There’s
a sign that hangs in the Ring of Honor Dojo that says something along
the lines of “Try and succeed and you’ll be happier. Try and
fail and you’ll be wiser”. This is the story of me trying to
become a ROH wrestler. Time will tell whether I end up happier or
wiser.
One
look at the ring inside the state-of-the-art facility and I was
hooked. Little did I know that independent wrestling venues don’t
usually look that immaculate. I spent the next week learning the
ropes (get it?). I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.
I
scraped together more (fabulous) moolah and returned to a camp that
December. One night after training, I was hanging out with some of
the other trainees. We decided to watch wrestling VHS tapes
(remember those?). One of the tapes was a Ring of Honor show. I had
heard about the fledgling promotion, but had not yet had the
opportunity to see any footage. I was amazed by what I saw. I was a
90’s kid in Georgia who became obsessed with wrestling kind of
late; I grew up on WCW. I was always intrigued by the glitz and
glamour. My love of superheroes, of larger than life spandex-clad
characters is what drew me to wrestling. I liked wrestling because of
the entertainers and the talkers. ROH was different. This was
wrestling presented as a competitive sport. I had only seen a little
Japanese wrestling at the time, and even less independent US
wrestling, so this blew my mind. Now I had a new goal: Not only did
I want to be a wrestler, but I wanted to be a ROH wrestler.
I
followed the ROH product in my early days of wrestling. Names like
Danielson, Daniels, Joe, Styles, and Punk left me awestruck when I
managed to get my hands on to ROH tapes and DVDs. At the same time,
I was finding my identity as a wrestler. Thanks to the miniscule
amount of athletic ability that I possess, my gimmick became more
character driven. Accentuate the positives and hide the negatives,
right?
I
continued wrestling every weekend and honing my skills in the ring.
I still followed the ROH product, but not as religiously as I
initially did. It gets kind of expensive to buy a ton of DVDs every
month. And thanks to being late to the whole high-def TV craze, I
missed most of the ROH on HDNet run.
When
WrestleMania came to Atlanta in 2011, I wanted the whole Mania
weekend experience (not to be confused with a Matt “Sex” Sells
“Sexperience”), so I bought a ticket to ROH’s first night of
Honor Takes Center Stage. I was not disappointed. The show was
easily the best wrestling I saw all weekend. My love for ROH was
rekindled.
Then
something even better happened. ROH was bought by Sinclair
Broadcasting, so now there would be a weekly nationally syndicated TV
show. Even without it airing on any local Georgia stations, I was
able to watch the show each week thanks to the power of the internet.
ROH had now very much become a TV wrestling promotion. The hard
hitting athletic competition element was still very present, but now
it was accompanied by even more promos and traditional wrestling
storylines.
This was something I could do!
Even
before the current incarnation of ROH, they had started running
seminars/tryout camps. I had toyed with the idea of attending one,
but had never taken the initiative to actually attend. They were
holding another one in the fall of 2011, and it was my wife Jen who
gave me the kick in the ass to finally go. She presented the
argument that it was better for me to go and not have to ask “What
if?”. That would become a reoccurring theme in my ROH journey.
I
attended my first camp and it was worth every penny. I had been
wrestling for 10 years at the time, but I learned more that weekend
than I had the rest of my career. Five camps later, and I am very
happy on the returns on those investments. The amount of knowledge
gained from all of the trainers at each seminar is invaluable.
After
attending camps, I make an effort to try and attend shows and help
out with anything I can any time ROH is close (only in wrestling is
an 8 hour drive considered “close”). On January 4, those efforts
paid off in a big way, as I made my Ring of Honor TV debut, thanks in
large part to being in the right place at the right time. That five
minute match was all the validation I needed to know that my work was
paying off.
I’ve
always wanted to train full-time at the ROH Dojo, but that was never
a reality when I was living in Georgia. It was once again Jen who
presented another “What if?” scenario. Now I find myself in
Philly, regularly attended training sessions at the Dojo. It’s
amazing to learn so much about something I’ve been doing for 12
years. Sometimes I feel like I’m starting completely over again.
Each training session is one of the most exhilarating yet humbling
things I’ve ever experienced.
In
the short term, the move has already paid off in a big way, as I’m
set to wrestle on ROH’s “Future of Honor” card on July 27 in
Laurel, Delaware. As far the long term, who knows? I’m just going
to keep on plugging along. While ending up wiser would be a nice
consolation prize, I hope to end up a lot happier!
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