WRESTLING DREAM
Interview with Anthony Trevino
It all started in 1996 in the unassuming backyards of East San José. A group of 11-to-13-year-olds began emulating what they saw on TV—wrestling. It wasn’t organized, choreographed, or even safe. What must it have looked like to an unsuspecting passerby? A group of kids barely out of elementary school performing suplexes on one another, engaging in what could only be described as unsanctioned chaos. And yet, what began as chaotic bouts of “almost street fighting” quickly evolved.
“It was like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey,” recalls one of the founders, Anthony Trevino. “At first, we were like monkeys just smashing each other, but then we started paying attention. We realized our matches didn’t look like what we saw on TV—20-minute headlocks weren’t cutting it. Once we figured out the outcomes were predetermined, we began choreographing. That’s when it really took off.”
Soon, crowds began forming. What started as a handful of friends and curious onlookers grew into packed backyards. A turning point came when Narisha Garcia, one of their supporters, took matters into her own hands. “One day, she came up to me with a giant bag of money and said, ‘I’ve been charging people to watch,’” he laughs. “That’s when we realized we had something real.”
The leap from backyard wrestling to legitimate venues came with challenges, but it solidified the group’s place in the Northern California wrestling scene. By the time they began performing at the Ritz, a renowned San José venue, their reputation was undeniable; the UnderGround Westling Alliance (UGWA) was in full swing.
Along the way, the group’s journey mirrored Dorothy’s in The Wizard of Oz, picking up allies and supporters as they traveled. “I still see people who came to our backyard shows in the Eastside. Some of them even wrestled with us back in middle school. They didn’t stick around, but they’ll check out our shows and say, ‘I can’t believe I was part of this when it started.’”
