I was born in the mid-70s with a variety of health issues. (Some of which still bother me to this day see my earlier health blog.) By the time that I started school, I already behind in a lot of ways as far as developing any athletic talents or skills. And as you might can imagine, I was bullied as a kid by some kids for the physical problems. To put it nicely, I was not only picked last but I was also abused by one particular PE teacher in elementary school because of my physical and health issues. (but hey a lot of students got abusive treatment at that elementary school back then, so um, right?)
Amidst all of this, I did find one activity that I really did enjoyed and was decent at despite my physical problems. Well, technically two activities. I could do basic boxing drills and I could do some basic defensive karate techniques. I was not allowed to take classes at the local karate dojo due to my physical problems but I did have friends in those classes and other classes who would teach me stuff. So we basically found a little area where we could 'spar' with one another for lack of a better term. It was almost like amateur fight choreography at times. Anyways, I became quite interested in martial arts during that time. (I also admitted became a wee jealous of my friends who were deemed healthy enough to take those classes.)
After changing schools and winding up at that aforementioned, I was introduced to pro-wrestling and then to amateur wrestling. Yeah, I know kind of backwards but whatever. Well, that's slightly incorrect, I sorta knew about pro-wrestling but didn't keep up with it. Anyways, I didn't really start paying attention to pro-wrestling until fifth or sixth grade. It helped that I could grab videos of pro-wrestling events from the local video store and that "Superstars of Wrestling with Joe Pedicino and Bonnie Blackstone" (and later Gordon Solie and Samuel Kent) aired on the local syndicated TV station.
In middle school, four things happened:
1) I dated this girl, Lisa H., who was a black belt who taught me some more karate stuff. (As a side note, I think Lisa would have gone into MMA fighting had MMA been a thing back then.)
2) I had heard of the Gracie family for the first time and of Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn. (The latter two would show up in WWE at one point but this was before that.)
3) I was in an amateur wrestling tournament and did quite well considering. I got 3rd place and missed second by 1 point. (The guy who won gold beat me by forearming in the throat... about where I'd had some of the surgeries related to my throat and esophagus.)
4) I made plans to join the HS wrestling team before some issues forced me to reconsider those plans. (Partially related to my health issues.)
Anyways, I still wound up as a fan of both pro-wrestling and MMA. And as I said, I had been told about Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and The Gracie family. So I gradually became aware of a handful of people fighting who would fight for the UFC but wasn't able to keep up with it due to not having access to the PPVs at the time and the local video stores didn't carry those event tapes.
Flash forward several years. I mean like toward the end of college several years.
Flash forward several years. I mean like toward the end of college several years.
A few of my friends and acquaintances of mine decided to try to pursue careers in pro-wrestling. Three of those guys made it and one of those guys is known to pro-wrestling fans as AJ Styles. I went to several indy shows that AJ and another friend who goes by Azrael were on for a promotion called NWA Wildside. (It was also known as NCW at one point but I don't like to talk about that.) The last of those guys who made it into the business is my friend Adam Stanton who worked the local indies here as "The Lights" TA Stanton and who is now breaking into the acting. In the early days of NWA Wildside, I'd actually considered training as a referee and a manager. The guy who trained AJ offered to train me as a referee. Though as a friend pointed out to me, my real interest was not in refereeing or even managing. I was interested in being able to produce those video vignettes that use to be popular that would help my friends "get over". However, nothing ever came from it which, looking back at it, was not a bad thing.
During that time, I met several people who worked for that promotion and became friends (more like friendly acquaintance) with some of them. Shortly after Wildside closed in 2005, I wound up giving a shout out to an indy guy named TJ who would go on to sign with the WWE as Tyson Kidd. (Fans of the show Total Divas will know him as TJ.) TJ and I chatted a good bit via MSN messenger and later on Facebook while I worked on homework for the Art Institute of Atlanta. TJ is a big MMA fan and UFC fan and started informing me about some of the who's who on some of the fighters. I'd also made the acquaintance with a pair of actresses and stunt women who were training in various MMA disciplines.
During that time, I met several people who worked for that promotion and became friends (more like friendly acquaintance) with some of them. Shortly after Wildside closed in 2005, I wound up giving a shout out to an indy guy named TJ who would go on to sign with the WWE as Tyson Kidd. (Fans of the show Total Divas will know him as TJ.) TJ and I chatted a good bit via MSN messenger and later on Facebook while I worked on homework for the Art Institute of Atlanta. TJ is a big MMA fan and UFC fan and started informing me about some of the who's who on some of the fighters. I'd also made the acquaintance with a pair of actresses and stunt women who were training in various MMA disciplines.
While at AIA taking a script writing class, I was prompted to write a short film that was inspired by some of my friends and acquaintances in the pro-wrestling field. And one of the actress / stunt women that I knew had suggested I change her to an MMA fighter in a later draft of the script. (Despite some research into that idea, I resisted the urge to do so.) I still have the script and it was one of the things I had wanted to film at some point though I honestly want to expand the idea into a full feature length script. (I may still finish the script but the idea of me shooting isn't likely at this point.)
I became interested in Women's MMA about 7 years ago (which is what prompted the original explanation blog) after a film maker acquaintance suggested there might be some legs to a documentary about how Women's MMA is growing as a sport. However, that never went anywhere due to someone we asked us to help produce the project being very offensive about the project to several of the people we'd be potentially interviewed. Despite the documentary plan being scrapped, I still wound up at Invicta FC 3 and met several fighters out in Kansas City. (I'm still on good terms with some of those fights as well though not as many as I'd like.)
Regardless, I have remained interested to some extent or another in both Pro-Wrestling and MMA. I don't get to keep up with MMA as much as I like but I do keep up somewhat. Having a few long time friends who have been involved or are involved with pro-wrestling and who are fans of pro-wrestling have made keeping up with it much easier. My general rule of thumb is I enjoy a good MMA fight. With very few exceptions, I don't have favorite fighters. I don't get too much into commenting on fights but I will RT friends who are a lot more in the know on the matter than myself.
Pro-wrestling is another story. I will comment on stuff largely because a lot of "internet fans" will post stuff which sounds incredible ignorant about "pro-wrestling" as a business or as a form of entertainment. Some of the comments are just plain ignorant, hypocritical, or a double standard. More often than not, I will side with the guys and gals in the business over these sorts of fans. (there are exceptions regarding people in the business and even those exceptions I agree with sometimes begrudgingly.) I enjoy chatting about pro-wrestling somewhat as well and have a few stories from over the past several years that I have known folks in the business. I also enjoy the WWE 2K games more than I admit even when I am getting disagreements with friends over the game.
So there you have a sorta quick rundown with more information than you probably need. LOL! Sorry.
Cheers.
