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WRESTLING COLUMNS
Wrestling: In Your Face.
Backyard Wrestling - Don't Try This Anywhere.
by Eric Jenkins
Take Luke Hadley, 21, of Sturgeon Bay Wis. McMahon hasn't discovered him yet - maybe because the WWF refuses to watch homemade wrestling videos it receives - but that's not because Hadley isn't trying. He says he's had 10 concussions, a broken arm, a broken tailbone and 5 horrific falls, and he's got a hundred scars and a few soft spots in his brain to prove it. "Sometimes I want to say stuff, and no words come out," he says. He doesn't have any insurance, but, "in 20 years, after I hit it big, I'll be able to afford all the surgeries I need." Damn right, Luke.
The opening passage was taken as written from an article written by Rick Reilly for the February 12, 2001 issue of Sports Illustrated. It serves to illustrate the mentality of young men throughout this country who participate in backyard wrestling. The homemade video that Reilly was talking about is a video entitled "The Best of Backyard Wrestling". The youths who participate in backyard wrestling video tape their efforts and send them to a Bill Mahr, who sells his "Best of" videos for $19.95 each, but the participants do not receive any money. According to Mahr, "it's the hottest selling videotape in America", thanks in part to the fact that Howard Stern advertises the tapes on his syndicated television show. These videotapes are regularly sent to WWFE headquarters, only to be rejected before even being viewed by Jim Ross, VP/Talent Relations, and Vince McMahon.
Kids (compared to my own age) like Luke Hadley believe that by duplicating the WWF and videotaping it, they will be discovered by the World Wrestling Federation and be well on their way to becoming huge stars like the Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin. What these kids do not understand is that the wrestlers in the World Wrestling Federation either went to well established wrestling school to learn their craft (Steve Austin, Triple H), or were recruited directly into the WWF by Vince McMahon himself (Kurt Angle, Mark Henry). Stars like Rikishi, the Rock & Brian "Grand Master Sexay" Christopher grew up around the sport and gravitated to it naturally. No matter how the men and women got to the federation, they had to first work their way up the ranks to become the stars that they are today. Not many people realize that Kurt Angle lost his first PPV match to Tazz before working his way through the greatest rookie year in the history of the sport. All these children see is the fame, the notoriety, and potentially the riches connected with being seen on television nearly every night. They do not see the countless hours spent in the gym and in the ring training and working to hone their craft so that the finished product that we see on television looks perfectly natural.
These kids also feel that by hitting each other with chairs, sticks, shovels, cactuses, ladders and by slamming each other on nails, tack, and by setting each other on fire, they are receiving adequate training for the World Wrestling Federation. However, the types of "matches" that you are likely to see at a backyard wrestling "event" is nothing similar to what you will see on a WWF telecast. "Extreme" federations like ECW, XPW of FMW in Japan are more likely to have matches featuring these implements, but these kids are not soliciting these federations with their videos, because only in the WWF or WCW can a wrestler make really big money.
Many professional wrestlers, most notably "Fallen Angel" Chris Daniels and Mick Foley have been very vocal in speaking out against the practice of backyard wrestling, imploring the parents of these children to put a stop to this before someone is seriously injured. Unfortunately, it is too late, as many participants are injured each and every time they go into their rings, but the continue to come back for more.
According to Rick Reilly's column, 16-year old Danny Rivera got a piece of light bulb stuck in his head, and once had a thumbtack stuck backwards in his head as well. In removing the tack, a piece of skin was pulled out, which Danny simply "Superglued shut". Frank Criniti of Cleveland, Ohio caught on fire after being thrown through a flaming table, and Tony Nash died his first time in makeshift ring. These are just three examples of the carnage that is being felt throughout the country in backyard wrestling "federations".
The WWF, and other wrestling organizations, have offered Public Service Announcements against backyard wrestling, and it is also getting a lot of mainstream news coverage in an attempt to put an end to it. I do not blame professional wrestling for this; I blame the parents of these children. Children will only do what they are allowed to do, and as long as they are allowed to mutilate themselves in this fashion, they will continue. Whether or not they ever actually become professional wrestlers, what damage have the participants of backyard wrestling done to their prospects for a normal life once they reach their declining years? That is, of course, if they live that long.
Website: Wrestling:In Your Face.
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