As the college semester got under way this past week, I found myself making the most of the daily commute by catching up on the scores of podcasts I had neglected for the last few weeks. First and foremost was the excellent ‘Art of Wrestling’ show from Colt Cabana, which has grown from an interesting little side project, into an essential listen for any and all wrestling fans. Cabana has interviewed an eclectic mix of personalities over the last few months including the likes of Natalya Neidhart, Pat Buck, Hornswoggle and countless others – each contributing a unique perspective on the world of pro wrestling. What makes the show so special, to me at least, is that more often than not it gives you an insight into one of the most interesting personalities in all of wrestling today; Colt himself. Cabana is often unflinching and incredibly open with regard to his feelings of disappointment stemming from his WWE tenure but also when explaining why he loves pro wrestling so much, and why it will always be important to him. It was during his interview with TNA’s Jeremy Borash (episode 130, still available on iTunes) that the two discussed Colt as a positive representative of the industry, which is incredibly important. As Borash noted – we really don’t defend pro wrestling enough these days.
Fittingly, I was listening to this show just days after Cabana received the honor of ‘Ambassador of Independent Wrestling’ from legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter, at last week’s National Pro Wrestling Day festivities.
All of this, coupled with Bruno Sammartino’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, really got me thinking about how pro wrestling represents itself, and who we trust to give the genre the credit it deserves when dealing with the general public.
Cabana is a perfect example of someone who embodies positivity in wrestling. He’s a well traveled, versatile, hard working guy who has put in the time to develop himself as a brand, and one of the most recognisable non-mainstream names in wrestling. And he didn’t do it by calling names in a shoot interview, being the guy who went viral by taking an ill-advised bump off a roof, or trying to paint himself as an unsigned anti-hero. His strength as a performer lies in his ability to put on intense, blood feud matches with the likes of Adam Pearce to appease die hard wrestling fans, and the next night in a different town he’s able to be fun-lovin’ Boom Boom Cabana who can give fans young and old a laugh with his genuinely engaging comedy routines. Obviously my stamp of approval means nothing, but I do feel like there was no better choice for this award than Colt.
I think the way wrestling is viewed is something that is always at the back of our minds, something that always bothers us and will probably never stop bothering us for as long as we are fans. We’re frustrated by our friends or acquaintances who take shots at it, but we’re even more annoyed when those in the business itself add fuel to the fire, by acting in a way that does nothing for its image.
I found myself wondering this week; who does pro wrestling proud? And who does it no favours?
Pro wrestling’s “Living Legend” was a harsh critic of the way the genre was represented by WWE for decades.
Certainly the independent scene as a whole can be a good representation of what pro wrestling is about, as indicated by National Pro Wrestling Day, when a number of promotions came together to give the hard working men and women of the indies a platform to showcase themselves, in an impressive illustration of synergy and teamwork. On the flip side of that however, there is the… alleged conspiracy on behalf of one disgruntled group, who planned on hijacking the day’s events in order to get themselves over. I don’t care enough about such pettiness to read too much into these allegations but it did remind me that the indies can paint just as poor an image of wrestling as the much maligned WWE can. Backstage fights, promoters stiffing wrestlers on pay, fans getting punched in the mouth, beyond tasteless angles, drug use, the list goes on. The reality is that indie wrestling, just like it’s “big league” counterparts is always going to have its positives and negatives.
Ultimately though, I think the responsibility of properly representing pro wrestling rests with the fans (oh yes, an internet blog with a moral, aren’t you lucky?). Particularly in this day and age – the way fans conduct themselves online and when interacting with the stars of the show. Going back to Cabana’s podcast, WWE’s Hornswoggle talked candidly about how he gets intense and mean-spirited hate on a regular basis from wrestling fans – and the irony would be that most of those fans would probably be the same ones complaining that wrestling isn’t getting enough respect these days. Wrestling is a fun past-time, but it’s also one that inspires an unbelievable level of passion from its fans. I just hope that people would use that passion in a more positive manner going forward, rather than launching campaigns of hate against certain performers, or styles of wrestling, or promotions or whatever has gotten under their skin on any given day.
With all that said, as usual I’d love to hear from you all on this. Tweet me your thoughts or leave a comment on who or what you feel is a positive or negative representation of wrestling; indie or otherwise.
Thanks for reading, and apologies for my absence the last few weeks here on PWP. After a big move to the good old United Kingdom, I’m settled and hoping to be back to my usual schedule of a column every other Thursday. Keep up to date by following me on twitter, following PWP on twitter, and of course, checking out the main page for all the results, columns and podcasts you could need.