The last 24+ hours have been pretty
emotional, and it all came to a head last night when, for the first
time in my near-30 years as a professional wrestling fan, I was moved
to tears.
People often ask me why I still watch
pro wrestling. Well, nobody actually asks me that, but I often ask
myself and assume other people wonder why as well. I don't usually
have an answer. I love it for the storytelling and the sometimes
hero-like characters that can be created, but too often recently the
weekly television shows lack any creativity or compelling direction
one might expect an episodic television show (especially on that's
been on for 25 years) to have. It's embarrassing more often than not. Hell, probably 80-90 percent of the time. But I stick with it for moments like Sunday.
My Sundays are normally spent leisurely
enjoying my time off after a six-day work week, and yesterday I went
see my alma mater, Indiana, play for the first team this season. It was a mostly thrilling basketball game against a ranked Maryland
team. The Hoosiers collapsed down the stretch sadly, though I was
mostly encouraged by what I saw. Unfortunately that won't be what
I'll remember most about that game.
It was 2:35 p.m., early in the second
half of the basketball game, when I received a text from a friend
that Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. I immediately went to
Twitter, and the only thing I saw was the TMZ report, like I'm sure
many others did. Time passed, but I really don't know how much. I
tried to let the basketball game distract me, but it was difficult to
think about much else. Somewhere over the next hour, Kobe's death
was confirmed, and I spent the entire ride home from Bloomington
trying to find details. It was a bittersweet relief to find out that
only one of his daughter's had perished, as initial reports indicated
all his kids were with him.
It's weird. I was never a huge Kobe
fan. In fact, I really didn't like him at all when I was younger. But
I grew to respect his game and I feel privileged that I got to see
one of the all-time greats during my lifetime. It's also true that
Kobe was no saint. He made his share of mistakes, but he also seemed
to be reformed and a dedicated father and husband in his
post-retirement. Yet for some reason, his untimely death hit me
really hard.
It finally occurred to me yesterday
afternoon. All last week I knew the four-year anniversary was coming
up of the death of one of my best friends, Luke. Today is the actual
anniversary as I'm writing this, and I think Kobe's passing was an
all-too real reminder of what Luke's death four years ago showed me:
Nothing in this life is guaranteed. Nobody knows when their time will
be up, so you have to make the most of what little you have.
In April of 2011, the night after
Wrestlemania 27, one of my all-time favorite wrestlers, Edge,
unexpectedly announced his retirement. Visibly shaken, Adam Copeland,
the man not the TV character, gave an emotional speech about multiple
neck surgeries and recent numbness led doctors to recommend
retirement out of fear of possible paralysis or even death should he
continue. It was a very real moment in an otherwise scripted show.
Without getting too deep into my fandom for Edge, one of the things I
loved about him was that he was a fan. The way WWE portrayed it (so
take this with a grain of salt), he appeared to be one of the biggest
fan-turned-superstar that the company has ever had. Copeland was even
in attendance at Wrestlemania 6 in Toronto to watch Hulk Hogan vs.
The Ultimate Warrior. In March of 2012, Edge went into the WWE Hall
of Fame, and for all intents and purposes, his career was over.
The Royal Rumble has always been one of
my favorite wrestling Pay-Per-Views, and part of that is because its
known for having at least one or two surprise returns. The returns
are sometimes underwhelming, but if the WWE can keep a secret under
wraps, the unexpected returns can provide great memories. Rumors had
been circulating that Edge had been cleared by doctors to compete
again and that the Royal Rumble was where he'd make his triumphant
return.
I have to be honest though, after an
emotional day that included a celebrity death, the highs and lows of
IU basketball, reflecting on a friends' death, and numbing my brain
with 3 ½ hours of mindless pro wrestling, my favorite wrestler
making a big comeback was not near the forefront of my brain. His
music hit, my jaw hit the floor, and the crowd reaction gave me
goosebumps. By the time he walked through his trademark smoke, the
emotion on his face was plain to see, and my eyes welled with tears.
Had I been alone, those tears may have turned to sobs.
Here was a guy who got to live his
life-long dream of becoming a professional wrestler, only to have
that dream cut short in the prime of his career. Now he's back. There
are rumors of a new three-year contract for the Rated-R Superstar,
but it's impossible to say how true that is at this point, or if
it'll even be in a wrestling capacity. If nothing else, it seems
likely he'll at least have a Wrestlemania match in a couple months,
but who knows?
And that's just it. Who knows what's
next for any of us? If the last 24 hours have taught me anything,
it's that we need to make the best of what we have while we have it,
because nothing is certain. It's a lesson that I think everyone
knows, but unfortunately, sometimes I think we need a reminder.
