Salina De La Renta On Executive Producing This Week's MLW Fusion, What MLW's Doing Right
Salina De La Renta is trading in her promoting hat for a producing one as she will be the executive producer for the May 4 episode of MLW Fusion. De La Renta spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast to talk about her new job and what exactly she'll be doing.
"It pretty much means I get to run everything and everyone does whatever I want. I'm the puppet master and calling all of the shots. I'm picking the colors, the music, the catering, everything," said De La Renta.
"Nobody does anything that I haven't already approved and I already had people sign disclaimers so if anything were to happen, I'm not responsible.
De La Renta got into the wrestling business at a young age and is just 22 years old. She talked about how she's grown from an "island girl" to an MLW executive producer.
"It all happened really fast and I started as an 'island girl' from Puerto Rico… I originally intended to be a screen writer and moved to Florida to do film in college. One of my assignments was to study reality TV and that's how I came across pro wrestling," stated De La Renta.
"The minute I saw pro wrestling I really felt like I belonged. I fit in and my mom was like, 'Well, okay whatever. That's cool if that's what you wanna do.' That's how I met MSL who is the vice president of MLW and it was just meant to be."
De La Renta's background was in front of the camera, but now she's taking a turn in a backstage role and learning more about the business side of the sport.
"In the business aspect, Court Bauer is definitely my go to," said De La Renta. "He knows everything so if I have any questions, he's like a guardian angel. He's there 24/7 and is the best boss I've ever had honestly.
"And MSL as well – they are two people that have taken the time to help me and lead me."
There are many "other" wrestling promotions out there outside of WWE and De La Renta talked about what MLW is doing to stand out from the rest.
"I think a lot of wrestling companies are really focused on the wrong thing. It's either 'Let's make money' or it's 'Let's make this person famous and bash other characters.' The cool part about MLW is that everybody matters and when you feel loved, you want to try your best," stated De La Renta.
"Everybody in that roster is treated equally no matter what. Court and MSL always give the same opportunities to everyone and you get to the top by working hard."
MLW has been more successful than most other promotions at penetrating the Latin American market and De La Renta says that isn't by accident.
"Well, definitely the majority of our roster is Latino so that helps. I would think the audience would be more bias to watching a wrestling show with people from their own country and race. Even though that sounds a little weird, I know that it's true," said De La Renta. "I feel that the Latin community is really happy that there finally is a wrestling show that allows Spanish people to showcase their abilities.
De La Renta is proud to represent Latin America as a whole and Puerto Rico, specifically, as a native of the country.
"Puerto Rico has been represented by different people and in different categories like film and movies, but in wrestling there really hasn't been that," stated De La Renta. "So being one of the first women to do that is definitely a huge honor."
Salina de la Renta can be seen every Saturday night at 9 pm EST as part of MLW's Fusion on BeIn Sports. She will be executive producing the May 4th episode of the show.
The latest episode of MLW was great. I didn't know she actually produced the show. I thought it was a gimmick as she is portrayed as the boss and decision maker. She's certainly easy on the eyes too so I'm not one to complain.
