For Christopher Torres, wrestling is more than a physical fight. It’s an art form, a violent theater and a way to tell a story. A story of underdogs versus champions, competitors creating their reputations and building up throughout matches to their signature moves. Torres broke their right arm in the ring just a few months ago. But they’re not letting the injury keep them down.
“I've come to the realization that maybe this is a good sign that I have to take a little bit of time off,” Torres said during a recent interview with Our Town Reno. “I don't feel like I'm competing at the level I could be. I feel at this time I'm really going to hone my craft, not only in the ring, whenever I'm clear to do that, but outside of the ring. I think the part about wrestling a lot of people forget is the character aspect. I feel personally, for myself, that the character aspect has been lacking for a while.”
Explaining the broken arm leads to a lot of common questions when people learn Torres is a wrestler. Is wrestling fake? Is it choreographed? Torres, for their own amusement, comes up with slightly different answers explaining the broken arm every time. For Torres, the arm is an opportunity to explain to the uninitiated the sometimes difficult realities of wrestling.
“I've met so many different people, and all of these people want to make sure that the show that they're putting on is the best product that they're doing,” Torres said. “They're pouring their hearts and souls into this show, because it's something that they believe in. Wrestling on its own could be a religion. It could be cultish, but it’s a religion.”
Their own character has gone through a couple of different iterations and nicknames. Names like “Panic Torres” and “Firebrand” were prototypes, but, for Torres, a wrestling character requires both amplifying who you are as a person and giving the audience what they need to enjoy the match. It isn’t just a physical sport for them. It’s violent theater. And authenticity in this violent theater is part of the reason that Torres now uses their real name as part of their wrestling nickname, “ATOMIC” Christopher Torres.
“I want to be able to demonstrate to the world who I am, and I’m not going to be apologetic about it,” Torres said. “I’m not going to be rude to anyone or put down others on my way to getting to wherever I need to go, but I’m not going to hold back who I am. I’m going to show people what it is that ATOMIC Christopher Torres is. And that might be different from what my real-life Christopher Torres is. But is it? I’m using the same name. I’m using my same identity. I’m just turning [it] up a little bit more.”
Screengrabs from the Instagram page.
Helping the public see what they want to see sometimes comes into conflict with their non-binary gender identity. Torres said they are happy to stand with other wrestlers and to be a non-binary wrestler to show other people, inside or outside wrestling, to live their best lives whether people like you or not. Torres said that representation for marginalized gender or sexual identities in wrestling has been hit or miss, outside of a few specific promotions.
“I don't make a habit of correcting people on my pronouns only because I know a lot of people aren't going to make the effort to use my correct pronouns,” Torres said. “That's the reality of the wrestling industry.”
Torres wants to one day pay the bills exclusively through independent wrestling, which have smaller events than professional leagues like WWE. Torres though sees the independent events as more effective at developing a connection with the fans. A wrestler can point at a fan and ask them to cheer, and spectators have to learn quickly to dodge out of the way as a body flies into the crowd.
“We are self-funding most of these shows,” Torres said. “We have to pay for the chairs. We sometimes have to rent a ring, because we don’t have a ring. We have to pay for the building. We have to make sure we have insurance for wrestlers, all these different things that you have to account for.”
Torres see the independent wrestling industry as growing, but they plan to eventually move to California, a scene with more events and more action. For Torres, wrestling is a place where everyone can find something to love. They encouraged anyone to check their area and any cities close by for any independent wrestling events to support.
“Don't go in with any preconceived notions that this may be fake,” Torres said. “It may be choreographed or it may be bad, because, I’'ll be real with you, sometimes bad wrestling exists. But it's fun. Wrestling, all wrestling, can be fun. And that on its own deserves its merit as an art.”