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FINDING SOLACE IN PRO WRESTLING DURING ITS DARKEST TIME

For many of us wrestling fans, when hardship arises, we turn to wrestling as our great escape. Whether it’s a bad day at work, hostility towards friends or family or overall hard times, we can always depend on watching or reading about wrestling to help us take our mind off the reality of life.

Unfortunately, with the horrific events surrounding the Chris Benoit family, there is no such simple escape for us. Instead of being able to once again seek comfort in the friend we know as professional wrestling, it’s now an albatross that serves as a constant reminder of this inconceivable tragedy.

With that said, this has not stopped many of us from trying to regain our escape and attempt to separate Chris Benoit the person from professional wrestling in the past two weeks. For most minds, that’s an extremely difficult task.

The most basic of wrestling moves on a broadcast can snap us back to reality and remind us of the barbaric actions that transpired in the Benoit household. Or, it can be older footage that is even more chilling, such as what I came across this past week while viewing the Great American Bash ’88 on WWE 24/7. This was my first time viewing the show and sure enough, in an ultra surreal moment, after a Tower of Doom Cage Match , Kevin Sullivan locks valet Precious alone with him inside the cage and proceeds to strangle her with his wrist tape.

But my intent of this article is not to cast another dark cloud over such a depressing time but to share a short story about a glimmer of hope I received in the form of an independent show last Saturday night.

It all started while driving to 5:30 p.m. mass – and in what I can only describe as a dream-like sequence – I noticed that a local bar across the street had a sign, which read “Wrestling Tonight, 7 p.m., $5”. I did a double take, and then, there it was. Outside, back behind the bar, a wrestling ring. I was dumbfounded. I have attended mass at this church all of my life and never once did I think a wrestling show would ever be held across the street. But sure enough, and on the ONE weekend I wanted to block wrestling completely out of my mind. I walked into church, shaking my head, as sounds of wrestlers practicing bumps emanated from across the street.

I debated throughout mass and decided that this was too weird; I had to cancel the evening’s plans and attend this show.

I showed up at 7 p.m., purchased my ticket, and I was suddenly at my first Keystone State Wrestling Alliance show (www.kswa.net).  The venue is called “The Obey House” and it has a backyard, which is where the ring was setup. There were about 50 of us. The seating was limited to three picnic tables but mostly everyone stood in various areas of the grass yard. Next-door was a normal house, with the same-sized backyard.

At first it was eerie to have the anti-wrestling weekend mentality a few hours earlier to strangely being right in front of a ring but I quickly realized how perfect the situation was. I looked around at all the different people/characters in attendance and thought about the common bond that brought this diverse crowd together: wrestling.

It was a really fun show, with these highlights:  

• “Mr. 8x10” Michael Cruz, who a small child heckled by yelling at him, “More like Mr. 3x5!”

• Ali Kaida & Zero against La Lucha & “The Drunken Luchador” Joey Quervo, put a smile on everyone’s face. “The Drunken Luchador” emerged onto the scene, not via the entrance tent, but from the bar. He drank a Yuengling and then passed out in the ring before being revived by La Lucha. Later in the night, the final two combatants in a Battle Royal were “The Drunken Luchador” and “The King” Del Douglas. It ended when “The King” sent a Yuengling over the top rope and “The Drunken Luchador” eliminated himself to grab it. How great is that?

•  ÃƒÆ’¢â‚¬Å“The Enforcer” Shawn Blanchard the KSWA Champion, who you could tell loves the wrestling business, was another highlight. Not only did he work a nice match but he also wore a t-shirt that read on the front “Blanchard Express” and “Booze, Broads and Belts” (with accompanying photos of a beer, a stripper and a Championship belt) on the back, which might possibly be the greatest t-shirt ever made.

At the end of the night, with a cocktail in my hand and a smile on my face, I watched as they took the ring down and observed the people around me. Luckily, I wasn’t thinking in my head about what was happening in Atlanta exactly one-week earlier. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, interacting with the wrestlers and discussing the evening’s event. It was re-assuring to me that wrestling was the cause of this happiness between everyone.

I hope every wrestling fan reading this gets to experience a similar glimmer of hope in the coming weeks and months. Personally, I’d like to thank KSWA for giving me mine.

David Jakielo is the author of College on the Rocks – a collection of humor columns originally published in Duquesne University ’s student newspaper The Duquesne Duke. For more information on his book, visit www.readdave.com.