What a night! If you happened to miss the action at Autozone Park on Saturday night (the 28th of July) I am sorry! Lucky for you that missed it, I'm here to tell a little tale about one of the most memorable nights in my career. This show was more than just a wrestling show, it was just an all-out fun experience.
Let me set the table for a moment. Saturday night at Autozone Park in Memphis, Tennessee was a huge night of baseball and wrestling... thus making it baseBRAWL! So, first up were the Memphis Redbirds versus the Fresno Grizzlies. There were over 12,000 in attendance for the game. It was cloudy out... not too hot and not too cold. A very good evening for a game, but there was a chance of rain. If you know anything about the luck of running a wrestling show outdoors, then you know what is coming later in this story.
Anyhow, I was able to meet with some friends of mine upstairs in the press box of the Commercial Appeal. We had an absolute blast. Watching the baseball game was only part of the fun, as we went through scenarios of what just might happen later in the evening when I stepped into the squared circle.
I was given advice on what holds to use, what outfit to wear... you name it, they had it there for me. One friend even told me to use Jerry Lawler's patented piledriver... it always worked for the King! I was also given the heads up on the chili-dogs they were having in the press box. Now, I won't go into detail on what advice was given with the chili-dogs... but it involved using deadly chemical warfare inside the ring! In the top of the ninth, as the game was winding down, I was on my way to the locker room to get ready for action. Before I could leave, my anxious friends advised me to point in their direction... they would go crazy for me out there. I made the deal.
As the ring crew (and Redbirds staff) assembled the ring, I had a chance to meet with a few of the ball-players and umpires. And no, the umpires weren't NEARLY as bad as some of you fans think. One umpire that I spoke with told me he actually worked for the MLB. Wow... this is big time! After chatting with the ump and giving him advice and booting a catcher in the rear, I headed for the Redbirds themselves. I had a chance to get some advice on swinging the pine at an eventual opponent... and where to play golf in Memphis. I recommended a few courses they could play at. Mind you, I have no clue who these ball-players are. I just know that they've played a game tonight and they're sticking around to watch me perform. I was honored at that. But when they get up and walk away, I had a chance to read the back of their jersey's. They read, "ANKIEL" - "BOZIED" & "ECKSTEIN"! Are you kidding me? I was just talking to three of the top guys on the Redbirds' squad? Rick Ankiel, whom I had been joking about meeting all night because he's the leading homerun hitter in the league? I was totally surprised. Not because I'm this huge baseball junkie or anything... but just surprised at how polite these guys actually were!
Think of it this way - you have maybe twenty wrestlers invade your home after you've just lost another baseball game. They're asking you questions (which can get irritating). You're tired. You haven't showered yet. You're just ready to go home, right? Well, these guys had the common courtesy to not only let us in, but to treat us with respect and treat us like professionals. These guys were great, to say the least. The entire staff was tremendous.
Back to the show. I take a sneak peak outside, as the ring crew is finishing up. What do I see? RAIN. After the hours of waiting... after setting the ring up... after the set-up for the entire promotion, now it's going to rain? We're going to get rained out! Or are we?
Next thing I know, I'm walking to the ring in the rain to wrestle a former WCW and WWF superstar, Mr. Hughes! There's a first time for everything, I guess. I didn't know you could even have a show in the rain! Wouldn't the cameras get ruined? I guess not! The crowd was great... cheering for Five Starr! I get on the ropes, point up to my people in the box... and they went nuts! I loved it. It couldn't have been a better night, in my eyes. I'm glad I'm not the only one who had fun.
The Redbirds' staff was great the entire night. They lead us in and they escorted us out. Anything we needed, they had for us. What a stand-up crew they have working for them. And I hope they get a chance to see this blog. I want them to know they were appreciated on Saturday night.
With all the negative that is going on out there in the world of professional wrestling, I just wanted to let you all know about a story that is good. A story that doesn't involve steroids and painkillers. Those stories do exist and it's unfortunate. But Saturday night, we proved that wrestling is still a great way to have fun with friend and family of all ages.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Is Wrestling Fake?
If I had a dollar every time I've been asked that question, I could just quit wrestling altogether. That's one of the most frequently asked questions in the wrestling business. It's actually kind of weird, if you ask me. If you know it's staged... if you know the punches are pulled... if you've known this for years and years... then why would you even ask? In this blog, I'm going to tell you why people ask.
