I am a day early with this column because I’m going on vacation. As I am preparing to head off to Las Vegas for the last four rounds of the Professional Bull Riding Finals – my 10th year of doing so – I am reminded of something. Last year a couple of us were sitting around with some friends that are in professional rodeo. Wrestling was mentioned –obviously by someone NOT in professional rodeo. I say that because of the reactions, particularly by one person who I have known for a long time but get to see only once or twice each year. He immediately began questioning how anyone could watch that junk; it’s fake after all, and anybody with a brain would know that. I informed him that I had been writing a wrestling column for almost three years now. He went silent, but the looks I got for the rest of the week were ones of disbelief. In his eyes my IQ dropped 50 points. Not really (I hope!), and I still consider him a good friend. But I learned early on to not try to convert anyone or try to change their minds. Professional wrestling has certainly had a shady reputation, and must be taken at face value for what it is – entertainment. It is just not everyone’s form of entertainment, and that’s fine.
So here I sit with my greatly diverse interests- show jumping, wrestling, rodeo and writing to name a but a few. When I wrote for show jumping publications I was able to do an article pointing out the similarities between bull riding and show jumping. I got to interview those from both sides and spoke with a jumper rider who also used to ride bulls and broncs, and it tied up pretty well. But wrestling and bull riding? I didn’t think that there would be a way to connect them up, the two worlds being as different as they are. However, since I’m writing several articles about the PBR this year, I thought there had to be a way to connect the two.
Then I remembered a spot they had on Confidential a long time back, which dealt with injuries and how most athletes work through them rather than take time off. Unless immediate surgery is indicated, these men and women continue to work through pain night in and night out. Yes, they would get a paycheck anyway, but they go out there to entertain because that is what they do. Injuries and playing with pain is part of the game and if you can’t deal with it you don’t last long.
When JR used to do an injury report I quickly realized how many of these ‘fake’ athletes play with pain each day, and how many others are on the shelf or undergoing rehab out of necessity after sustaining serious injuries or having surgery. Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Lita and Stone Cold Steve Austin are just a few of those who have had to endure surgery for a broken neck and made it back to the work they love. Undertaker has a painful lower back, as well as an old hip problem that is always sore. Add to his list a hyperextended elbow that he endured. Never mind the severely broken arm that Bob Holly had to take a year off for, topped off by a neck injury of his own. Probably the best example is the torn quad muscle that Triple H wrestled with until the match was finished. Then there was Shawn Michaels just last Tuesday at Taboo Tuesday. He gave all he had for us, underwent knee surgery on Friday, and came to visit us on Raw. I could go further, but you get the idea. This is the price wrestlers pay for their chosen profession.
The attitude of the professional bull rider is no different, although their situation is - if they don’t ride they don’t get paid. Still and all, if sitting out two or three events would allow them to heal up a bit, why not do it? Nope, it doesn’t happen. As with the wrestlers, as long as they can get on and don’t need surgery in the immediate future, they will ride. Pain is just a four letter word for them too. The PBR Finals has already had three days of competition. The names might not be familiar to you, but the attitudes should be. Two bull riders, Justin McBride and J. W. Hart, are riding with broken ankles. Hart’s is displaced as well, and he has needed to be carried out of the arena the past two nights because the ankle will tolerate no weight whatsoever. Nicknamed “Ironman”, Hart went for nine years – almost 200 events – without missing one. He suffered a broken neck at the age of 18, before he even started on the PBR tour. The year he was crowned the World Finals Champion in 2002, he had an injured sacroiliac joint throughout the season and fractured off a piece of one of his lumbar vertebrae. Back to present, Mark Ward has a dislocated elbow on his riding arm and will have surgery after the Finals. Sean Willingham has already had surgery on his broken arm three weeks ago, but will probably need another one. And Adriano Moraes, the man who has been the World Champion twice and had a commanding lead for his third title this year tore his biceps when the brace he uses for his hyperextended elbow slipped down. This occurred in the second round. He attempted to ride in round three, but lasted only a second or two. With only four days until the fourth round begins, it doesn’t look good for Moraes, but if he thinks he can ride at all, he will do so.
In the wrestling game there is Darren Drozdov. As most of you know, Droz was paralyzed in an accident that occurred during a match. He has carried on and stayed involved in the business. He writes a column for the WWE website and also regularly appears on the radio show Byte This. Switch to bull rider Jerome Davis. He was paralyzed in a bull riding accident. He stays busy in the world of rodeo by doing some announcing, and got into a different side of the business by purchasing and raising bucking bulls, some of which were good enough to buck at the finals. Both men overcame their adversity and continued to stay involved in the life that they loved.
What I’m getting at with all of my blither is this: we have sports entertainment and we have sport – admittedly total opposite ends of the spectrum. One side has mainly large men, the other group are primarily smaller in stature. But we have a common denominator. We can watch very physical athletes do what they do best and appreciate the consequences that their bodies take for that privilege. These men sacrifice on a weekly basis to do what they love to do. There are the everyday bumps, bruises, cuts and stitches, strains and sprains, fractures and concussions and, unfortunately, sometimes the ultimate price is what is paid. But they continue to do it for the sheer love of their respective choices, and I am glad they do.
By the way, some quick words about Raw. While the show did not have a lot of matches, I did like the ones they gave us. I thought that HBK was super in his segment – I think I’m in love! Finally, how great was it that Triple H was finally ganged up on? Hooray! I was afraid that there would be a turn, and one of the guys would smile and shake hands with him. How thrilled I am that it didn’t happen. Great finish!
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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