Spotlight On Writing-

Rock On, Wrestling

By Drew Calvert

A mix of warped rock and roll and hip-hop hits the arena and suddenly thousands of teenagers and adults stand up and scream. Bizarrely dressed steroid-pumped hulking men walk to a small ring in the center of all the chaos and anarchy. They bash each other with real steel chairs, denting them in two. They flip each other onto wooden tables, splinters flying into the fans. Gashes are made, and blood is smeared across anything that crosses the path of the brawling fighters. Yes sir, welcome to the wide wacky world of wrestling.

Life is tough for the professional wrestler. He is usually on the road, with no real hope of having a family, no place to call home and performing life-threatening maneuvers; one could easily and quickly give up this job description. But there are still hundreds upon hundreds of fanatic wrestling fans who dream of the possibility of striking it rich and making millions of dollars as the top wrestlers of today’s generation do.

It takes skills to become a professional wrestler. Endless hours of training, a high endurance and a joy for pain make up the key ingredients to this occupation, plus undying devotion to the sport. Brutal physical matches are a regular in today’s most popular wrestling organizations, using anything from trashcans to dump trucks. Creativity helps too. Story lines that include satanic sacrificial offerings, hatreds causing feuds not unlike gang wars. Translation: The tackier, the better.

This new generation of teenagers is wracked with thoughts teeming to the brim with violence; wrestling plays a part in our society and culture. Only in a country where disrespect to adults and school shootings are rampant can wrestling be deemed fit for our viewing pleasure. Ridiculous to some, a cult to others, everyone knows about it, whether they like it or not, whether they ignore it or not; it is here, and here to stay.

Editors Note: Drew Calvert is an 8th grade student at St Rose School.