Have you ever walked by a wrestling ring and reached out and grabbed the ropes? Sure you have. Everyone has. After the tug the ropes and see exactly how tight they are, you begin to pat the mat. You understand now that the ring is very hard. It's not as soft as you once thought. Then, you take a look under the ring and see the steel and wood. Because that's what a wrestling ring is made of. It's made of nothing more than steel, wood, and even the ropes are made of cable that can cut right through your skin without a problem. So, for such a phony business, the ring is pretty hard.
Now, after you feel the ring for a moment, you always think in your head, "Man, that ring's gotta hurt!" Well, you know what? It DOES hurt. Every single bump or fall that you take in that ring, it hurts. Every single time you elbow drop or leg drop someone, it hurts you more than it hurts your opponent. Imagine flying off the top rope onto your opponent. Not only is your opponent in danger, but you're flying in the air maybe eight feet off the mat. You may be eight feet off the mat, in mid-air might I add, but you're a good fifteen or so feet from the actual ground! So, you're flying through the air to land on this opponent without hurting him? Huh? Are you kidding me? AND you're trying not to hurt yourself in the process? You try it out and see how well that works for you.
I've seen so many injuries in my professional career, it's unbelievable. I want to share with you just a few of the things that I've seen since entering the wild world of professional wrestling. Don't get me wrong, these aren't ALL the injuries that I've seen. They're just a select few that might give you a little insight on how rough our sport really is.
Here's a nice disgusting one for everyone. There was a regular night of matches planned in Middle Tennessee. A kid that was brand new to the business had a match, that night. Everything went okay... or so we thought. He came through the locker room door making a groaning noise that absolutely freak me right out. I knew this kid had to be seriously injured. He was holding his wrist with one hand... and holding his fingers out on the other. We all wanted to know what was wrong but he couldn't speak... he could just moan and groan. I look down at his fingers that he was holding out and one of them was completely out of socket. I'll never forget it. It was his ring finger. The skin wasn't broken, so there wasn't any blood. But you could see the bone in the finger totally out of place... and the end of it was poking out from his knuckle.
Now, I immediately told the guy to go to the hospital right away. Another one of the guys in the locker room had seen this before and wanted to fix it up for the kid. He told him not to go to the hospital, he could fix him right up. I looked at the guy and told him straight out: I would go to the hospital if I were you. He could mess that finger up for good. Well, you know the guy didn't listen. They put a towel in his mouth to bite down on, pulled the finger off his knuckle... and it went right back into place. The amazing part? Well, the kid taped it up (tape fixes everything in the wrestling business) and went back out to finish up his night of work.
Not too bad? Well, try this one on for size. Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, TN. A friend of mine dislocates his shoulder before he ever even enters the ring. Before the match, as his music is playing, he's on his way to the ring and pops his shoulder out of socket giving a fan a high-five! Now, I know this has nothing to do with wrestling being real or fake. But the guy yanks his shoulder out giving someone a high-five! Unbelievable, right? Well, here's the good part... he gets in the ring and wrestles a full match! With his shoulder out of socket, nonetheless! Now, in any other sport... the guy would've walked right back through the curtain and gone to the hospital for help. No, not in the wrestling business. He went to the ring and had a match with a bum-shoulder. Call it heart, toughness... or just plain stupidity. Call it what you will.
I have one more story that I want to share. This is a personal experience of mine. I haven't been injured too much in my seven years in wrestling (knock on wood)... but I've been banged up a bit. I was wrestling Brian Christopher in Rector, AR just a few months back. Brian had a head of steam during the match and hit me so hard that I flew over the top rope and onto the concrete floor. Typical in the wrestling business. Well, when I was headed over the top rope, apparently my wrist got hung up in the ropes. When I hit the floor, I felt a steaming hot sensation in my wrist and hand. It was tingling and it was on fire... almost as if someone poured hot coffee on my hand. I looked down at my hand to make sure my fingers were still in place (I remembered what happened to the kid), I felt my wrist to make sure I didn't have any bones coming from my skin, then I tried to just walk it off. That's what you do in wrestling. There aren't any time-outs. You don't stop the match because of an injury to your hand. You just wrestle through it, trying not to do anymore damage to it. So, after my personal inspection of my hand, I went through with the rest of the match.
Later on, I had my hand checked out... it had been slightly fractured. I told them that I didn't need a cast, I knew it could heal on it's own. So, I just decided to tape it up (remember, tape fixes everything in wrestling) and go on with my regular wrestling regime.
Now, you can make your own decision. Wrestling... fake or real? It's a good question, apparently. I've been asked about it about a million times. I seem to think that just because some thing is staged doesn't necessarily mean that it's fake. Look at boxing. MMA. NBA. The proof is in the pudding.
