Tonight might be the last time that I watch a wrestling show until such a time that a third golden age dawns upon us. I say this with a heavy heart and a weary mind having spent a good portion of my life writing about, reporting upon, and overall celebrating both the mystique and the mythology that professional wrestling has come to represent within my nearly 40 years upon this good Earth. As laughable as the famed representation may be to some, the fan at a meet and greet testifying through tears of both humility and sincerity -- It is real, it is real to me -- could not be more true in its sentiments. Such a claim was further validated as Ric Flair echoed such words during a midring confrontation with Vince Russo back in the WCW over the retirement of his friend and fellow Four Horsemen, Arn Anderson. Such angst, such pangs, and such truths champion everything that professional wrestling represents; and far more than great television that the sport has been reduced into emulating. Because of which, I humbly state that there is far more nuance and tradition to wrestling that built legacies and folklore that engage the hearts while eliciting the imaginations of young and old alike. Tragically, this has fallen to the wayside since the WWE has taken control of the sport while making a monopoly over the business. The sport of professional wrestling remains as the epitome of both the feats and the folly of man as recounted through its many tomes and visual adaptations as witnessed throughout the two hundred years of its existence. The word wrestling itself is one of the oldest English words, and rightfully so. The challenge of trying to best one another through technique and cunning in unarmed competition has inspired every facet of the arts while generating not one but two cultural movements playing off of current themes and men made into virtual gods by the fans. All this has nearly been lost within this modern white wash of what the sport once was. Long are the days of the Gotches, the Gorgeous Georges, the Horsemen, and many others. To say that the sport, heavily influenced by what and how the WWE molds its, is all but unwatchable remains as a bitter understatement. Both the history, the tradition, and the sacrifices to make professional wrestling culturally relevant has been torn asunder and burned upon pyres in recent years. So this might be the last time that I watch a wrestling show. I will do so while fighting back the tears of adulation and personal avarice for I was never able to run the ropes, nor hear the swell of reaction of the fans as I took to the ring as a mighty combatant ready and willing to best my opponent in one on one competition. I wish to remember the sport when it was true to itself -- wrestlers honing their craft and their in-ring psychology -- where there was more than a financial investment, but an emotional one as well -- whether it was a story line, a persona, or a given hero that best personified me and the adversity that I ever seek to overcome whether elaborately garbed in a sequin robe, or a suit and tie as I tackle the stress and strains of the workaday life. Tonight might be my last wrestling show, and for this I am truly saddened.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:01:48 +0000
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