March 28, 2024

The Booty Monster Benefit Show

American Combat Wrestling is holding a fundraiser for Salina de la Renta.

Salina de la Renta is quickly becoming the most powerful woman in professional wrestling.

As the founder of Promociones Dorado, the malevolent impresario showcases premiere Latin talent in MLW, representing international superstars such as Pentagon Jr., Garza Jr. and Fenix. Now that the Orlando-based promotion has signed a deal with beIN Sports, Salina de la Renta is a bona fide television star, gracing screens every Friday night.

“Honestly, it’s been the biggest and best experience I’ve ever had,” de la Renta says. “I got the opportunity to go to the beIN Sports studios to film a commercial. When I first got there, I was thinking it would be more like an indie show type of feel, because I didn’t know what was going to happen. But as soon as I got there, they treated us like stars. It was special treatment that I’ve never gotten before, and I’ve been in a lot of performing arts. It feels like I’m going somewhere with this.”

Although her stock is skyrocketing, it’s a bittersweet time for the Latin goddess. While she enjoys mugging for the camera and supporting her clients, de la Renta would prefer to be in the ring dishing out punishment to hapless foes. Trained at Team Vision Dojo in Orlando, she gained a loyal following and a number of victories, including the American Combat Wrestling Women’s Championship, in only two years.

But a couple of injuries have sidelined her in-ring career. Right before WrestleMania week in 2017, she did a leapfrog from the top rope, and her knee popped out when she landed. “It’s not really in anybody’s move set because it’s really unsafe,” de la Renta says. “Something happened that I’m not going to get into and I ended up doing that move. It was so crazy. My knee popped out of the side of my leg, and then it moved back in place. Of course, I wasn’t able to stand up.”

The match was stopped and she was taken to the hospital. Because she didn’t have health insurance at the time, de la Renta was unable to get an MRI. Instead, she spent the next eight months rehabbing what she later learned was a torn ACL.

In an eerie coincidence, she suffered another injury around WrestleMania week this year. “I threw a closeline and my knee literally went inside to where my thighs are,” de la Renta says. “I’ve been limping ever since. I can’t run. When I walk, you don’t see a person that’s injured, but it will get swollen out of nowhere.”

In addition to her torn ACL, she is now diagnosed with a torn meniscus and a displaced bucket handle. As a pro wrestler, of course, her medical costs are not covered by any promoters, leaving the 21 year old to pay out of pocket for treatment. After struggling to schedule surgery with her health care provider, she went to another doctor who offered her a 50% discount.

So now the surgery only costs…$10,000.

“I still have appearances to make,” de la Renta says. “They’ve been advertising me for months, and I won’t say no because there are people who literally go to these shows just to see me. I’ve been getting in the ring, very carefully, but I don’t know. It’s my passion.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to reach the $10,000 goal, with less than a thousand dollars donated so far. Ever the hustler, de la Renta has been selling all kinds of merchandise to help fund the procedure, from photos and posters to ring gear and apparel to even limited edition dolls. She and her partner Aria Blake (a “sugar babies” tag team known as The Spoiled Brats) also work with Cameo, a service where customers pay for recorded birthday wishes, shout outs and other voice messages.

With her DMs always open, de la Renta is committed to customer service and raising funds. “A lot of people don’t have the money to help me out, but if they just share my story, it helps a lot,” she says.

Her biggest fundraiser takes place Friday, May 11, in Port Richey, Florida: The Booty Monster Benefit Show. Hosted by her old stomping grounds American Combat Wrestling, all proceeds will go toward her surgery. The lineup includes all of her friends and the commentary team will feature a couple of Spoiled Brats.

“I’ve never done commentary and a lot of people told me I’d be good at it,” de la Renta says. “It will be comedic and different because I just comment on what I see.”

After the proceeds from the benefit, de la Renta hopes to have enough money to schedule the surgery. Looking at a six-month timeframe for recovery, the Booty Monster may be back in action to ring in 2019.

Until then, she’ll continue to present American audiences with the best talent in lucha libre, elevating MLW to unprecedented heights. “What I’m doing with MLW is beyond amazing and it’s opening a lot of opportunities,” de la Renta says. “I’m looking forward to what this year has for me.”

The Booty Monster Benefit Show takes place Friday, May 11, at 9409 US Highway 19 in Port Richey, Florida.

For tickets and more information, contact ACW on Facebook or Twitter.

You can support Salina de la Renta’s GoFundMe here

You can follow Salina on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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