The State of Professional Wrestling

The State of Professional Wrestling
by Kevin Nash

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Over the past week, the onslaught of negative mainstream press shows me that the evil stepchild of the entertainment industry, pro wrestling, has gotten just a bit too popular for the general population. Anytime wrestling, or anything for that matter, gets hot, it seems the American public tries to take shots at it. That leads me to the USA TODAY cover story last Friday, February 26, and the coverage last week on Inside Edition.

It seems some mother says we are a bad role-model because violence was the way that we seem alleviate or resolve problems. Well, I don’t know where she’s from, but, I guess it must be some all-white area in Connecticut where kids are still fighting things out. Where I grew up, kids shoot each other in the school systems now. I wish for the simpler times when people decided to resolve problems with fists instead of guns. But what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Then there’s Ricky Morton, who was in the business for 20 years, on top for 10 of them, yet now doesn’t have a dime to his name ... and he decides he’s gonna tell about what happened in wrestling?! The guy hasn’t been in the business for the last 10 years. Anything he did was back in the ‘80s, so I guess that’s what those guys did back then. I guess that’s why they don’t have any money! But the guys in the business today have mutual funds, retirement plans. We don’t put every dime we make up our nose or down our throat. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Another one of the "critically-acclaimed experts" from the Inside Edition piece was some job-guy who’s never been in a locker room, never been close enough to any of the top guys to know what really goes on. This, of course, is Dave Meltzer, who writes a dirt-sheet, making a living off what people tell him because, as I said, he’s not around us, not in the locker room. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Why don’t these places like Inside Edition ask people like me what the pro wrestling world is all about. I can’t wait to get home to my family; I count the days until I return home. I haven’t flunked a drug-test in 10 years. Hey, there are more of us than of the other guys. If you walk into the office of any Wall Street firm, I’m sure there will be people on cocaine and other illegal drugs working there. Hey, if 10 percent of the population uses drugs, then 10 percent of the population uses drugs in all walks of life, across the board; it isn’t just in pro wrestling. One of the best lines in wrestling I’ve heard in some time was from Mick Foley. It was something like, "I’d like to have a drink of liquor, but I don’t want to become an airline pilot." C’mon folks, look around you — society is crumbling. Pro wrestling sure as hell isn’t the root of all this. Instead of pointing the figure at pro wrestling, maybe those parents who are working 20-hour days to go buy that E-Class 420 that they’ve been chasing for years, maybe they should chase down their kids to see what they’re doing. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

WCW Monday Nitro airs from 8-11 p.m. ET, while the WWF’s Raw airs from 9-11 p.m. ET. Well, I can look at NYPD and other shows during that same time-frame and they have naked people on their shows. It’s not just us; it’s not just pro wrestling ... it’s society; it’s all across the board! Does that make it right? No. But don’t single us out just because all of a sudden we’re popular again. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Does the WWF take it too far? Yeah, sure they do. But don’t lump WCW in with them. Our guidelines are so much more stringent. We don’t have any sex acts. People may assume some things, but if you knew where we were going in our story-lines, you’re either old enough or awfully mature to get it laid out in black and white. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

If the worst thing your kid does all week is point to his crotch and say, "Suck It," and he doesn’t do drugs and he stays in school, well, then I think you’ve raised a pretty good kid. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Inside Edition aired footage off a hidden-camera of one of the guys pulling off the shirt of a ring announcer ... OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO! Gee, that must be a felony in all 50 States and Puerto Rico, too. And then they show a grown-man taking beers up to his room ... OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO! Oh wait, alcohol is legal for people over the age of 21. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Pro wrestling is entertainment. I think Vince McMahon said it best with the WWF’s Super Bowl commercial. Their whole message was, pro wrestling is a joke. Wrestling’s a joke! Get it? Get it? Get it? Hey, everything we do is a joke. It’s like Vaudeville. C’mon people, give me a break ... it’s just pro wrestling. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

Then you’ve got the kids in their backyards with their Extreme Wrestling Federations. What’s the difference between that and, when I was a kid, we’d watch a football game on Sunday then go out in the backyard and tackle each other? What’s the difference? People are going to emulate things that they find fascinating. Is the life of pro wrestling fascinating to most of these kids? I’m sure it is. But they’re not pro wrestlers. They don’t know the drudgery of what we do day in, day out. They don’t know what it’s like to be on the road 10 days in a row, to get thrown around 10 days in a row. Yeah, it make look glamorous to a 13-year-old kid, but to a 39-year-old man, it’s like going to a coal-mine every day ... the only difference is, I don’t get black-lung; I just get a couple more degenerative disc problems. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

If people would take care of their kids, maybe they wouldn’t be looking so hard at us to be their kids’ role-models. These people realize now, after their kids have been watching pro wrestling for two years, that they are being influenced by the sport? The only reason the parents don’t realize the kids are being influenced is because they’re bouncing off walls, drinking a couple of high-balls trying to make it through the day. What’s happened to the socialization process? Where’s the church? Where’s the family? Pro wrestling definitely is NOT what’s bringing this country down. My God, we have a President who has sex with an intern ... and that’s OK?! Look around you, people, our society is decaying. It certainly ain’t because of a bunch of fake wrestlers, with shows airing on a couple of cable networks to give viewers an outlet to release and laugh. But then again, what do I know ... I’m only a pro wrestler.

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