but you’ll get it down the line,” Garcia said. “That’s when I added the rainbow paint and started to be more flamboyant. Rudy recommended I watch these other flamboyant wrestlers, like Pimpinela and Sonny Kiss, and learn from them. I see Sonny as a person whose path I want to follow.”
Garcia also admitted he wasn’t sure how his character would be seen in smaller, more rural towns where the allure of wrestling is still alive and well and is often taken a little more seriously than in bigger cities. Garcia said he figured out how to handle that issue.
“I have to carry that confidence I carry in real life with me to the ring. Small towns, big towns, if you don’t have that confidence then the fans won’t care about you and you’ll lose them,” Garcia said. “If I don’t carry that confidence, then why should people believe in me as a person or as a gay wrestler. I don’t want to appear inferior just because I’m gay. I want to be pretty and tough. I don’t want to be underestimated just because I’m feminine.”
—
Brian Argabright has been a journalist for nearly 25 years. An award-winning writer and photographer, he has covered sports, features and much more during his career. Contact him at drnhsports@gmail.com
