Professional Wrestling & Living Life like a Big Kid

Helllllooooo everyone!

A few weeks ago I had an amazing opportunity to attend WWE's Monday Night Raw at the Staples Center in Los Angeles California. 

I know I know, Professional Wrestling - trust me I have heard it all before:

"It's Fake," "It's not a real sport," blah blah blah

It's fake?!  Has anyone ever watched professional basketball or soccer?  And have you ever seen one of those players "fake" being knocked down or hurt to try and get a ref to make a call on the opposing team?

I'm just saying, it happens.

It's not a real sport?!

Ummmm, hellloooo WWE = World Wrestling ENTERTAINMENT.  It is entertainment plain and simple.  It is a show put on by some amazing athletes kind of like Cirque Soleil.  Key differences being, WWE entertainers tend to be a little bigger and often have speaking roles.

I have always enjoyed wrestling.  As a young kid (age 8) I was a huge Hulk Hogan fan, I considered myself a true Hulkamaniac, and it has always been a dream of mine to see him perform live.

As a big kid (some people call this an "adult") wrestling has always given me the inspiration to access my inner child whenever I watch it.

I have never been particularly close with my Dad and my Brother, and as a kid there were very few times that all three of us did things together to really bond.

As a teenager, one of the things we did do together was watch wrestling. 

Monday nights had become my favorite night of the week because my Dad, Brother, and I were all going to be on the same page as we cheered for our favorite wrestlers and booed the ones we didn't like.

The above is the reason why I am such a fan of wrestling and why I still enjoy it so much today - when I watch it, it gives me that feeling of closeness to my Dad and Brother.

When the opportunity arose to attend Monday Nigh Raw, here was my thought process:

There are two wrestlers I have ALWAYS wanted to see: Sting and Hulk Hogan

I knew Sting was going to be there and I thought there was a good chance the Hulkster would be.

It was the show before the Superbowl of pro wrestling aka Wrestlemania, which meant there was a high chance of an extra amazing show.

Seeing it live would be a ton of fun (I had previously been 2 or 3 times).

It would give me a chance to connect to that feeling of closeness I had with my Dad and Brother.

So I went, and

I had one of the most amazing nights ever.  I will let the pictures tell most of the story, and I will say this.  My face was sore the next two days from smiling so much. 

I was smiling for the fun I had and I was smiling for realizing a dream.

As mentioned before I had always wanted to see Hulk Hogan live... guess what, it happened.

If you have a dream, and you want it bad enough, and you believe in it enough, it can happen as long as you hold the belief that it can happen.

To make it happen you have to be willing to hold onto the belief and take actions to support the belief.

My Hulk Hogan dream was over 20 years old and I still wanted it and believed in it enough just as much as I did when I was a little kid.

Do you have a childhood dream that has come true?  Do you have one that you are still pursuing?

Your dreams are treasures, ones that are worth believing in, and worth doing whatever work is required to make them come true.

Enjoy the pics (some of them are ones I took and the ones you see me in are ones that were sent in from members of the 1 Year 1000 Challenge community who were watching the show on tv).

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

www.jessebrisendine.com
www.facebook.com/1year1000challenge

Brock Lesnar in the ring.  He was the current champion. He is a big big boy!

STING opened the show!  I was just a little excited! :)

This is Ryback.  Prior to seeing him live, I was not totally sold on him.  When he finished his match he took the time to walk around the ring and give every one a high five.  What really impressed me was hearing him say "Thanks Guys" to all of the fans. 

Very special to see an entertainer personally thank the fans he entertains.

Sting opened the show - EPIC.  Sting was the most famous wrestler to never join WWE.  This was a real treat

You have to BOO the bad guys!  Especially when they are doing a USA vs Russia storyline.

Not going to lie... I screamed, yelled, and "woooed" (Wrestling lingo - wrestling fans woo as a tribute to "The Nature Boy Ric Flair") when Hulk Hogan came up.  I did not know if he was going to be there, but I figured there was a good chance he might be there being as this was the show before Wrestlemania.  When the segment started I thought to myself, "If Hogan is going to come up now is going to be the time."  As the segment went on and it became evident they were building for something special, I knew that one of my child hood hero's was about to make his way to the ring.  When Hogan's music hit - my inner child was overjoyed with excitement.

