By day, David Morales is the youngest member of the Rhode Island state legislature and a candidate for Providence mayor.
By night, he’s known as The Commissioner. Wearing spandex and tights, he battles it out with other amateur wrestlers as part of the Rhode Island Renegade Wrestling Alliance.
“And I’m proud of having a mean elbow coming off the rope,” he said.
Morales has been a wrestling fan since he was a kid in Southern California. Now, he’s a three-time champion in his weight class, even as he has made a name for himself at the Capitol as one of Rhode Island’s most progressive Democrats.
“I think there’s a lot of overlap,” he said. “Including showmanship, theater, athleticism, drama and humor.”
But Morales believes that in 2025 there may be a bit too much overlap.
“I don’t think it’s a positive thing when so many politicians are trying to emulate the sort of style that professional wrestlers put forward in their promos, because what you end up with is extremist rhetoric,” he said.
Wrestling has deep roots in American politics. Long before the WWE, George Washington, Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt were all known to have fought it out in the ring with rivals.
More recently, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Hulk Hogan have both appeared at Republican National Conventions. Jesse “The Body” Ventura went on from WWE fame to become governor of Minnesota. And now-President Donald Trump is in the WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Before entering politics, Trump was a major character in Wrestlemania’s 2007 Battle of the Billionaires. Trump famously shaved the head of WWE’s impresario Vince McMahon.
Vince’s wife, former WWE president and CEO Linda McMahon, now serves as Trump’s Secretary of Education.
Morales spoke with Ocean State Media’s David Wright about the intersection of wrestling and politics.
Interview highlights
What’s “kayfabing”?
“Kayfabe” is the idea that you are able to maintain a persona and stay in character. There are lots of politicians maintaining kayfabe. For example, within the Republican Party: I think you have certain Republican congressmen in particular that don’t always agree with the president, but they need to maintain the kayfabe that they are with the MAGA base.
What about the president himself?
The president is a perfect example of kayfabe. Despite the fact that his ideas have put more stress on working people within our economy, he’s maintaining the kayfabe that his ideas are actually solutions. He’s maintaining kayfabe that his proposals are actually helping working people, when in fact it’s made life more expensive.
Where do you see wrestling ideas play out in an unhealthy way in politics?
I would definitely say whenever you have MAGA Republicans actively encouraging ICE raids to happen within our communities. What we have seen over the last several months is ICE coming in, masked agents kidnapping our neighbors right off the streets, right outside the courthouses. Even they know in a lot of cases that people are being wrongfully arrested and deported, but in order to maintain the kayfabe that ICE is doing the right thing, they will always maintain that ICE is here to protect and serve. That’s simply not the case.
Is he optimistic that politics can get beyond petty squabbles and bitter divisions?
I would say yes, especially at the local level, because while we might not share similar values around every issue or position, we are all here for the purposes of serving our neighbors. But at the federal level I’m less optimistic. I think there becomes the question of who are those representatives or senators actually representing? Are they representing the actual interests of their community members? Or maybe they represent the interests of big donors, or the leader of their party, which in this case would be Trump for the Republicans.
What American public official would you most like to get in the ring with?
I would have to say Speaker Mike Johnson. Perhaps if there is a Flying Elbow that connects, he will grow a backbone and stand up to Trump and end this government shutdown.
