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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hold on with TWO hands if you ever find yourself at a Professional Bull Riding event.
The pyrotechnics, featuring up-close action with nearly 2,000-lb. bucking bulls, and the riders holding on for dear life — feverishly waiting to hit eight seconds — all make for a spectacle you should see at least once in your life.
FOX Nation streamed Friday’s event in association with PBR, giving OutKick an inside look at the “Toughest Sport on Dirt.”
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Friday night (Sept. 6) marked Day 1 of PBR’s weekend stay in California, which is a joke in itself — and was teased during the show.
Bull riding … seen as an All-American sport … visiting the coast?
C’mon now, partner.
Anaheim, Nashville, or the Bermuda Triangle — the PBR showcase is one hell of a watch.
WATCH:
Sure, there’s a points system that’ll take two reads on a pamphlet to fully grasp. But you’ll be forgiven for forgetting those rules and just staring at the massive beasts bucking and twisting, while riders — most under six feet and less than 200 lbs. — desperately try to hang on.
The riders were fearless.
They’re the kind of men who pray before the event, necks bowed to their chest in full praise to the Lord, then charge out to conquer a bull.
PBR’s been packing arenas since ’92.
The job is “simple”: ride for eight seconds. Scoring runs up to 100 points — 50 for how well the bull bucks, 50 for how well the rider handles it. And in the Team Series, those rides add up for five-man squads battling city vs. city.
That’s how you get matchups like the Arizona Ridge Riders squaring off with the Austin Gamblers, or the Nashville Stampede taking on the Carolina Cowboys.
Competing between teams, the riders, MC, and beasts deliver a show that any sports fan can appreciate.
Ardent fans might argue: they’re just here to compete, not perform.
Wrong — these guys bring it.
One rider even did a backflip off the protective railing, with fans joining in the fun from the seats. Watching the beasts up close at the Honda Center in Anaheim brought back memories of hearing the ear-piercing revving from Grave Digger at a Monster Jam event. Maybe it’s something about being near Angel Stadium, just three miles away, where that Jam memory lives from 2004.
At PBR, you’ll hear Motley Crue, Kid Rock, and the likes blasting over the speakers. You’ll see booming pregame fireworks. You’ll even spot Border Patrol agents working as bull tamers, embraced by a crowd that is 100 percent red-blooded American.
Beyond the awe of seeing fans pray together, cheer together, and rally around chaos, the highlight was the shark cage.
Fans can waltz in — cowboy hats and Tecovas on — and enjoy the show from the seats, no doubt.
But digging deeper, OutKick stepped into the shark cage to see the bulls up close.
At one point, a rogue bull crashed into the shark cage — a cage protected by thick bars rising from the dirt. The booming impact drew a collective gasp from the crowd.
Sitting inside this small compound with four others, squatting to fit, we were closer than anyone to the bucking beasts.
Even on a calmer Friday night (Saturday’s the day to go), fans embraced the show and proved PBR has a home in Southern California.
As for winners, the Arizona Ridge Riders dominated. Coach Colby Yates — joined by team director and Yellowstone actor Mo Brings Plenty — said they taught their riders to embrace the excitement and pressure of competing in Anaheim.
Coach Yates spoke with OutKick after the event: “We’re really excited about it because every time we get to come to Anaheim, we know this is close to our home. So we love coming here. We get a little bit more out of the fans because they know we’re close so it’s pretty special for us.”
“It was excellent,” Mo Brings Plenty added. “Keyshawn [Whitehorse] did a great job with the guys. I mean, the guys [Ridge Riders] are super athletes. And of course, the crowd here, the energy from the crowd just adds another element and excitement to the athletes as well. So it’s just a great combination.”
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In Anaheim, the bulls buck, the crowd roars, and America’s heartbeat feels louder than ever.