By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

The New York Times published an article this past weekend profiling the seemingly contradictory idea of Americans being booed in the U.S. at wrestling shows.

About a month ago, the AAA promotion out of Mexico booked a series of shows in California and Las Vegas at big arenas, such as ARCO Arena in Sacramento, to promote Lucha Libre and draw from large Hispanic populations.

The storylines played into racial tension, with the "Foreign Legion" of American sympathizers playing the heel role.

Former ROH wrestler Jack Evans led the gringos with a promo against the predominant Hispanic audience that the N.Y. Times printed: "I don't care what you think. This is my country. I get to teach the Mexican people how to be what they always wanted to be, Americans."

The promoter of the tour, a music executive from Los Angeles, Steven Shipp, tells the L.A. Times he made a deal with AAA to help them gain access to the Hispanic wrestling market in the U.S. for future shows.

"We're still in the early stages in the U.S. with this, and we're still focusing on the Hispanic market," Shipp told the Times. "We don't solicit mainstream media, and we don't advertise in the mainstream. We want this to be the authentic thing coming up from Mexico."

The storylines are built on the idea of giving the Hispanic audience hope - that the heroic wrestlers from Mexico will drive out the "Foreign Legion" - all the while promoting stereotypes and playing to racial divisions.

Caldwell's Analysis: I can still vividly remember sitting ringside covering an NWA show in Houston where the anti-American sentiment in the U.S. nearly got someone killed. NWA was running a show in front of about a 95-percent-Hispanic audience at an outdoor bull ring with no ringside barriers and the audience was set to riot on Joey Ryan and Adam Pearce for their anti-Hispanic promo trying to draw heat for the show's main event. It was surreal, but that's how pro wrestling is going to survive on a local scale - playing to national, local, or civic pride.

It will be interesting to see if AAA begins touring regularly in the U.S., but they tested the waters and drew a reported 6,000 fans in Sacramento, Calif., so there is definitely a market. I saw it first hand.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWNLIVE NEWS: NXT star Sami Zayn announced for EVOLVE Tour

NEWS: Daughter of Bill DeMott dies in weekend car crash

HAAS NEWS: Charlie Haas getting back in the ring - big reunion match at OVW, headliner for CWE year-end tour