Professional Wrestling: A Metaphor for Life
It is Monday night around 10:30 as I write this column. As I write I have one eye on the television as I am watching Monday Night Raw. For those of you unfamiliar with professional wrestling Monday Night Raw is the weekly television extravaganza of World Wrestling Entertainment which is the most prominent organization for professional wrestling.
Some folks call professional wrestling a soap opera for men. I don’t know if that is true but a typical event usually has an ongoing plot with feuds between good guys and bad guys. I have always enjoyed professional wrestling. Many of you have as well, only I was just brave enough to admit it.
The professional wrestling business was a little different when I was younger. When I was younger professional wrestling was a more localized activity. Saturday nights, Atlanta television station WTBS featured Georgia Championship Wrestling. Gordon Solie, “the Dean of Professional Wrestling Commentators” called the action. I tried not to miss it.
In my hometown of Macon one could watch a local professional wrestling show every Saturday afternoon. The show lasted an hour and was taped at a local television station. The show’s purpose was to promote the wrestling card the following Tuesday at the Macon Coliseum.
Every week a few thousand people would make their way to the Coliseum from all over Middle Georgia for the big bouts. I never went every week but my Dad would take me occasionally if I had a good report card or I badgered him enough that he would give in and take me.
It was great to see Mr. Wrestling #2 in action as he delivered his devastating knee lift to all the bad guys. Everyone hated the Assassins. Buddy Colt was a huge villain. Bob Armstrong was a fan favorite. Occasionally Dusty Rhodes would make an appearance and take on Abdullah the Butcher. Everyone loved Tommy “Wildfire” Rich Ole Anderson was a fellow everyone loved to hate and he could work the crowd into a frenzy. I remember on one occasion the legendary boxer Joe Louis put in an appearance as a special guest referee.
There was an elderly woman who was always seated at ring side by the name of Ruth Young. I would later discover she was given her seats every week by the promoter. She would sometimes whomp the villains with her purse or goose them with her cane. One night Ole Anderson broke her cane over his knee.
One summer while I was home between my freshman and sophomore years of college a group of friends and I decided we would go the wrestling bouts and cheer for all of the villains instead of the fan favorites. Fortunately we were all pretty big guys or else we would probably have been pummeled by irate fans.
Over the years the wrestling business has changed. During the 1980’s professional wrestling moved from being a localized business to one that is more national in scope. The characters changed a bit. Wrestlers became known more to non-wrestling fans. Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Bret “the Hitman” Hart, Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen became household names. The largest crowd ever assembled indoors in the world turned out in 1987 to watch Wrestlemania III in Pontiac, Michigan.
For a while the wrestling business became a little too crude and course with the language the wrestlers used in interviews and on its screen presentation was often offensive; therefore, I didn’t watch as much as I once did. There have also been scandals involving steroids and painkillers exposing a seamy side to the business.
That said most Monday nights still find me watching professional wrestling. I enjoy watching John Cena come back against insurmountable odds. I don’t quite know what to make of C.M. Punk and Jerry Lawler’s commentary often makes me laugh. After all these years it’s still a pretty good show.
Just in case you are wondering I know what I am watching. I know there is a script that is being followed, I know that the outcomes are predetermined and I know that there is a lot of acting and showmanship. I don’t consider professional wrestling a sport but rather it is entertainment not unlike an action movie.
So why am writing about professional wrestling? I am writing about it because it is in many ways a metaphor for life. Wrestling is the quintessential struggle between good and evil. Sometimes evil gains the upper hand and sometimes good gains the upper hand but good and evil battle back and forth. It might take weeks or months but in the end the good guy usually triumphs.
Life is often the same way. Goodness and righteousness are often opposed by evil. There are times evil seems strong and seems to carry the day. The good news for us is that the outcome of this battle, like the outcome of a professional wrestling match, is also predetermined.
Down through the centuries good and evil have struggled but the Bible tells that in the end evil will be defeated. We know that one day swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks and God’s perfect reign of justice and righteousness will come upon the earth. Because God is on the throne good will triumph over evil and that is the Good News that brings us life.