Becoming a well-like and well-known professional wrestler has always been a dream of mine. I never actually pictured it coming true, although I had my hopes up. I always said to myself that if nothing else in my life made me happy, I would give professional wrestling a shot. However, over the past few years, I kind of gave up on my dream. I pushed it in the back of my head, never really gave it a second thought until something happened that opened my eyes.
Oddly enough, one night inside of my house, I had a dream. An actual dream, while sleeping, not to be confused with the futuristic tense of the word “dream.” Imagine having a dream that is so real, after waking up you believe that it was part of your routine from the previous day. That’s how real this dream seemed to me, but it couldn’t have been real.
I jumped out of my bed, much like I do every day when my alarm sounds so I can go turn it off before I wake anyone else up. As I pressed the “off” button on the alarm clock, I stood before my dresser, still thinking about my dream as if it had happened to me the previous day and not while I was sleeping. Suddenly, I realized that I just took part in what could have been the most real of dreams that I will ever have. I began to rethink the dream, and it was all too vivid.
From the end of the dream to the beginning, in reverse sequence that is, I remembered the dream like it was a video tape being played in my head. I stood in the corner of the ring, on the third turnbuckle and held my hands high in the air...everything I had worked for and everything I had struggled for in the past, was all worth it.
Except this was a dream and I never actually worked hard for anything involving professional wrestling, yet. For some reason, I felt an emotion that I never had before, one that would be reminiscent of someone achieving their dream. It just felt right. I always thought that people remembered the parts of dreams that stick out above all the others, the things that you tell your friends about the next day. I never believed that I could remember a dream so well that I would be writing about it today.
I remember the ending to the match, how I dropped my opponent on his head, with such impact that it temporarily knocked him out of consciousness. People say that wrestling is fake, but they are incredibly misinformed, especially when they don’t realize the hazards involved with the business. I remember the middle of the match, how we went back and forth in what is known as a “see-saw” battle, a battle in which neither competitor can clearly gain an advantage.
I remember the beginning of the match. Not as much as the end or any of the huge parts, but enough to remember falling outside of the ring. Over the top rope and outside of the ring, that is. For some reason, I woke up that morning with a sore hip, the same hip of which I “landed” on in my dream. That doesn’t make any sense. How could I physically hurt myself during a dream?
Right then was the second time that I thought maybe, just maybe, this was the real thing and not actually a dream. I’ve heard stories about people running while sleeping, eating, smoking, and cleaning the house while sleeping...but wrestling? No way, too many things would have to happen in order for any wrestling to take place. Besides, how could I have gotten back to my bed?
Even after my reasoning, I still believed that it might be real. I thought about it some more. I thought about the beginning of the match, about how the crowd was so in to it. Yes, that’s right, I heard crowd noise in my dream. The chants, the jeers, people talking to their friends loud enough to overshadow the drunks behind them screaming for “more pain.” If you have never been to a wrestling event, specifically an independent event, I will describe the likely scene for you. They usually take place inside of some sort of enclosed establishment, a high-school gym, or an old bingo hall or auditorium. Except, the “arena” that I was in was different. It was the old E.C.W. (Extreme Championship Wrestling) Arena. The arena that I grew up going to, to watch my heroes perform in the ring that I was standing in, in my dream. The E.C.W. Arena is rich in history, even if it was just a bingo hall. So many legends have come through the doors to work for the fans in that building for next to nothing, which was probably what most startled me about this dream. The fact that it might be slightly possible for me to work in a building with the history that Viking Hall (E.C.W. Arena) in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is beyond belief. Not only is the history important to this building, but this building houses some of the most die-hard wrestling fans in the world. Too have those fans cheering for me, is yet another aspect of this dream that makes it too difficult to believe.
I remember one fan in particular, my mom, in the front row. Not because she was screaming or anything like that, but just the fact that she was there watching me. She was never the biggest supporter of me being a wrestler, but she came out to watch me in the biggest match of my short career. I remember feeling extra confident heading into the match, before it even started, once I passed her on my way to the ring.
Confidence? How can I feel different emotions in my dream? This doesn’t make sense to me at all. It has to be real.
But there’s no way it could be real. I haven’t been trained yet, I’m not a wrestler. No one in their right mind would let an untrained wrestler fight in front of fans, they would lose all credibility that they ever had.
This dream was becoming more and more real as the day went on and I thought about it some more. By mid-afternoon, I realized that it was in fact, a dream, but I also realized that it was more than just a dream. Some people say that dreams are sometimes a foreshadowing of one’s future, in some way or another. Hopefully, “some people” are right...for my sake. This dream was too real for me not to ever see it again, but next time, it will happen in reality. It’s funny that people talk about dreams in two different ways, the dreams they had while sleeping and the dreams they have about their lives and things they want to accomplish. The dream I had was a mixture of both. It seemed like it was in a way, someone much more powerful than I telling me to go forth and achieve what I always told myself I was going to do. It’s like doing the work that you said you’d “do tomorrow” on the previous day. This dream made me realize that I have to go after my dream, and I have to do it soon.
I will.
This was written by me, for one of my writing classes this semester at my college. The assignment was to write an essay about a personal experience that I had within the last year that affected or changed my life in some way, something that also has a fantasy side to it. This is a true story and in no way is it embelished or exaggerated. I wanted to share it with my readers, whether you want to read it or not.
I am very sorry that I havn't written much in the past few months. I try, I really do. Things happen and things happen often, that's about all I can do to explain where I've been. I want to write on a more regular basis, but we all know how it goes...you can't always get what you want.
Take that for what it is, but All That and A Bowl of Cereal is definitley not dead.
As always, I enjoy reading your feedback. In fact, I'm going to bring the "Question of the Moment" back:
If anyone actually gets this, I will be surprised. ...I don't know that any of the people that read my columns have ever heard of this man, but here goes nothing:
In the IWS, a Canadian based promotion, along with CZW and JAPW, there is a wrestler named El Generico. He uses a finishing move entitled "the brainbustaaaaaaaaaaaa" or something to that extent. Descbribe what this finisher is and how he uses it. Doesn't have to be great detail, just enough so I know what you are talking about.
Also, any feedback or any wrestling questions or talk in general, I will, as I always do, reply with more than a "thank you" if you actually give me something to reply to. You can catch me on AIM at CZWmthrfckr too and I'm always up for talking wrestling.
That's all Folks,
And until next time..."Enjoy Every Bowl"
Phil Snyder
All That and a Bowl of Cereal
Email: CZWmthrfckr@gmail.com
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
| What Did You Think About WWE Backlash 2008? |
|
|