CHICAGO — “The Sriracha Muchacha is me, turned up to eleven!”
Paloma Vargas is a Lucha Libre wrestler who goes by the stage name “The Sriracha Muchacha”! Wrestling professionally for more than 15 years now, Vargas tried to become a ring girl as a young adult but instead was offered a chance to get into the ring herself.
As a young girl, Vargas reminisced how her mother and grandmother would load the car with family and take everyone to see local Lucha Libre matches. This instilled her love for the sport, and she would often fantasize about becoming a pro wrestler.
Today, she wows audiences from local street festivals all the way to the stages of the Goodman Theater with her trusty bottle of sriracha sauce! For Vargas, Lucha Libre wrestling not only allows her to feel like her full self, but also lets her be a positive influence to other women looking for belonging within the world of professional wrestling.
You can follow The Sriracha Muchacha on Instagram.
Wrestling is a huge part of Mercedes Varnado’s career, having gained notoriety as Sasha Banks for the WWE before crossing over as Mercedes Moné for the AEW. But her fans may not realize she is also a huge Sailor Moon fan. The professional wrestler, who recently jumped to acting for The Mandalorian, has a deep appreciation of the classic magical girl fantasy anime based on Naoko Takeuchi’s 1992 manga. Fans of both wrestling and anime know she donned a Sailor Moon-inspired outfit during the 2022 Royal Rumble. So it’s no surprise that she’s openly campaigned to play Sailor Jupiter in a live-action adaptation of Sailor Moon, if that ever happens.
Polygon caught up with Varnado during this year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards, so naturally we had to ask: Given her love of the anime, which sailor scout does she think would make the best professional wrestler?
“I would say Sailor Mercury,” Varnado told Polygon. “She’s such a badass; she has such a good attitude. I feel like Usagi would always be a little late to the ring, she would probably slip during her matches a little bit.”
Image: Toei Animation
Introduced in the eighth episode of Sailor Moon season 1, Sailor Mercury is the first Sailor Guardian that Usagi discovers and the first to join her cause fighting the forces of the nefarious Queen Beryl. Mercury’s true identity is Ami Mizuno, a shy bookworm with an abnormally high I.Q. who is known for her talent for mathematics and computers. Though initially timid, Ami goes on to become the chief strategist of the Sailor Scouts and has a positive, resilient attitude whenever faced with a challenge.
The 1992 Sailor Moon anime would go on to run for a total of five seasons. The series’ combination of tokusatsu-inspired action and romantic melodrama is credited with revolutionizing the genre of Magical Girl anime, with the combined popularity of the anime’s assorted home releases and films contributing to the comic’s status as one of the best-selling Japanese manga of its time. In 2014, Sailor Moon was later adapted into another anime series called Sailor Moon Crystal, in commemoration of the series’ 20th anniversary. Sailor Moon Crystal is a reboot of the original anime that more closely follows the story of Usagi Tsukino and co. as it was told in Naoko Takeuchi’s original manga.
Aside from the series’ popularity, however, Sailor Moon has had a major impact on fans (particularly girls) who grew up watching the anime, and that includes Varnado herself. “I still go back and watch Sailor Moon to get my life lessons, to get my energy,” Varnado told Polygon. “So she still inspires me to this day.”
Sailor Moon is available to stream on Hulu. Sailor Moon Crystal is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
The legendary former wrestling star Hulk Hogan recently took to social media to reveal his “total surrender and dedication to Jesus.”
US Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, 70, and his wife Sky Daily have been baptized in Florida. Hogan captioned on his post: “Total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life. No worries, no hate, no judgment… only love!” pic.twitter.com/hagWoHXN5T
Hogan took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to post a series of photos of himself and his wife Sky Daily Hogan getting baptized.
“Total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life,” he wrote. “No worries, no hate, no judgment… only love!”
The video Hogan shared shows him getting baptized with his wife alongside Aaron Filippone of Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Largo, Florida, according to Church Leaders.
Hogan’s Christian Faith
Hogan revealed back in April that while he has technically been a Christian for much of his life, he is now making God his main priority.
“I accepted Christ as my savior at 14yrs old, and the training, prayers and vitamins kept me in the game,” he explained at the time. “but now that I am one with God, the main event theme of surrender, service and love makes me the Real Main Event that can slam any giant of any size through the power of my Lord and Savior and so it is, even now brother, AMEN!
I accepted Christ as my savior at 14yrs old, and the training, prayers and vitamins kept me in the game but now that I am one with God,the main event theme of surrender,service and love makes me the Real Main Event that can slam any giant of any size through the power of my Lord… pic.twitter.com/SxcOJJwtRL
Hogan had also opened up about his faith at various other times over the years.
In a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Hogan said that after everything he’s been through in life, he “realized all that stuff – the peace, love, the joy, that still, small voice, the energy, that God presence – is part of who I’m meant to be.”
“As long as I made the right choice and followed my faith more than what people were saying, more than what the newspapers or tabloids were saying, and didn’t get sucked into that. None of that stuff is real,” Hogan previously said. “The only thing that is really real is the stuff that’s going to last forever.”
“Your faith and your belief in God and knowing that once you’re a Christian, you’ve accepted Christ as your savior, you’re not gonna perish but have everlasting life,” he continued. “That belief in itself and that faith is what’s pretty much the only thing that’s real to me.”
Check out Hogan’s full comments on that in the video below.
Hogan married Sky Daily Hogan, who is a 45 year-old yoga instructor, at Indian Rocks back in September after dating for over a year, according to The New York Post. The wedding was small and very spontaneous, with only the couple’s children from previous marriages attending. Hogan’s daughter Brooke, who he shares with his ex-wife Linda, was noticeably absent from the nuptials.
“As many of you know, I value my privacy, but unfortunately, a lot of media outlets are making assumptions as to why I did not attend my father’s third wedding,” she said after the wedding. “Instead of leaving it to speculation, I decided it’s better to shut it all down here.”
“… For my own journey to healing and happiness, I have chosen to create some distance between myself and my family, and am focusing on people and things that heal my heart and align with my own personal beliefs, goals, and values,” Brooke said. “I wish him well.”
“WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was recently baptized at the Indian Rocks Baptist Church in Florida, an event he described as “the greatest day of my life.” His wife, Sky Daily Hogan, also participated in the baptism. Hogan, known for his extensive and storied wrestling career,… pic.twitter.com/MImyqZ9JC7
Regardless of what is going on with his family life, we’re so happy for Hogan that he has devoted himself to God. What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section.
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An Ivy leaguer, proud conservative millennial, history lover, writer, and lifelong New Englander, James specializes in the intersection of culture and politics.
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WWE wrestler Gionna Daddio, who wrestles under the name Liv Morgan, was arrested in Central Florida for marijuana possession after traffic stop.
According to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, she was pulled over after crossing the yellow and white lines on the road in Bushnell, in Central Florida.
In the arrest affidavit, local law enforcement initially stopped the jeep in case there was a medical incident happening, but soon claimed there was a smell of marijuana from the vehicle. Apparently, the driver admitted marijuana was in the vehicle at that point.
After a search, a clear plastic bag with “a green leafy substance” and a vape pen with an oil-like substance inside were recovered and used to make the charges.
She was able to bond out of the Sumter County Jail.
