Why?
Knowing that a large part of the traffic that comes to RRO are involved in wrestling, I thought this column was only fitting. A majority of you are in a ring somewhere at least one to two nights a week or more. And for myself and a few others its been a busy few months.
On October 9th, at the NEW 1yr Anniversary show, I wrestled Austin Lane in 25+ minutes of some of most brutal, intense, emotional action this area has seen all year. Austin wrestled almost an hour between three matches that night and was a huge part of the show. I want to publicly thank him for giving it everything he had and making me step my game up that night. We both walked away with cuts, bruises, knots, blood, and of course egos larger than life!
The following week at NBW Legacy 3, myself and Kid Nikels won the NBW tag titles from Motley Cruz and his partner for the night, Big Red(a man that is very underrated in this area). Again I walked away with bruises, knots, a lot more blood, and a bigger ego. We had one hell of a 20 minute tag that had literally everything. Mat wrestling, high flying(myself and Kid Nikels both went airborne, see what I mean when I say size doesn't limit your style?), brawling, and even a touch of comedy.
We were left in the ring at Legacy 3 to a near standing ovation from the 220+ and that's when I got the idea that eventually led to this column. As I stood there in the middle of the ring, I thought about how far we had come and where we were going and decided to have some fun and see just how much the fans liked us.
I went to one side and cupped my ear, they cheered like crazy. I went to the opposite side, repeated the motion, and THEY went crazy. So I go back and forth with dueling cheers and realize I left the largest side out. I had an idea what would happen and was right...I went to them and heard nothing but crickets and a couple boos! So we laughed it off and went back to the first side. They went back to dueling before I finally brought both sides up and promptly left the ring, title in hand.
What's any of this have to do with the title of this column? Moments like this and the Austin Lane match are just a few answers to the question for me. I've had a lot of people at my gym and other places that see the bruises, the black eye I had for two and a half weeks after the NEW anniversary, they've seen me limp around from time to time. And they all ask the same question...why do I do it?
Having the fans in the palm of your hand and entertaining them is why I do it. Knowing that all eyes are on you is not only an ego booster, and a reason to want to perform at your best, but it's also a chance to have everyone leave that night saying "Damn that Eric Wayne had a hell of a match." I've always followed the philosophy that whether there are 40 fans or 4000, I'm going out there and working just as hard. Those people make it possible for all of us to live our dream.
Of course I have the same dream that many of us do, becoming a full-time wrestler and paying the bills by wrestling only. Its a lofty dream that not many reach. The desire and heart to make it that far are beyond belief. The dedication of going week in and week out, sometimes in front of smaller crowds, under the conditions we face sometimes make you second guess yourself and what you're doing, and why you're doing it. But once you are in the ring and you feel the people in the palm of your hand, its ALL worth it.
