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When they began wrestling in 2009, there were six Luchadores and they raised about $200 per event. Today, there are almost 40 Luchadores — ages 19 to 37 — and they regularly pull in double that amount (their largest earning is $1,000 in a 45-minute match). To date, White says they have raised more than $5,000 and have about 20 matches under their belt.
"As we wrestle, what happens is the two opponents get called to the stage, we put buckets in their hands ... and we get the crowd in a frenzy and say, 'Who wants to bet on who?' says White. "We circle around the ring and that's how we collect our donations. We make it really interactive ... so that the crowd is part of it. They're not just spectators, they're literally on the floor with us; they're betting on their favorite girl."
Of the students and bartenders and bookstore employees and servers and lingerie shop workers who have joined the Luchadores, White says none are "super-over-the-top technical." "We are kind of like Fight Club," she says. "We're kind of like the underbelly of Charlotte."
Tyler Durden: "If you could fight anyone, who would you fight?"
Narrator: "I'd fight my boss, prob'ly."
Tyler Durden: "Really."
Narrator: "Yeah, why, who would you fight?"
Tyler Durden: "I'd fight my dad."
— Fight Club
Creative Loafing: If there were anyone you could put in the ring, who would it be?
White and Reinhart 0x000A(in unison): "Sarah Palin!"
Reinhart: "You wrestle Sarah Palin, I'll get George Bush."
White: "Who would I wrestle? I would knock Paris Hilton down so fast — I would use her dog against her. Not to be rude — I'm sure at some point, they give money to something that's important."
In addition to Palin, Bush and Hilton, the cast of The Hills and Bad Girls Club also make the cut of most-wanted contenders. But if there's anything that gets White riled up, it's the ineptitude and empty lifestyles that pass as symbols of American ideals and culture. Or, as Reinhart puts it, "the botox and bickering."
"You know, I travel and I meet people from other countries, and they lay into me because I'm an American and they think I'm into this," Reinhart says. "Americans are smart people, we're resourceful. Yeah, we eat crappy food, but not all of us. And it would be nice to show people that we don't have to buy into that lifestyle just because our nationality begins with an 'A.' I know that the Luchadores aren't gonna change America's opinion, but this is our stand to say ... 'We're better than this.'"
The Luchadores grapple again during this year's Recess Fest (at various venues, Aug. 11-13). And on Aug. 19, the Luchadores battle The Charlotte Rollergirls in an event sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon and the Common Market. Proceeds from the match will benefit the Rollergirls' charity, Time Out Youth, a local advocacy and support organization for LGBTQ youth. PBR and the Common Market will both match the money the groups raise. Then, on Sept. 2, as part of the Appalucia Gun Club Weekend, The Milestone will hold a Labor Day event for the Luchadores that benefits the Multiple Sclerosis Bike Ride Charity.
As for the future of the Luchadores, White says she'd like to see them to get some corporate sponsors, and have larger cities adapt her idea for themselves.
"What my ultimate goal with this is," she says, "is to have other people in other cities take this idea and do their own wrestling matches. Where they can go into a bar and say [to people], 'Hey, you know what? You have extra money right now. You're buying beer, you're buying shots, why don't you take $5 of that money ... and put it to a charity.
"I would like to see a movement of women, men — people — get up and make a difference for themselves."
For more information on Gore Gore Luchadores, visit www.goregore.whitetrashgoddess.com or check them out on Facebook.