Have you ever walked by a wrestling ring and reached out and grabbed the ropes? Sure you have. Everyone has. After the tug the ropes and see exactly how tight they are, you begin to pat the mat. You understand now that the ring is very hard. It's not as soft as you once thought. Then, you take a look under the ring and see the steel and wood. Because that's what a wrestling ring is made of. It's made of nothing more than steel, wood, and even the ropes are made of cable that can cut right through your skin without a problem. So, for such a phony business, the ring is pretty hard.
Now, after you feel the ring for a moment, you always think in your head, "Man, that ring's gotta hurt!" Well, you know what? It DOES hurt. Every single bump or fall that you take in that ring, it hurts. Every single time you elbow drop or leg drop someone, it hurts you more than it hurts your opponent. Imagine flying off the top rope onto your opponent. Not only is your opponent in danger, but you're flying in the air maybe eight feet off the mat. You may be eight feet off the mat, in mid-air might I add, but you're a good fifteen or so feet from the actual ground! So, you're flying through the air to land on this opponent without hurting him? Huh? Are you kidding me? AND you're trying not to hurt yourself in the process? You try it out and see how well that works for you.
I've seen so many injuries in my professional career, it's unbelievable. I want to share with you just a few of the things that I've seen since entering the wild world of professional wrestling. Don't get me wrong, these aren't ALL the injuries that I've seen. They're just a select few that might give you a little insight on how rough our sport really is.
Here's a nice disgusting one for everyone. There was a regular night of matches planned in Middle Tennessee. A kid that was brand new to the business had a match, that night. Everything went okay... or so we thought. He came through the locker room door making a groaning noise that absolutely freak me right out. I knew this kid had to be seriously injured. He was holding his wrist with one hand... and holding his fingers out on the other. We all wanted to know what was wrong but he couldn't speak... he could just moan and groan. I look down at his fingers that he was holding out and one of them was completely out of socket. I'll never forget it. It was his ring finger. The skin wasn't broken, so there wasn't any blood. But you could see the bone in the finger totally out of place... and the end of it was poking out from his knuckle.
Now, I immediately told the guy to go to the hospital right away. Another one of the guys in the locker room had seen this before and wanted to fix it up for the kid. He told him not to go to the hospital, he could fix him right up. I looked at the guy and told him straight out: I would go to the hospital if I were you. He could mess that finger up for good. Well, you know the guy didn't listen. They put a towel in his mouth to bite down on, pulled the finger off his knuckle... and it went right back into place. The amazing part? Well, the kid taped it up (tape fixes everything in the wrestling business) and went back out to finish up his night of work.
Not too bad? Well, try this one on for size. Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, TN. A friend of mine dislocates his shoulder before he ever even enters the ring. Before the match, as his music is playing, he's on his way to the ring and pops his shoulder out of socket giving a fan a high-five! Now, I know this has nothing to do with wrestling being real or fake. But the guy yanks his shoulder out giving someone a high-five! Unbelievable, right? Well, here's the good part... he gets in the ring and wrestles a full match! With his shoulder out of socket, nonetheless! Now, in any other sport... the guy would've walked right back through the curtain and gone to the hospital for help. No, not in the wrestling business. He went to the ring and had a match with a bum-shoulder. Call it heart, toughness... or just plain stupidity. Call it what you will.
I have one more story that I want to share. This is a personal experience of mine. I haven't been injured too much in my seven years in wrestling (knock on wood)... but I've been banged up a bit. I was wrestling Brian Christopher in Rector, AR just a few months back. Brian had a head of steam during the match and hit me so hard that I flew over the top rope and onto the concrete floor. Typical in the wrestling business. Well, when I was headed over the top rope, apparently my wrist got hung up in the ropes. When I hit the floor, I felt a steaming hot sensation in my wrist and hand. It was tingling and it was on fire... almost as if someone poured hot coffee on my hand. I looked down at my hand to make sure my fingers were still in place (I remembered what happened to the kid), I felt my wrist to make sure I didn't have any bones coming from my skin, then I tried to just walk it off. That's what you do in wrestling. There aren't any time-outs. You don't stop the match because of an injury to your hand. You just wrestle through it, trying not to do anymore damage to it. So, after my personal inspection of my hand, I went through with the rest of the match.
Later on, I had my hand checked out... it had been slightly fractured. I told them that I didn't need a cast, I knew it could heal on it's own. So, I just decided to tape it up (remember, tape fixes everything in wrestling) and go on with my regular wrestling regime.
