Alex Harrington is hanging upside-down in the air as we surround him in silence, our jaws wide open, as the skin of his knees stretches like rubber under the weight of his body. There is no blood from the deep sea fishhooks that penetrate his flesh at this moment, but he assures us there will be when he is done.

Michael Modest commands respect rather than asks for it. He is a figurehead for West Coast Wrestling Connection, an independent wrestling league based in Salem, Oregon.

A room draped in Romanian, Croatian, Turkish, Japanese, and Bulgarian flags comes to life as dancers pound their feet into the glossy-wood flooring, creating a bass for the violin and accordion music filling the room.