Alex Pena, 10, was present at the Kern County Fair watching some of his favorites wrestlers from Lucha Libre perform live. A combination of aerial moves and visual engaging choreography, “lucha libre” is the term in Spanish for professional wrestling. Local and international luchadores performed at the Grandstand before hundreds of fans Sept. 27.

“I want to be a wrestler,” said Pena. His mother, Rosa Valadez, explained that her family developed a tradition for lucha libre when they used to reside in Mexico City.

“We always go to lucha libre here in Bakersfield,” said Valadez.

Valadez is aware that lucha libre is a dangerous sport; however, she sees lucha libre as a way to keep her children out of drugs and gangs.

“My son is currently training with Sexy TJ. I know it is a dangerous sport but it keeps him motivated to do well in school,” said Valadez.

Sexy TJ, 24, is a wrestler and was born in Tijuana. He has been living in Bakersfield for six years.

“I began training when I was nine and made my debut when I was 11,” said Sexy TJ, who has wrestled twice against Rey Mysterio Jr., a well-known wrestler in the United States.

This was the third appearance at the fair for Sexy TJ, who is still a young wrestler, and is compared to legends such as Super Kendo, Huracan Ramirez Jr., Pentagon or Misterioso. These wrestlers performed at the main event, a tag-team wrestling match.

In lucha libre there are “rudos” and “tecnicos,” the bad guys and the good guys. Super Kendo and Huracan Ramirez Jr. were the “tecnicos” in this match.

Super Kendo has been wrestling professionally for 39 years. Born in the Dominican Republic, Super Kendo has performed in 18 countries including Japan where he has been more than 90 times.

“I have wrestled all the legends in lucha libre,” said Super Kendo, who performed for the third time at the county fair.

“This is a sport that attracts mainly children,” said Super Kendo while he was posing for a picture with some children after the match that he and Huracan Ramirez Jr. won.

“This is a dream come true for my children,” said Juan Manuel Gonzalez, who attended the event with his wife and four children. “This is amazing. This year more people attended.”

“Lucha libre is growing in Bakersfield,” said Huracan Ramirez Jr. “We are trying to make it flourish in the United States.”

Huracan Ramirez Jr. wears an iconic mask that belonged to Huracan Ramirez, a lucha libre legend who passed away in 2006 at age 80.

“It’s hard to carry on my back the name of such a legend. I work really hard every day for this public to offer the best of me.”