Now, you can make your own decision. Wrestling... fake or real? It's a good question, apparently. I've been asked about it about a million times. I seem to think that just because some thing is staged doesn't necessarily mean that it's fake. Look at boxing. MMA. NBA. The proof is in the pudding.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Can You "Take" a Pro Wrestler?
The title is a very simple question. The answer may not be as simple as it sounds. Think about it for a moment... a guy who gets paid to entertain people with violence that may (or may not) be what you call fake or phony. So, could you go toe to toe with a typically larger man who trains in the gym everyday of his life, takes care of his body, and also wears spandex outfits in front of huge crowds of people?
Let's take a look at this for a moment.
The big muscles, tight T-shirts, and very unique styles of clothing are an attention getter in itself. You get looked at immediately. You hear the whispers, which aren't ALL bad. Many times, the ladies like to look in the direction of the wrestlers because they're famous and sometimes good looking. The only problem with this is... the other men don't like it!
Many professional wrestlers like to go hang out somewhere after the show is over. Whether it's a restaurant, bar, clue... whatever. They like to go hang out with the boys and drink a few beers or whatnot. They just like to take the edge off because the adrenaline rush from show is sometimes hard to shake. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of fans cheering and chanting for you is a total rush. There's nothing in the world like it. When I wrestled in the FedEx Forum in my hometown of Memphis, TN... I was standing in the middle of the ring in front of a sell out crowd of maybe 20,000 people. You could FEEL the electricity of the people. It's the biggest rush you'll ever get, trust me when I tell you.
Anyway, it takes a few hours to wear that feeling off. But when these guys go into a club or bar, almost immediately they get recognized. I say "they" because you never see a wrestler out at a club or bar all by himself. They travel in packs with their best friends. It's like a clique. And when they show up they usually get VIP treatment. They get the best seats in the house, sometimes free drinks or food, and usually the women in attendance seem to flock near the muscles. Now, with all that said, you have to factor alcohol into the equation. The other men in the club sit and sulk about these guys... the way they look... the way their women look AT them... they start to hate everything. "He's nothing but a fake wrestler!" I've heard that more than once.
Instead of getting the attention like an actor or rock star might. You know, the usual. Autographs, pictures, etc... because they're wrestlers, they want to try them on for size. Would you try to beat up Sylvester Stallone because he played the role of Rocky Balboa? Would you want to beat up Toby Maguire because he kicked so much tail in Spiderman? I wouldn't. But when you see a pro wrestler, many guys usually think, "He's a fake fighter... I can take him." Here's where the question comes into play. Can you take a pro wrestler?
Usually, what happens after all the sulking, thinking, watching, and stalking. These guys get it in their heads that they can take even the biggest of wrestlers. Maybe they throw a sucker punch... yeah! A sucker punch would work! Or maybe they have a few friends that may jump in on this fight to help the guy out. Yeah! That's what we'll do! Well... think again, partner.
I have heard some of the greatest bar room fight stories... and have even been in some of them, in my seven year tenure as a pro wrestler. These guys who prance around the ring in spandex and get paid to fake a fight... they're some of the toughest groups of guys you'll ever see. Now, I'll go on record to say right here and now that I'm not the meanest, strongest, or baddest man around. But some of my friends are.
I won't mention too many names here, but one I will mention is one of the coolest men I've ever met in my life. If I had to choose someone to be on my side when a fight broke out, one man I'd like to have with me is Tracey Smothers. "Sell Out Smothers" is one of the toughest men I've ever met in my life. Here's a story to support this claim... he actually pulled another man's eyeball out of the socket during a bar fight several years back. Could you imagine? Clawing another man's eye right out of his head? Are you kidding me? I wish I was. I love Tracey Smothers, "The Wile Eyed Southern Boy".
Or what about the night that FIVE wrestlers took on a bar room full of about 90 others? Five guys held off an entire crowd of rabid fighting rednecks by themselves! Why was this fight started? Well, the five wrestlers got drunk (of coarse) and decided to take their shirts off as they headed out the door. The ladies were reaching and grabbing, as they made their way through the sea of boyfriends, when all of a sudden... BOOM! Sucker punch on the biggest man in the group! Why would you hit the biggest? I don't know. But it turned into an all-out brawl! Wrestlers prevailed again!
Or perhaps a sucker punch (again) that not only busted one wrestlers face open... but his eye was swolen shut, too. Well, the wrestler shook off the cobwebs and him and his tag team partner ended up beating the man half to death and sending him to a nearby hospital. Free ride in the meat wagon, all because you're jealous of them getting all the glory from the ladies.
