To most, he is known as Elias “Buddy” Garcia, a coach, instructional assistant, and aspiring teacher who is an impressive combination of humble, hard-working, and determined. But in the wrestling ring, he’s known as Buddy Royal—an evil villain that kicks ass with old-school flare and cocky antics.
The training gym, where Garcia practices at least two nights a week, is a hole-in-the-wall industrial building in Santa Maria. Wrestling promotion posters adorn the walls beneath the flickering lights of the front room. Through a small doorway is the room where Garcia said “the magic” happens; the 18-by-12-foot canvas wrestling ring is where the young wrestler seeks to make his dream come true.
Garcia’s dream started when he was young, watching professional wrestling with his father.
“I remember watching Hulk Hogan a lot. My dad always had wrestling on the TV,” Garcia said. “We would push all the couches in the living room aside and wrestle each other while pretending to be our favorite wrestlers.”
Garcia’s passion for wrestling was also fueled by lots and lots of movies. He used to sit and watch wrestling movies at the Blockbuster store his mother worked at.
Three years ago, Garcia started training to chase that dream, and he made his ring debut two years ago. But for something that has become a major aspect of his life, Garcia said it’s a side of him he doesn’t reveal to many outside of close friends and family. And that’s because Garcia’s style of wrestling, most commonly seen through the WWE, is the subject of a lot of incorrect assumptions.
“When I tell people I do this type of wrestling, they think it’s fake,” he said. “Some people just see it as something to do, but I take it very seriously and have a lot of respect for the sport.”
According to Garcia, who broke down the history of the sport in a simple progression, wrestling was around before baseball. It was super popular at one point in time, but as the pace of American lives sped up, fewer and fewer spectators had the time or attention span to watch a two-hour wrestling match with much enthusiasm.
“People thought it was boring,” Garcia said. “Ticket sales dropped, and wrestling converted to the carnival scene.”
But wrestlers like Edna Strangler Lewis and the “Gold Dust Trio” helped bring showmanship to the ring and developed the modern template for WWE style wrestling.
“Lewis kept beating everyone, so he had this idea to throw the match in the hopes that the loss would make the papers, and it did,” Garcia said. “Lewis scheduled a rematch, and a ton of fans came to watch.”
The idea of showmanship is what sets this style of wrestling apart from its traditional beginnings, combining athleticism with performing arts to spawn a new generation in sports entertainment.
“It is very theatrical. I compare it to a Greek passion play; using our bodies to convey emotion,” Garcia said. “It’s intended to tell a story, where there is a good guy and a bad guy who tries to cheat to win; where good defeats evil.”
For Garcia, whose knowledge of the sport is enough to command respect for what he does, performing crazy moves is not what this sport is about—there is a reason for every move. The idea is to develop a storyline, a character, something that keeps people coming back to watch. Garcia said performances in the ring are enhanced through wrestling psychology—and yes, there is such a thing.
“Many of the storylines feature an underdog, people love the underdog and seeing good triumph over evil,” Garcia said, whose performances don’t necessarily portray the forces of good. When the eloquent and level-headed Garcia steps in the ring, he’s transformed into Buddy Royal, his wrestling alter-ego.
“Buddy Royal is an old-school wrestler, from his style of dress to his behavior in the ring,” he said. “Buddy Royal is cocky and thinks he is better than he actually is. … He’s in your face, boisterous, and always wears lots of color.”
The dastardly Buddy Royal will do anything in the ring to win—even cheat.
When Buddy Royal steps in the ring, he tries to convey as much emotion as he can, thinking of himself as a puppeteer pulling on the emotional strings and responses of the crowd.
“When I step in the ring, I want people to know I’m the bad guy without even saying anything; it’s all in the facial expression,” Garcia said. “In the wrestling world there is a saying that your face is your money maker.”
He said he’s constantly learning how to work a crowd, and he spends a lot of time cardio training and learning “the magic.” Because it’s a dangerous sport, Garcia said wrestlers have to know what they’re doing and know how to keep their brothers in the ring safe.
While Garcia kept “the magic” a secret, he divulged that part of training means learning how to make contact with an opponent safely and learning how to take a fall in the ring.
“Part of the magic is people know it’s fake, but I try to make it look as real as possible; since my character is old school he uses holds, not chairs and jumping off the ropes,” Garcia said. “When you’re in the ring, you’re suspending belief and defying logic.”
His long-term goal is to make it to the WWE, but he’s in no rush to get there and, of course, he’s got a backup plan. Garcia maintains his job as a coach at Pioneer Valley High School (he coaches junior varsity football, track, and freshmen basketball), while working as an instructional assistant and pursuing his Single Subject teaching credential (he wants to teach history).
Coupled with his inherent drive to succeed, Garcia said he’s incredibly motivated by his family, and said he gets emotional sometimes when talking about his respect and admiration for his father.
And at the end of the day, Garcia wants nothing more than to make his family proud of him; with four California championship titles under his belt, he’s already doing just that.
“When I’m in the ring, I’m 12 years old again and living my dream—there is no money value you can put on that,” he said.
Garcia will embark on several wrestling show road trips before returning to Lompoc for the May 16 Melee Tour.
Sun contributing writer Kristina Sewell can be reached through Editor Camillia Lanham at clanham@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 7-14, 2015.