The high pitched "wooing" is me... I was just a tad excited :)

I swore that if I ever got to see the Hulkster live, I would Hulk up with him.  As he was asking the audience to make some noise and flexing the "24 inch pythons," I was doing the same (In between taking photos).  And my pythons are not quite 24 inchers

As awesome as it was to see Sting, Hulk Hogan, and the rest of the WWE perform.  The real highlight of the night for me was this kid.  

In wrestling you have "good guys" (baby face's) and "bad guys, " (heals).  They all play their characters out giving the audience the chance to choose a side and choose a side that aligns with basic morality good vs evil.  

When  a wrestler is in character they are, like an actor, supposed to stay in their character always, while the show is going on .  

So many of the wrestlers, when exiting after their matches, stopped to sign this kids sign.  Many of the ones who were playing "bad guys," if they did not stop to sign it, at the very least made an effort to go over and give the kid of high five. Most of the good guys, as you can see by all the signatures, stopped to sign.

As a fan it was so special to see the WWE Superstars making this extra effort to make a young child's night something and one he will always remember.

Daniel Bryan, one of the current fan favorites.  When he comes out everyone stands up and chats yes to his music!

You Never Know... When Hero's Become Mortal

Yesterday I woke up and read a text message from a friend,

"Dude... Ultimate Warrior died!"

If you were a kid growing up in the 80's, a current or former professional wrestling fan, then you knew who Ultimate Warrior was.

I didn't believe my friend.  I thought he was mis informed.  How could Warrior be dead, he was just on TV on Monday night talking about legends and legacy.

As I searched the internet it was quickly confirmed, Ultimate Warrior, a larger than life figure from my childhood had tragically passed away.

I titled this post "You Never Know... When Hero's Become Mortal," because Warrior's death is a reminder of the fragility and preciousness of life.

Growing up Ultimate Warrior was this larger than life personality.  He was a superhero type figure - ranked up there with the likes of Superman in my 6 year old eyes.  As little kids we believe our superhero's are immortal, that they will live on forever.

My brother and I staged many mock wrestling matches where I was Hulk Hogan and he was Ultimate Warrior.  On more than one occasion my Mom had to suspend the watching of wrestling because my brother and I enjoyed "acting it out," a little to much.  :)

Say what you will about professional wrestling being staged, or "fake," these guys are still amazing athletes and performers.  When I did the 1 Year 1000 Challenge I took a professional wrestling lesson, (see video below) and I can attest from my brief two hour foray into it that it is hard and it hurts.  There is nothing fake about falling, getting clotheslined, or body slammed.

Over the years I have googled Ultimate Warrior from time to time, and while he seemed to age he still seemed to be every much the Ultimate Warrior of my childhood.  He was sill muscular, in shape, controversial, outspoken, intense, and immortal.

This last weekend WWE had their hall of fame induction ceremony as part of "Wrestlemania," the Superbowl of professional wrestling.  The featured inductee was Ultimate Warrior.  This was a real treat for fans, as WWE and Warrior had long unresolved professional issues that had kept Warrior out of wrestling for quite some time.

During Ultimate Warrior's speech I was so impressed to see this larger than life figure, the guy who was known for intense and at times un-comprehendable promos, humanized by having his two young daughters escort him out to the ring.  He spent several moments praising them as well as his wife who was visibly emotional and proud of her husband.

The next night Ultimate warrior appeared on WWE's Monday night show and it left fans with the hope that Ultimate Warrior was going to become a regular in wrestling again.  During Warrior's brief appearance, he gave the speech below.  You do not need to watch the whole speech, but I encourage you to watch it between the 1:20 and 2 minute mark.

If you can look past the mask and the wrestling theatrics you will see that during those 40 seconds Warrior talks about the ability we all have to inspire and ignite passion into the hearts of others.  His words have an erie foreshadowing to them as ultimately it was those words and his tragic passing that lead me to writing this blog about his legacy and what it meant to me.

When a larger than life figure falls, when a superhero becomes mortal and dies, it reminds us of the reality of life - death escapes no one, not even those who are seemingly immortal.

Knowing that death is coming for us all, but not know when that day will be, it is so important that we live, now, while we can.  The day will come my friends when we all will take our final breath, when our hearts will cease beating. What we do between now and then will define the quality of life we live and the legacy we leave onto the world.

You and only You can live Your life.  You and only You can make it a great life.

Carpe Diem,

Jesse



Remember 1:20 - 2:00 is the important part.

My Wrestling tryout. :)