Passionate Wrestling Fan

Editor's Note: Before you view the video below, pause the 'Clip of the Week' to the right so the sound stops. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. You need to hear this clip.

Recently, this video of a passionate wrestling fan has been circulating around the Internet, resulting in much laughter and Mt. Dew being spewed onto workstations nationwide. It's easy to write off this man's obsession as the rantings of a mad man, and on the surface that's what they appear to be. But when I thought more deeply about the passion this man feels about what's going on inside the squared circle, it made me hearken back to the days when I was that passionate about wrestling.

Not surprising anyone, he speaks with a southern accent...

When I was 11 or 12, I used to argue all the time with my two brothers, Phil and Mark, about the validity of professional wrestling. I was as certain as they were that what was going on was real, and that if Hulk Hogan could pin the Bolshiviks or the Iron Sheik, it meant continued peace for the United States and a certain end to the cold war.

It seems almost foolish now that I was once obsessed with something that is relatively margionalized in this country, but that hasn't stopped me from listening to glam rock or hair metal. For some reason I have been ashamed of my wrestling-loving former self, but no more, friends! Nothing brought me greater joy in the late eighties and early nineties (with a brief revival between 1996-98, during what I think was the last "golden age" of professional wrestling) than to sit back on a Saturday morning and watch WWF wrestling. Who can forget the killer mullets sported by the Rockers, Marty Janetty and Shawn Michaels, or the time the Ultimate Warrior nearly suffocated in the Undertakers coffin. Seriously! There was no way they could fake that, right?


The Rockers: Shawn and Marty

Probably my greatest memory from watching wrestling came in the spring of 1990. It occurred in a match that I didn't watch live, but had been anticipating for the months leading up to it. The match I'm referring to was the Heavyweight title match between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. Tension had been brewing in the months leading up to the match. This was going to be the biggest match in the history of pro wrestling as it pitted the Intercontinental Champion (the Ultimate Warrior) against the Heavyweight Champion Hogan. You could tell from hearing their interviews before the match that they meant business.


Clearly, two very straight men, getting it on.

It might not seem that big now in an era that has more belts than Al Sharpton has chins, but back then there were only three belts in the WWF--the Intercontinental, Heavyweight, and Tag Team belts. This match was epic from start to finish, while I don't remember the specifics of the match there is a lasting image of the Warrior standing triumphant holding both belts while standing on the top buckle as fireworks shot into the air.


How can you not feel it

Editor's Note: if any of you need to pause now, while you wait for the goosebumps to subside, don't worry you are nearly at the end, but the next picture might finish you off.


Warrior Stands Victorious

And when I think about those moments it makes me say, "It's still real to me dammit!" Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that professional wrestling is real. What is real to me is the joy those memories give to me now and the joy they'll bring me in the future. (pretty cheesy eh?)