The heel who plays a politician just became a real one. David Morales, a Renegade Wrestling Alliance champion who works as “The Commissioner,” has been elected mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.
The Associated Press projected Morales the winner Tuesday night over Republican Dave Talan. Unofficial results had him with more than 30,000 votes, about 81% of the total. At 28, he will be the youngest mayor in the city’s history, taking the title from Joseph Paolino Jr., who was elected at 29 in 1984. Morales, a self-described democratic socialist and state representative, takes office in January 2027 as Providence’s 40th mayor.
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The general election was a formality. Morales pulled off the real upset in September, when he ousted incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley in the Democratic primary and became the heavy favorite from that point on.
Morales has wrestled for Rhode Island’s Renegade Wrestling Alliance since 2021 as a villainous politician. He has held the promotion’s Hype Championship three times. He announced a semi-retirement from the ring while campaigning for mayor in 2025.
He also spoke about the overlap between his two careers in an October 2025 interview with Ocean State Media. “I think there’s a lot of overlap,” he said, citing showmanship, theater and drama. He also warned that politicians borrowing wrestling-style promo rhetoric can produce extremist politics, and he used kayfabe to describe public officials staying in character.
On election night, Morales leaped off the stage to hug a supporter, a move Ocean State Media compared to a wrestler coming off the turnbuckle.
He is far from the first wrestler to hold office. Jesse Ventura served as governor of Minnesota, and WWE alum Raymond Rougeau was re-elected mayor of Rawdon, Quebec, last November. Several other former stars also serve in elected positions across the country.
