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Wrestling isn’t just a tough industry physically.
It can take a toll on your mentally, emotionally, and financially.
After 5 months and 6 matches in the wrestling business, I was doubting myself, and how much I really loved wrestling.
I had been asked to buy into the personal training company I was working for, and with the amount of time and financial costs I was sinking into it with travel, training, and a number of other things were starting to add up.
People were also starting to find out I got into wrestling, and what started as something that was supposed to just be for me, now being brought to the attention of other people I knew and I wasn’t really ready to share that part of my life with others yet.
At this point, I was still extremely self-conscious and insecure.
In fact, I was so insecure, that I legitimately thought a girl wasn’t into me despite messaging me daily, and sending very suggestive photos.
Crazy, right?
So, the last thing I wanted is for people I knew in my real life to see me flying around the ring, in essentially my underwear.
I had also taken my foot off the gas from training a bit more at the time.
I was feeling like I wasn’t really training anymore, it was more of a situation where you’d go in, do some moves you thought were cool, and go home.
Had I not been feeling so unconfident in myself, I would have spoken up and asked for more direction when it came to training – but instead I kept it to myself and let my frustration brew inside.
That’s healthy, right?
But, despite the frustrations, the insecurity, and the uncertainty I was feeling – I still felt excited to wrestle, and it gave me a social element that I really needed outside of work (probably more than I even realized at the time).
And the next match scheduled was an exciting one, as it was my first ever Tag Team match.
The match was going to be me, and one of the top wrestlers at MPW at the time, Chris Perish against Dean Richtor and my old nemesis, Blake Kannon.
Teaming with Chris Perish was an exciting thought, as he was in a position I wanted to be in. He was named to Prowrestling Illustrated Top 500 wrestlers’ multiple times, he wrestled for all the main companies in Alberta, and he was in the top storyline of our company. He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world either, but it was certainly a guy who I could learn from.
Perish was also one of the guys who welcomed me into the “afterparty” scene.
After the shows we would go for drinks and food, and since a lot of the younger wrestlers didn’t come, I was left with most of the vets who already knew each other pretty well.
I was very thankful for Perish to be as welcoming as he was, and in time we would become solid friends.
Blake I obviously knew from our first match, along with the mini-camp and training, but Dean I hadn’t been super familiar with, nor many interactions beforehand. It’s funny to think back to that point, compared to where we’re at here and now – but that’s a story to tell another time.
From what I remember of the match, I most wrestled with Blake, while Perish did his work with Richtor.
It was a basic match, nothing fancy or exciting.
Blake and Dean were a new team named Extinction – although they weren’t in business for very long, with Dean leaving the company and abandoning young Blake in the process. With them being the tag team, they would go on to win the match after Perish “snapped” and got us Disqualified in the tag team tournament.
How inconsiderate.
After the match, I felt much different from the month before.
While I was still winless, and finding my footing in the crazy world of wrestling, I felt more comfortable in the ring than I had before.
I realized after that match that I might not have a long time in wrestling, but I was going to make the most out of it while I was there.
I was going to be back off to Lethbridge next week, and things were looking up…
Rich
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