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ACTION
by Sandy Pothier
Even as I sit here and bask in the memories of my childhood and Saturday afternoons spent watching Grand Prix Wrestling with my brother, I can't seem to find the draw to the world of wrestling today. Back then, in the midst of the eighties, the claim to watching was more a reasoning of cartoons being over, and not having the energy in the weekends' earliness to get out of pajamas to go play in the mid-day sun.
But here we are today, more than a decade later and the tradition of Professional Wrestling is going stronger than ever. Here I struggle to find out why.
I try to get a grasp of the "sport", not even knowing if that is a proper term used to define it? "sports' entertainment" perhaps better suits it. Maybe my misunderstanding of it lies with me always having been a girl's girl, you know, the type never without her dolls, loving to wear a dress, always wanting to look pretty-in-pink. But growing up with an older brother, there were some things I didn't have a choice in, for instance, having Barbie get knocked around by the Incredible Hulk, playing "MacGyver" with the boys, and imitating the maneuvers we'd just witnessed on G.P. Wrestling.
But as I got older I started to enjoy things that typical girls may not, like cars, and racing, and boxing. I even began to look forward to having Barbie kick the Hulk's ass, but I never managed to form a habit with wrestling. It just never appealed to me. As a pre-teen my best-friend tried to get me to watch WWF, that's all she ever talked about, but those were the days of the New Kids on the Block and, believe me, as a 12 year old girl, they were a lot more appealing.
So here I am today, many years later and still wondering, "why wrestling"? But I think I may be coming around.
Okay, though I admit that I still can't bring myself to watch wrestling on TV (the closest thing being the Ultimate Fighting Challenge on pay-per-view) I have recently been persuaded to attend Real Action Wrestling, REAL ACTION WRESTLING in a nearby town by some friends and at first was almost determined not to have a good time, but I failed. My two visits to the event have been so entertaining that I wish they occurred more often than every other week. And, although I know that the majority of the people attending are there for the wrestling I will try to explain my reasons for venturing out to Real Action Wrestling
First of all, I live in a small community, and for people like me who don't watch a lot of television; there is not much to do on an evening throughout the week, especially since hockey season has ended.
Secondly, this is a bonding experience and is always more fun when a group can get together and attend, even more so if you have a mix of boys and girls, loudmouths and shy guys. For me: the more the merrier. I am in the habit now of inviting EVERYONE I know. It's more exciting when you're surrounded by a dozen, or so of your friends and co-workers.
Thirdly, it is just too much fun to go to the arena and see whom else is coming out to watch. It's almost unbelievable. Half the entertainment comes from seeing what crawled out of the cracks to witness Real Action Wrestling And I know you know whom I'm talking about. The people, who never see daylight unless there is some trashy event going on, like this, or the Bill Lynch Show a.k.a. the Fair during the annual Apple Blossom Festival here in the Annapolis Valley. The people whose hair is never brushed, whose vocabulary obviously isn't that of a scholar. The people who let you know you're at a classy place because the women all have chipped teeth.
Perhaps it is the way that the entire audience will gang up on one athlete to either cheer him on, or rant for him to receive a good ass-whooping. And the way that families come together to have 80 year-old Grandpa stand up and threaten a 26 year old tip-top condition, muscles-protruding-from-his-body professional athlete, or their 4 year old scream obscenities or catch-on phrases like "YOU shut up!!!" is astounding.
For me, part of the excitement obviously comes from the athletes themselves (all hail the Kowboy). I am obsessed with muscles and love to see a hard body at work: moving fiercely, sweating up a storm, and turning red with anger and adrenaline. I admit I am envious of these men and, at times, find myself in a daydream where I am the dominating force behind the ring and I am the one being cheered on by many and kicking butt to the chant of my name.
The deciding factor, overall, I will have to say is that it is just good clean fun. In every lifetime comes an era and with every era comes an event. The 50's had hula-hoops and beautiful Vintage cars, the 60's had flower power and Woodstock, the 70's had disco, the 80's(hmmm, let's not even go there), but the 90's and today have wrestling. In all it's glitter and promoting and athletic opponents this is an honest event. Yes, I am aware that so much of this sport (there's that word again) is fake and rehearsed, but the New Kids did admit to lip-synching. So once again I summarize Real Action Wrestling as good clean and honest fun. The performers are there to make a living, to entertain us, and in all they do they are still able to maintain a professional profanity-free vocabulary. Of course, in the heat of a moment "ass" might slip out, but soap-in-the-mouth is not necessary, their mothers can be proud and still kiss them goodnight.
Well, there you have it, my take on wrestling. And who am I? Nobody. I am just a girl who was getting a little bored and tired of the same old thing and took a friend up on her offer for a new adventure. I am a bit of you. Not quite sure what to think when someone says "Wanna go to Real Action Wrestling"? I, as a non-wrestling fan, can give you a truthful and unbiased answer: GO! GO! GO! And enjoy!
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