So, I'm not here to brag about how tough I am. I'm here to tell you about how tough THEY are. I can hold my own... but I'm not capable of most of the stories I hear.
Can you take a professional wrestler? Well... can ya?
Let's take a look at this for a moment.
The big muscles, tight T-shirts, and very unique styles of clothing are an attention getter in itself. You get looked at immediately. You hear the whispers, which aren't ALL bad. Many times, the ladies like to look in the direction of the wrestlers because they're famous and sometimes good looking. The only problem with this is... the other men don't like it!
Many professional wrestlers like to go hang out somewhere after the show is over. Whether it's a restaurant, bar, clue... whatever. They like to go hang out with the boys and drink a few beers or whatnot. They just like to take the edge off because the adrenaline rush from show is sometimes hard to shake. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of fans cheering and chanting for you is a total rush. There's nothing in the world like it. When I wrestled in the FedEx Forum in my hometown of Memphis, TN... I was standing in the middle of the ring in front of a sell out crowd of maybe 20,000 people. You could FEEL the electricity of the people. It's the biggest rush you'll ever get, trust me when I tell you.
Anyway, it takes a few hours to wear that feeling off. But when these guys go into a club or bar, almost immediately they get recognized. I say "they" because you never see a wrestler out at a club or bar all by himself. They travel in packs with their best friends. It's like a clique. And when they show up they usually get VIP treatment. They get the best seats in the house, sometimes free drinks or food, and usually the women in attendance seem to flock near the muscles. Now, with all that said, you have to factor alcohol into the equation. The other men in the club sit and sulk about these guys... the way they look... the way their women look AT them... they start to hate everything. "He's nothing but a fake wrestler!" I've heard that more than once.
Instead of getting the attention like an actor or rock star might. You know, the usual. Autographs, pictures, etc... because they're wrestlers, they want to try them on for size. Would you try to beat up Sylvester Stallone because he played the role of Rocky Balboa? Would you want to beat up Toby Maguire because he kicked so much tail in Spiderman? I wouldn't. But when you see a pro wrestler, many guys usually think, "He's a fake fighter... I can take him." Here's where the question comes into play. Can you take a pro wrestler?
Usually, what happens after all the sulking, thinking, watching, and stalking. These guys get it in their heads that they can take even the biggest of wrestlers. Maybe they throw a sucker punch... yeah! A sucker punch would work! Or maybe they have a few friends that may jump in on this fight to help the guy out. Yeah! That's what we'll do! Well... think again, partner.
I have heard some of the greatest bar room fight stories... and have even been in some of them, in my seven year tenure as a pro wrestler. These guys who prance around the ring in spandex and get paid to fake a fight... they're some of the toughest groups of guys you'll ever see. Now, I'll go on record to say right here and now that I'm not the meanest, strongest, or baddest man around. But some of my friends are.
I won't mention too many names here, but one I will mention is one of the coolest men I've ever met in my life. If I had to choose someone to be on my side when a fight broke out, one man I'd like to have with me is Tracey Smothers. "Sell Out Smothers" is one of the toughest men I've ever met in my life. Here's a story to support this claim... he actually pulled another man's eyeball out of the socket during a bar fight several years back. Could you imagine? Clawing another man's eye right out of his head? Are you kidding me? I wish I was. I love Tracey Smothers, "The Wile Eyed Southern Boy".
Or what about the night that FIVE wrestlers took on a bar room full of about 90 others? Five guys held off an entire crowd of rabid fighting rednecks by themselves! Why was this fight started? Well, the five wrestlers got drunk (of coarse) and decided to take their shirts off as they headed out the door. The ladies were reaching and grabbing, as they made their way through the sea of boyfriends, when all of a sudden... BOOM! Sucker punch on the biggest man in the group! Why would you hit the biggest? I don't know. But it turned into an all-out brawl! Wrestlers prevailed again!
Or perhaps a sucker punch (again) that not only busted one wrestlers face open... but his eye was swolen shut, too. Well, the wrestler shook off the cobwebs and him and his tag team partner ended up beating the man half to death and sending him to a nearby hospital. Free ride in the meat wagon, all because you're jealous of them getting all the glory from the ladies.
So, I'm not here to brag about how tough I am. I'm here to tell you about how tough THEY are. I can hold my own... but I'm not capable of most of the stories I hear.
Can you take a professional wrestler? Well... can ya?
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