The Macho Man

Whether it be through some kind of news media or your friends posting Slim Jim-related statuses on Facebook, you’ve probably heard about the alarming death of the “Macho Man” Randy Savage. His real name was Randall Poffo, and he was actually born in Columbus, Ohio. He’s known best for his time as a part of the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) and later World Championship Wrestling.

A story such as this is very upsetting to me. It’s very common for people that aren’t too familiar with the wrestling business to roll their collective eyes at it, casting it off as a silly, barbaric form of entertainment that is best reserved for people of perceived low intelligence and questionable values. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that wrestling doesn’t have its degree of humor. It does. In fact, that’s probably part of its appeal for a lot of people. But while people can easily and lazily assign degrading nicknames to the business, and perhaps sometimes that’s even deserved, I cannot begin to express how much respect I have for someone who decides to live his life as a professional wrestler.

We all know that the outcomes to a wrestling match are predetermined. There are methods wrestlers use to minimize the damage on their body. They’re taught to take bumps in a certain manner to protect themselves, their technique is constructed in a way to “sell” maneuvers, suggesting wrestling is more about choreography than it is about well, wrestling. That’s all true. However, while the outcomes are fake, the physical and emotional toll that wrestling can have on a person is very real.

If you believe that because the outcomes are fake, the pain is too, you’re dreadfully incorrect. Professional wrestlers are sidelined constantly as a result of serious injuries. It shortens careers drastically. If your career as a professional wrestler doesn’t end because of a catastrophic injury, it will probably end because of years of wear and tear. When your body hits the mat, it hurts. A lot. And while they are professionals, mistakes do happen. A popular wrestler by the name of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was nearly paralyzed during a match in East Rutherford, and in fact was paralyzed briefly before feeling returned to his body, because a mistake was made by his opponent. While that’s on the more serious end, this type of stuff happens all the time.

Also, World Wrestling Entertainment events are not weekly. They might televise one or two events a week, but if you include un-televised events, WWE events happen almost every single night. Every year. That means that professional wrestlers are on the road for almost the entire year, performing every single night, subjecting their bodies to punishment for the sake of their love of the business and entertainment. Their families? Forget about it, they never see them. If they have children, they never know them. And by the time their careers are over, their opportunity to know their kids might very well have passed them by. Yet they perform, every night, because they love it so much and love to entertain. Oh and, if you didn’t know, WWE wrestlers are essentially treated as independent contractors. They might be paid pretty well, but they don’t receive any benefits for their service. No health benefits, no nothing.

I say all of this because from about 1996 until about 2001, I was a wrestling fan. I grew up being entertained by wrestlers such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and of course the Macho Man. And as a young kid, I loved it. As I grew up, I matured, and I of course grew out of it. But I’ve always kept tabs on the professional wrestlers who entertained me as a child. I’ve read about their personal lives and the physical and personal sacrifices they have all had to make to be a part of the business they love so much. And the parts of their lives that these people give up… it’s staggering. So, while some people might poke fun at wrestling, just keep in mind that these people are very much real. They have real lives, with real families who miss them all the time, and who might never know their father or mother like you and I might know ours. That’s why wrestlers such as the “Macho Man” Randy Savage will always have my respect. They give up a lot to entertain their fans. That shouldn’t be mocked, it should be appreciated.