[MUSIC PLAYING]
JORDAN REDAELLI: I was in Bolivia to mix a drink with
the world's strongest alcohol, a 96% booze called caiman
liquor, and to meet the Wrestling Cholitas, tough
women who beat each other up for the entertainment of
locals and tourists.
I caught up with them at a training session to find out
what they had to do with the world's strongest booze.
So we turned up, and they're already in full swing.
It's quite intense, very acrobatic and athletic.
Juana, in the purple skirt, is kind of the champ, the big
boss of Cholita wrestling.
And Reyna in the red skirt is a relative newcomer.
Juana recently knocked out Reyna's teeth, even though
they're friends.
But then Reyna got her back and kind of took the title.
So this one's for all the marbles.
Hi.
REYNA: Hola
JORDAN REDAELLI: It seems like a pretty tough gig, huh?
Who are you going to be wrestling against on Sunday?
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
Si.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Do you have a game plan, a
secret weapon perhaps?
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: OK.
We'll wait and see on Sunday.
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: What can you tell me about Reyna?
She's pretty new, right?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Did you really need to knock her teeth
out, though?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: So now it's payback time, huh?
JUANITA: [LAUGHING]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Before a big fight, the Cholitas always
perform a ritual where they make an offering to Mother
Earth and set it alight using the caiman liquor.
Also known as firewater, this fermented sugar cane drink is
highly flammable.
Let's burn this sucker down.
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: How's that?
It's good?
Excellent.
I guess I'm now part of the offering as well, so it means
that I have to pour it on each corner of the ring
and then drink it.
Are you going to--
I'm going to--
REYNA: Si, si, si.
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
REYNA: Si, si.
JORDAN REDAELLI: Oh, fuck, no.
[LAUGHTER]
[WHEEZING]
[LAUGHTER]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Oh, you think that's funny, huh?
Think that's funny?
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: You can see all the
alcohol burning off it.
Yeah, so this is what I'm going to be
making a cocktail with.
Good idea.
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: So I'm now in the center of La Paz in the
market district.
I'm here to meet Juana and Reyna.
They come down here to pick up all the tourists in a bus and
take them to the match.
And while I'm down here, there's a few
fruit markets around.
So I'm going to pick up some ingredients to add to the
caiman liquor.
And I'm going to keep it pretty simple because who
knows what's going to go with the Bolivian firewater.
It's pretty intense stuff, so I don't want to
mess with it too much.
Are you feeling confident about the fight today?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Excellent.
Yeah, so I rode the bus up with Reyna and Juanita, and
it's really strange.
They're both exceptionally friendly to one another, but I
think they're gonna kick the shit out of each other in
about an hour, which is also pretty weird.
Yeah, so I don't know.
I don't know who's going to come off second-best.
I've got a feeling that Reyna might win this one.
[THUNDER]
[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]
JORDAN REDAELLI: 10 years ago, the Cholitas used to be the
warm-up act for the men.
But now they've become so popular that they're the
headliners.
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Everything still seemed pretty polite
between Reyna and Juanita, but I could see that there was
some tension building.
They'd been telling me all along it was going to be
hardcore, but I still didn't really know what to expect as
they stepped into the arena.
ANNOUNCER: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SHOUT]
[PUNK MUSIC PLAYING]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Not the bottle of Schweppes!
[PUNK MUSIC PLAYING]
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
ANNOUNCER: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
[PUNK MUSIC PLAYING, ANNOUNCER SPEAKING SPANISH]
ANNOUNCER: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Juanita had won, but I got the impression
that Reyna felt like some rules had been broken, and she
wasn't too happy about it.
You were really hitting her, huh?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Whose idea was it to jump through a
burning table?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Wow.
Well, you got your title back anyway, huh?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Well, well done.
Well done.
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: I'll take care of you, then.
As the punters cleared out and the show came to an end, it
was time to try to reconcile them with the
caiman liquor cocktail.
Have you guys made up since the fight yet?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: All right.
Well, let's make some of it.
Was it 15 mils?
BOTH WRESTLERS: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: All right.
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: I'm going to make five drinks up.
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Yeah, we'll burn the alcohol.
Reyna's running away.
So why did you burn the liquor?
JUANITA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: So you'll jump into the fire, but you
won't drink it?
All right.
We'll make five of these, all right?
With just a handful of ice.
Oops, sorry.
All right.
Squeeze the orange.
Put it in that way.
Oh, don't be scared.
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: There we go.
Now we'll put some blood orange Agrum in.
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: And I'll put a sprig of mint in it as well.
That's two sprigs.
So I made five drinks.
OK, who's first?
REYNA: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Oh yeah, go ahead.
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: Do you like?
-[SPEAKING SPANISH]
JORDAN REDAELLI: To the winner.
[MUSIC PLAYING]