Over the years, CHIKARA has been involved with dozens of non-profit organizations, all over the United States. But our ties to the Children's Home of Easton go all the way back to Season One, our maiden voyage. It does my heart good to know that a box of donated DVDs made a difference to someone. If watching some of those led you down a path to professional wrestling, they more than served their purpose, Kevin.
I remember what it was like when pro-wrestling first captured my imagination. It was not enough for me to watch it on TV, or read magazines about it, or play wrestling video games. Suddenly, my school projects were about wrestling. I wanted to share my passion for it with anyone that would listen. I'd convince my friends to come down to the park after school and we'd imitate our favorites and wrestle around until one of us had to go home and try to explain away the grass stains on our pants. It brought us together. It gave us an outlet. I could express myself through wrestling in a way that nothing else allowed. I found such immense joy in professional wrestling that I knew I had to be a part of it somehow. As outlandish as that idea was, I could not let go of it. I did not know what I wanted to do at college, I did not know what career path I should take. But I knew for certain that I wanted to be part of professional wrestling.
I know this for certain as well: if I had not found my place in pro-wrestling, I would have been a failure. While that might have pleased my family members, and certainly a high school guidance counselor who shall remain nameless, it would have meant the art from which I derived such inspiration and joy would be lost to me. I would have failed my dream.
The connection I have with professional wrestling has defined my entire life now. Its power is as poignant today as it was to me on May 20, 1994. I've read your blog, and seen your interviews, and I've heard the things you say in the locker room. Even the little ways you pick at me, desperate for attention. Why else would you bother needling me in the middle of an AMA if not to say "Hey! Look at me over here," Kevin? Perhaps you need to reconnect with the positive power of professional wrestling. I was once that irritating, overzealous young man, who could not control the ways in which his passion for this artform was expressed. I wanted to be a part of it. I needed that chance.
Do not mistake my kindness for weakness, or ignorance. You talk about respect, and playing by the rules. You may have forgotten the sarcasm tags before submitting that blog of yours, because there's more than one insincere statement therein. But something you wrote resonated with me. Perhaps I hear the echo of a younger man that is making every mistake possible while clawing his way into the world of professional wrestling. The echo of someone who needs to belong. For the chance to connect that young man with the positive power of professional wrestling, even if it does seem a bit against my better judgment... You got this part right, Kevin: you can be better. Show me. Show us all. At King of Trios in September.
-MQ