Hello, and welcome to Wayne's World. Yeah, its not original but who really cares? I talked to Brian Tramel recently and came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, I can contribute to this website a little something that might be of interest to some of the readers. But, what qualifies me to write for a website when I haven't even been wrestling for an entire three years yet? The answer to that is simple, I've grown up in the wrestling business since 1986.
This brings us to the topic of my first column, growing up in the business of wrestling. For those that don't know, my grandfather is wrestler turned promoter Buddy Wayne and his son is my father, Ken Wayne. So there is my pedigree(no HHH jokes) and the reason I'm a wrestler today. I can remember goin to different towns since I was about 7 years old. Setting up the ring, chairs, working the concession stand, taking ring jackets and everthing in between. I always enjoyed going out of town and being in the locker room and couldn't WAIT til I was the one walking to the ring to cheers, boos, or a mixed reaction lol. I grew up around guys like Bill Dundee, Jerry Lawler, Billy Travis, Flash Flanagan, Motley Cruz, Don Bass, PG-13(one of my favorite tag teams), King Cobra, Downtown Bruno, Koko B. Ware, Brian Christopher, Doug Gilbert and many more. I can remember going to Puerto Rico with my dad when I was 9 years old and realizing how different it was compared to the shows I had been to before!
But before I ever spent the summer in Puerto Rico(and slept in two chairs I pushed together in the office on tv days) there is one moment that gives me goosebumps just writing about that told me "THIS is what I'm meant to do." I wish I could remember the town we were in but I will never forget what happened.
I was maybe 8 or so, very young, and had the chance to be involved in Jerry Lawler's match against the Spellbinder. Nothing big, but it was a big deal to me. I always used to bug my dad to be involved in the show, even carrying what I called my gear to shows in case they needed a midget to wrestle, because ya always have to be prepared! Anyway it became a normal thing for me to take everyones ring jackets and such to the back after the introductions, except this one particular night. The idea was that Jerry would tell me not to take Spellbinder's stuff and of course, Spell would get upset. This led to him chasing me around the ring only to be cut off by Lawler. Match starts and I go to the back. Now towards the end I came back out while Lawler is being dominated to cheer him on and the people went crazy! Or so it seemed, I was a little kid. So I slowly walk towards the ring with people surrounding me and Spell points at me saying I'm next. And what happens? He turns around to a recovered Jerry Lawler who promptly rolls him up for the win! The place erupted! It was then that I knew this wouldn't be the last time I ever did anything like this...and it hasn't been by a long shot!
Growing up in this business hasn't always been the most fun but at times it was a blast. Hell, I'm still growing up in this business and learning more every time I'm out there but nothing compares to the experiences I've had in the years before I started training...but that's another column for another day!
