Few things aggravate me more than hearing someone judge what independent wrestlers do inside the ring without ever having seen us perform. We have seen this a lot in the media and from folks who aren't wrestling fans who broadcast their pre-conceived biases about the wrestling industry. The public, and those of us in the industry are expected to accept these as a given. I dare say that this stereo-typing wouldn't fly in any other environment.
In recent months, we have learned that steroid testing in Major League Baseball revealed that A-Rod was on the juice. Results of other testing was supposed to be sealed, but certainly we're not naive enough to believe that his use was an isolated incident in that environment. Just ask Jose Canseco. But we don't see massive public protest and everyone painted with the same brush that ALL BASEBALL PLAYERS ARE STEROID ABUSERS. The steroid issue hasn't led to people dismissing the credibilty of the sport or ability of the performers.
In hockey, Sidney Crosby withdrew from an advertised appearance at the NHL prospects game in Vancouver in 2005 despite being heavily advertised, citing "emotional exhaustion". Even when promoters sweetened the pot and offered to fly out his whole family and give them an expense paid week long vacation on the west coast, Crosby still stayed home. Nobody came out swinging that Crosby is a pampered crybaby, so this is true of all hockey players.
So how is it fair to judge the efforts of professional wrestlers if you've never bothered to check out their show? Is it okay to make assumptions about what wrestling at the grassroots level must look like based on the risque prime time storylines presented by the WWE? I don't think so.
If this was appropriate, then we should caution all our sisters not to marry African American fellows because of what O.J. Simpson (allegedly) did to his estranged wife a few years ago. No, this is neither appropriate are fair.
At the end of March, I was scheduled to wrestle for Western Canadian Championship Wrestling (WCCW) on a card in Lloydminster at the Legion Hall. However, after confirming the booking, the management from the venue called promoter Chris Hennigar and said that they were cancelling the show because they didn't feel that this was "an appropriate form of entertainment" for their facility. WHAT!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? WCCW has promoted fundraising events for the Cystic Fibrosis foundation in Beaverlodge, Alberta and for the Heart & Stroke Foundation in Grande Prairie. The locker room is filled with a crew that includes College graduates, who are 100% drug free. The promoter himself is a family man who works in the community, and they are going to blindly say that we're inappropriate? Where do they get off?
For myself, I have always been particularly mindful of the content of the programs on which I appear. You see, I'm not only a sixteen year "lifer" in this business. Away from the glare of the ring lights, I am also a parent, and I am very conscious of the visibility of my ring exploits through the wrestling media and via the internet. I would never want to be involved with anything that I wouldn't want my daughter to see, or would negatively affect her among her peers. My responsibility as a dad far outweighs any career aspirations between the ropes.
My daughter Katie, who is now sixteen years old, has grown up around the wrestling business. She's been at the matches for much of her childhood and regards many of the wrestlers as an extended family of uncles. She's particularly fond of Edmonton's Massive Damage who has been "Uncle Massive" since she was four years old. Before she was in school, it was more economical for us for me to take her on the road on short trips than to dole out the high prices for daycare, so she'd be on the road with me all the time. If you think your job is tough -- try juggling a travelling wrestling career with tending to the needs of a four year old girl while traversing the prairie provinces around the clock.
Through wrestling's rudimentary foundation of good vs. evil, Katie understood the stories being told, but had some difficulty when faced with challenges about the validity of the ring action by friends in her own circle. By second grade, she was more fiercely protective of the business than most first year guys are today. I did recognize, however, the impact of what her impressionable young mind was seeing in the ring, and around the wrestlers that we travelled with and I think she's turned out alright. Like any teenager, though dad and his off the wall career was cool in grade school, she reminds me daily that I'm not cool anymore.
For anyone to blindly judge today's pro wrestling without taking the opportunity to see how the business has changed, I think this is wrong. At this level, without the big budget production of the televised shows, without the pyrotechnics and light shows, without the backstage cameras filming scripted carnage you gotta get back to basics and tell that story in the ring. If it doesn't happen bell to bell, you haven't given your audience their money's worth. At this level, we are constantly aware of the negative stigma attached to our industry and are mindful of not only keeping the "parental controls" on the content of the show, but also keeping the program as politically neutral as possible. There were a lot of tools used to generate interest in wrestling storylines twenty years ago that just wouldn't fly today. It's back to basics good vs. evil inside the 'squared circle'.
No, professional wrestling is not for everyone. Further, there are some who watch wrestling (particularly the televised matches and pay per views) that don't fully understand what they're seeing. However, the same can be said for any variety of television programs that our kids are exposed to on a daily basis. It's up to us as parents to help our kids translate what they see on TV -- what's real and what's fake. What's the message behind the story.
Over much of my career, I have taken advantage of opportunities to talk to kids in elementary schools across the country. I have spoken in schools in Digby Nova Scotia, Souris Manitoba, and other far flung towns across the map. In some cases, I have been asked back for repeated engagements to talk to kids about not only not trying to imitate what they see in the ring, but also the importance of looking out for themselves and each other, and most importantly dreaming big. Is that inappropriate? Helping kids to make positive life decisions? Maybe we shouldn't allow this in our communities either.
Today, Lloydminster has me stirred up, but this isn't the first time that I have come across this type of bias, and it certainly won't be the last. I'd like to say sorry to the fans of Lloydminster on behalf of your "entertainment police" that you're going to miss out on some great wrestling action. Don't worry, maybe these folks can also put some bans in place for the spring carnival as well because the rides and attractions get youth too riled up, and we can't have that either. Come to think of it, why haven't more towns banned carnies and their rigged midway games -- how is ripping off the public in your community appropriate?
Treat yourself. Take in a live wrestling match when the matches come to your community. I think you might be pleasantly surprised with the quality of action, the skill of the performers, and just how well you are entertained by LIVE PRO RASSLIN'.
Vance Nevada