“F*ck ICE” in the Arena - How a Wrestling Night in Las Vegas Became a Political Statement

What sounded like the entire arena stopped the spectacle for a moment. Even before the first strike was thrown in the main event of AEW Dynamite, a unified chant echoed through the arena in Las Vegas: “Fuck ICE! Fuck ICE!” Loud, drawn out, impossible to ignore. The live broadcast was airing on TBS and HBO Max, the cameras were on, and the chorus did not come from a small group but from large parts of the audience. In the ring stood Maxwell Jacob Friedman, known as MJF, and Brody King. MJF looked visibly irritated into the camera, eyes wide open, then scanned the stands. King, in the opposite corner, looked into the crowd and nodded. The moment did not belong to the title match, but to the mood in the arena.

Las Vegas is a city with a strong Latin American population, nearly 35 percent of residents are Hispanic or Latino. All Elite Wrestling has in recent years deliberately integrated luchadores from Mexico and in doing so has also appealed to a growing Latino audience. In a city where immigration is not an abstract issue but everyday reality, the chant against the immigration agency ICE struck a nerve. Brody King had already taken a clear position in the weeks leading up to the “World Championship Eliminator Match.” Together with artists and a print shop, he released a T shirt bearing the words “Abolish ICE” and raised nearly 59,000 dollars for the Minnesota Rights Action Committee, which supports among others Latino and Somali communities. On X he thanked the buyers and ended his post with the words “Fuck ICE.” The year before, at “Grand Slam Mexico,” he had appeared wearing a similar shirt and later released another design in support of a nonprofit organization in California.

King defeated MJF quickly and secured the opportunity to compete for the title on February 14 at “Grand Slam Australia.” Yet what is likely to remain in memory is less the sporting outcome than the moment before it. A wrestling show that for many represents escapism became for seconds a political outlet. Inquiries to AEW, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security initially went unanswered. In the arena, however, the message was clearly articulated - not as a single voice, but as a collective chant that briefly drowned out the action in the ring.