Former football player and reality TV star, Dhani Jones, enjoys athletic competition. With a powerful body like that (front and center on the cover of Essence magazine), he naturally wants to test his masculinity and strength against other men. His reality show, Dhani Tackles the Globe, featured him traveling around the world to learn a new sport each week and trying to beat the local athletes at their own games.
Certainly the most exciting episode had to be when he went south of the border to get in the Mexican wrestling ring and beat up on the local talent. I’ve always said that any man looks better in pro wrestling gear, and in Dhani’s case, that truth is multiplied by a hundred times…
Dhani shocked the fans with his abilities, fearlessly leaping off the ropes and using a host of classic wrestling moves. What impressed me the most is his believability as the cocky Bad Boy Heel. He must be a fairly arrogant dude to be able to inspire our love and hate so effectively!
The Mexican fans are especially eager to despise this cocky Rudo because (1). He is a greedy, loud-mouth American; (2). He calls himself “Oro Solido” (i.e. “Solid Gold”) to flaunt his wealth and prosperity; and, (3). He gets rough with the local hero, Mascara Ano 2000, knocking the Mexican wrestler’s dick in the dirt with little sympathy or respect.
Whew — that beefy, hairy body on Dhani!
Eventually the Mexican wrestler remembers that he has a set of balls after all and begins to assert himself against the first-time Luchador. The fans are delighted to see the foreigner, the Black Gringo, the cocky American taken down a few pegs by their home-town boy.
Dhani wears gold clothing and calls himself “Solid Gold” to brag about the relative prosperity enjoyed in the United States — especially by pro athletes — compared to the humble, generally less wealthy Mexicans in the crowd. He’s rubbing his success in their faces, so of course they want him to take a beating.
He also refused to shave his body hair and to wrestle in a mask — rejecting the traditions of Lucha Libre. The fans want this cocky bastard to be humbled as quickly as possible.
Poor Dhani is soon in agony out on the filthy arena floor (which gives some lucky fans a closer look at his chest hair and fit body.)
He may have bumped his head as he fell from the ring, because his forehead is busted open and trickling blood. Or maybe Dhani cut himself with a blade to try on the good old “Crimson Mask” — which would impress me even more when it comes to his dedication to classic wrestling and ring psychology!
In my opinion, Dhani’s reality show — Dhani Tackles the Globe — contained a threat in the title and the premise. Dhani was not coming to your country just to compete for fun — rather, he was bent on kicking your ass. At your own sport! He wants to own you.
He wants to conquer other men by humiliating them at their own sport after just a week of training. He wants to prove his Alpha Male status, his superiority at any sport — including YOUR sport. He wants to tackle you, to make you his bitch.
Sure enough, Dhani has tackled his opponent, emasculating him by busting his nuts, then easily pinning him. He has shown that America wins again; that with just a week of training, a “Gringo” can defeat an experienced Mexican. This must be very degrading for the audience, who had screamed their heads off for Mascara, to see Dhani standing over them like the new King of Mexico.
Mexican culture is very conscious of skin color as well, with darker skinned people at the bottom of the social ladder. It must feel even more outrageous and humiliating to the Mexicans that it was a black man, proudly displaying his swarthy torso, who has insulted them by winning the match.
Soon, it is pointed out that Dhani cheated by kicking the opponent in the crotch, so the victory is granted to Mascara Ano 2000 on a technicality. Still, it was Dhani Jones who actually beat the other man into submission, so he enjoys the bragging rights even if the Mexican gets to put a checkmark in the “W” column. Whatever… the masked man got “tackled.”
If you wish to watch the entire 16 minute match as it aired on Mexican television, check it out on Daily Motion. You can also view a minute-and-a-half trailer promoting this episode of Dhani Tackles the Globe on YouTube.