Redd is celebrating the third anniversary of TOSOTR!

“Redd” Reddick — The Other Side of the Ropes

Another Year, 3 Time’s a Charm…

“Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.”
- Bryon Gysin

Whoever thought this year would fly as fast as this one has? Whoever ever thought this column would last 3 years? That’s right, TOSOTR has survived long enough to hit its third anniversary this week. Three years of observations, ranting and writer’s block all pertaining to the world of Professional Wrestling from the perspective of an Indy Wrestler to be read, acknowledged, critiqued and ignored by the masses and wrestling community alike on two continents, but yes it has endured nonetheless. From acknowledging the so-called death of Kayfabe in its maiden piece, to my own outing as a wrestler one year ago as well as being published (thank you, Indy Circuit Pulse!) to addressing the sudden and controversial deaths of many legends this past year, I’ve covered it without having to try and bask in some form of self-importance. Sure, it’s my column, and I could’ve easily used it to toot my own horn, but that was never the purpose; I’ve been trying to shed some kind of light on the path that the game we call Pro Wrestling is currently on from a different point of view, regardless of whether anyone agrees with me or not. I’ve never tried to sugar-coat what I write about or glamorize what we do as wrestlers, I’ve always tried to give some type of commentary from the trenches, or at least the ones I’ve been in, and I intend to keep doing so. That being said, let’s do this thing one more time…

One of the things I’ve harped about heavily this year was credibilty of wrestlers on the circuit and how it’s been hindered in more ways than one. I could never put my finger on part of why. I even looked for clues outside of the business to get my answer, and it helped but it wasn’t enough, I wasn’t satisfied, but I knew the answer was in front of me. It wasn’t just the fact that a wrestler’s cred was determined by his exposure and not by whom he worked. It wasn’t just how far he got in the game, be it ROH or the WWE itself. In fact, you can accomplish so much in this business and it still would never amount to anything just due to the fact that no matter how much you do, it won’t matter to too many people, they either didn’t care or simply didn’t know where to look. Does any of that make sense to you? It might. Maybe it doesn’t…

Let’s see if I can break it down this way - I’ve worked in Europe 5 times since last April, technically, that makes me an international level wrestler now. I’ve gone as far as holding a title and receiving title shots, but there’s still a hitch - the wrestling community at large is not aware of that fact. Sure, there’s the Internet, but for all the people that utilize it, no one’s totally figured out how to manipulate it well enough for that knowledge to be spread around, so now you have pockets of folks that may be remotely aware of my existence. Well, what about the press? What about it? Wrestling usually only gets covered in Mainstream media when one of its denizens on that same level (i.e. the WWE) does something horrendous enough, or they just die. That leaves the wrestling media itself. Wait a minute, published wrestling media doesn’t do much either. Just about everyone and their grandmother pops up in some top ten in the back of PWI’s rag, or they end up as a footnote in the results section or the Roundup page if they get a title, and by the time it goes to print, the information is usually dated. Not too flattering, is it? Don’t even get me started on the top 500 rankings; not that it’s not deserved in most cases, but you know who’s already got the upper 350 cinched, and even that doesn’t matter anymore, but the sad thing is that the only people that take it seriously and aren’t supposed to are wrestlers!!! Did we forget that the PWI was supposed to be a fan rag? You know what I’m getting at without even saying it, and I don’t care what I hear, but I’m not peppering my column with wrestling jargon to spell it out either. The other culprit? Television…

I mean let’s face it, that’s a tough commodity to break through anymore. All the networks are too big to carry anything small anymore, so the only way you’re getting face time is if you’re fortunate (i.e. telegenic) enough to make it to The Fed or TNA, and even that’s a crap shoot. Remember, at that level of politics, it’s more about making shit shine (TV term. Talent is always optional, especially nowadays) than anything else. Even if you get to that mountaintop, you still have to climb to get somewhere, and many fall by the wayside much more regularly than you think. If you grew up watching the Territories, you know the difference between wrestling now and then. Stories were told in more ways than one even the big ones, but the tune-up matches were a big help in doing it. You’re not gonna see that anytime soon, because nobody gets it. Most of the people rallying behind the battle cry of Old School is paying lip service, because I haven’t seen a tune-up match yet and no one wants to be a tune-up wrestler, but some of the guys who were are somehow passing themselves off as ‘legends’ or ’superstars’ just because of where they were. Not knocking them, but if you know you didn’t get that kind of push, don’t be so pretentious. You really want to help, then pass on the wisdom of the game as it was meant to be without malice. A bit naive, I know, but I digress, but my point here is television is not the Indy Wrestler’s friend either. That died with the real ECW when it left syndicated TV for cable…

We’re back to the ‘Net then. Battle lines were suddenly drawn on newsboards that popped up like virtual boomtowns, and suddenly people that may have been enthusiasts became authorities of the game, and thus the term ‘Smart Mark’ was born. Let someone disagree, and then there’s mudslinging all over, with wrestler and fan alike dodging slings and arrows fired from keyboards by people who most likely never even stepped foot in the ring. Thankfully not everyone that runs a newsboard is like this, but it’s not making things any easier. The one thing that did come to my attention about credibilty and how it’s distributed within the realm of Professional Wrestling since my last visit to Europe was this - there are divided perceptions about credibility because up until now, there has never been a barometer to gauge its levels in wrestling to begin with, and it appears to be a need for one if the game is going to evolve anytime soon. Something to think about into the New Year. Wrestling is not going to die off anytime soon, but don’t even think about making a lucrative career out of it either. It’s essentially back to how it was 50 or 60 years ago except for its frequency.

Here’s one to bake your noodle; pro basketball players from that same era held down regular jobs during the off-season. All the excess money you’re hearing about from NBA stars now was a recent development from 20 years ago, and long before anyone played any huge arenas, they were playing in regular gyms. Sound familiar? I had that revelation 2 days ago when I was visiting my father a day early for his 59th birthday, and he explained this to me as watched the Black and White footage. He disagrees with me having to pay out of pocket to travel overseas to wrestle, but that’s his mentality. Many people in and out of the business will take his side, but unless you realize the nature of this particular beast, you’ll never understand why it turned out that way. Despite all that’s been done in the past, statements can and will continue to be made by someone who wants to bad enough, and history dictates that the ones want to the most always manage to transcend the ‘Thou Shalts’ of their time to do so, even if and when it means dealing with banal trappings around them. Keep watching and reading. I’m on the Other Side of the Ropes for the last time this year. Happy Holiday and Happy New Year and I’ll see you all in ‘08…

Out/Aus/Uit…

Redd

shaka57@hotmail.com