The Intricate Spectrum: Careers Injured
Some call football or soccer the beautiful sport but to me, wrestling is the beautiful sport. Wrestlers dazzle us with amazing movement, grace, and athleticism that is unsurpassed by any competitors in any other sporting arena. The athletes behind the crazy gimmicks and flash costumes are some of the most remarkable and unique people you will ever meet; and as is life, some are colorful and charismatic while some rather keep to themselves, but one thing they all share is the admiration of thousands of fans.
For me personally, I respect every person who steps into that ring and puts their life on the line night after night from Triple H to Sharkboy. Wrestling is a sport that isn't generally recognized for the sacrifice these performers make night in night out, rather it is criticized by the public for being "fake," which is an absurd statement to begin with. Ask Kenta Kobashi, who has had numerous knee surgeries, how fake wrestling is. The admiration I have for these guys cannot be expressed into appropriate words that would praise these guys highly enough; but sometimes I am not sure if even these guys, with their immense toughness, know when enough is enough. Some wrestlers nowadays are in sorry states, Dynamite Kid being the perfect example: a guy who learned his craft and is widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers to ever lace boots, but just didn't know when enough was enough and now spends his days in a wheelchair. This man gave the ultimate sacrifice to his profession and the fans that enjoy it. Dynamite was a guy who perfected his trade and changed the business, but had just one match too many and today, I fear for many competitors who may end up the same.
You only have to look as far as the biggest name in the history of the sport, Hulk Hogan, to see what wrestling has done to his body. Hulk suffers with bad knees, a bad back, and a false hip and noticeably walks with a limp yet continues to get in the ring for that one last moment of glory, but it seems once you get that feeling again, it inevitably leads to wanting it more. During the 90s, Terry Funk retired so many times it became a joke amongst a lot of people with the industry. Terry never did hang up those boots and has wrestled as recently as last month in a fantastic match mind you, but the human body can only take so much. Wrestling is an unforgiving sport which constantly punishes the bodies of the performers and you don't even need to look at veterans to see what kind of toll it takes; you only need to look as far as Kurt Angle, who is a magnificent athlete that has achieved so many accolades throughout his amateur and professional career. Look at Angle and you will see a guy who is risking his life every time he steps in the ring because of the grueling schedule he works. Angle is a guy whose natural competitive nature could be his own downfall. Every time I watch Kurt's matches, I can't help but cringe every time he takes any sort of bump to his head/neck area due to the immense damage his neck has taken over the years.
It's hard to imagine a world of wrestling that wouldn't feature the likes of a Kurt Angle, but the same was said when Dynamite was in his prime. Do we ask too much of these amazing performers? Do they work too tough a schedule? There is no definite answer that I can give; I just hope we don't see another amazing performer in a wheel chair. The grueling lifestyle of these performers often leads to drugs and untimely deaths. Thankfully, WWE has put in place a drug policy to try and eliminate deaths and illness due to drug addiction. I just hope more performers will take a page out of the books of guys like The Rock and Chris Jericho by leaving the business before it takes to big a chunk of their lives away. In my own selfish way, I wish Jericho and Rocky still performed every week on my television screen, but in the big picture, they made the right choice.
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