Wrestlemania 34

Photo © WWE

Well, here I go again.

I've been a fan of professional wrestling since I was a kid. One of the things I liked to do with my dad before he and mom split up was watch wrestling with him, usually in the form of Georgia Championship Wrestling. At that time in the mid-70's, I became familiar with the likes of Mr. Wrestling Number 2, Tony Atlas, and Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. I learned it was all "fake" (These days I don't use that term, since wrestling is a dangerous sport. I say "scripted") but it still held sway over my emotions at times. After Dad left, I really stopped paying attention. By that point I was more into the likes of Godzilla films, old Horror movies, and Doctor Who, and wrestling was far from my mind.

Then, as the early 80's rolled around, I ended up paying attention again, thanks to the mainstream rise of the WWE (then known as the WWF) and "Hulkamania". That was a fun time, marking out for the Hulkster, and getting irritated by heels like Randy "Macho Man" Savage and the Iron Sheik. I would watch on and off for a few years, and got my first introduction to Ric Flair when he hit the WWF, and boggled at the brain-addled rantings of the Ultimate Warrior.

But once again, I fell away from Wrestling for a short time, before eventually returning again to pay more attention to the NWA, which seemed to take matters a bit more seriously than the cartoonish WWE. At that time, I got to see talents like Magnum TA, The Road Warriors, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Sting, who would go on to become my favorite wrestler in the history of ever.

But I eventually drifted away again, and this waxing and waning of my love of wrestling would be the pattern I held to throughout my life. I'd get drawn in for a while, enjoy myself until getting bored, then walk away for some time before returning once more.

After losing interest around 1987 or so, I wouldn't come back again until 1998, and you can thank Sting for bringing me back, thanks to his whole Crow-based gimmick ("The Crow" being my favorite film, and all) in WCW. Unfortunately this was shortly after he'd joined the nWo Wolfpac, so I missed out on the incredible 18-month buildup of that persona leading into the Starrcade '97 PPV. I suppose its just as well, because Starrcade '97 pissed me off enough in retrospect, and I can only imagine how irritated that screwed-up finish to what should have been the biggest match and easiest booking-decisions in WCW history would have made me if I'd been emotionally invested in it ahead of time.

I did get to see the meteoric rise of Goldberg, enjoy the antics of Chris Jericho, come to really mark out for Ric Flair and Chris Benoit, and watch in disbelief as WCW botched everything to do with Brett Hart, not to mention the disaster that was the return of the Ultimate Warrior. I saw the promotion near its height, got to attend a live Monday NITRO in Charleston West Virginia, and I watched as the whole company started to roll inexorably downhill until it was ignominiously extinguished by the two-front attack of the WWE's attitude era, and WCW's own staggering managerial incompetence. As it wound down, I started watching the WWE here and there, not to mention paying some heed to ECW as well. That said, WCW felt like my "home" promotion, and I was saddened by its demise.

But, I stuck around, transferring my flag over to the WWE only to see them make a complete hash of the invasion angle. Over the next few years, I'd watch for a few months, fall away for a few more, then return again, and I came to really enjoy the Undertaker, The Rock, Mick Foley, HHH, Eddie Guerrero, and Kane. But circa 2006 or so, I mostly stopped caring about WWE product. The death of Eddie Guerrero in 2005, and 2007 murder-suicide involving Chris Benoit only cemented my choice of drifting away. In the meantime, Sting resurfaced in TNA and I watched that now and again, but my enjoyment of wrestling was at a very low ebb, and would stay that way for a long time.

When Sting eventually signed up in the WWE, I got somewhat excited again...and then his loss to HHH at 2015's Wrestlemania 31 pretty much disgusted me because it was so damn nonsensical. And while I'm on that subject, let me add that despite my railing on HHH over it, the ending of that match absolutely stinks of Vince McMahon's ego, and booking-choices. I'd wager that was Vince's way of kicking Sting for not signing up with his brand years before, and thus completely justifying Sting's reticence to do exactly that.

Anyway, fast-forward another six months, and things went completely tits-up when Sting received a career-ending neck-injury from a botched-spot in a match with Seth Rollins (who feels like absolute dirt, the poor guy) at the Night Of Champions PPV, and that was that. But a curious seed had been planted, thanks to the segment involving the Rock alongside Ronda Rousey.

Now, in a very personal note, I don't care about UFC any more than I care about boxing. In fact, I don't like either, because I don't like seeing people try to hurt one-another on purpose. I like wrestling because of the athleticism, and the simulated violence. Yeah, its still really fucking dangerous, but people aren't usually legit hitting and kicking one-another. I enjoy fight scenes in movies and brutal kills in horror flicks because its just not reality, and regard them as art-forms in their own right. But I just don't like real violence, and that probably comes down to the fact that my father was physically abusive to my mother. Having witnessed true violence and its aftermath first-hand as a very young child gave me a deep disdain for the real deal, whether done mindlessly, or on-purpose in the name of sports.

And yeah, people really get on my fucking nerves, and I don't like them most of the time, but I still care about what happens to them. I don't want people to get hurt, or to suffer, and when those things happen I want only to help. Despite my misanthropic streak, I still give a damn. You know, like a decent human being is supposed to.

But I digress.

So, I paid attention to Rousey's career via the press, but didn't watch her matches. Then, she lost to Holly Holm in 2015, and Amanda Nunes a year later, and I read of her despondency in the aftermath, and watched as the "fans" turned on her like sharks. Because what do people like doing more than backing a winner? Why, tearing them to pieces when they falter, of course! Ask me again why people piss me off.

I felt really bad for Rousey. I couldn't help but do so, because while I've never experienced anything quite like she did, I suffer from anxiety and depression and I've been crushed by life's events on more than one occasion. On two occasions separated by over a decade, I came chillingly close to attempting suicide. Yes, I'm on medication. Yes, I go to therapy. And obviously, I soldier on. But yeah, I felt awful for her. And I hoped she'd pick herself up, flip her haters the finger, and find a new direction.

I really shouldn't have worried.

When I heard that Ronda was joining the WWE, I thought that might be just the ticket. For a long-time wrestling fan like Rousey, who grew up loving Rowdy Roddy Piper, that career move seemed to be so logical and fitting that it felt like fate.

So, last Sunday, Wrestlemania 34 arrived, and Rousey was slated to take on Stephanie McMahon and Triple-H with Kurt Angle as her partner. Once again, this felt right for a first match, because I knew that Angle, Stephanie, and HHH had the experience to work a match that would make Rousey's transition to pro-wrestling that much easier.

And boy, was I right. Despite my optimism, that match exceeded my expectations by an order of magnitude. The timing and ring-psychology was pretty much spot-on perfect. Rousey was ready, and fluid. Her moves were crisp and well-executed, and the quartet put on the best wrestling match I had seen in many years. And for my money, Rousey/Angle vs Stephanie/HHH was absolutely the highlight of Wrestlemania 34. Before it was even done, I was a complete mark for Rowdy Ronda Rousey, and her victory over Stephanie via submission was the icing on a very good cake. And as for Rousey herself, she's absolutely found her calling in my opinion, and I'm looking forward to watching her as she progresses, all the while crossing my fingers and hoping that the WWE does right by her.

So yeah, here I go again. I've jumped back into the world of pro-wrestling yet again, and you can thank a former UFC women's-champ for the reawakening of my wrestling fandom, in match that was so well-done that I can almost forgive HHH for that loss he handed Sting 3 years ago.

Almost.

Photo © WWE