honeydunce

Last night, my friend Joe hosted the second official “Classic Wrestling Night.” Highlights included the Jumping Bomb Angels vs. The Glamour Girls(January, 1988), “My Breakfast with Blassie”(Andy Kaufman has breakfast with his hero Fred Blassie and it is a mindblowing 68 minutes), and Ric Flair razoring himself during a fight with Macho Man Randy Savage(including some Elizabeth drama…oh Elizabeth and her drama). A good, good time.

Would it be false information to proclaim myself a pro wrestling fan? Probably. I’m not up to date with any current wrasslers nor do I watch a weekly program of any sort. However, I do enjoy the classic matches–watching old Ric Flair or long ago lady wrestling matches taps into a part of my brain adjacent to my childhood. Wrestling is an archived flavor of nostalgia that I tend to forget about.

Thank goodness I know Joe, who one could consider a professional appreciator of professional wrestling. His brain is a rolodex of matches, strategies, heels and losses. His ocean of knowledge is impressive and somewhat frightening. Part of the fun in Classic Wrestling Night is knowing how much Joe adores the “genre,” and it’s his night to talk shop and shoot the shit about new storylines and wrestler developments with other people who enjoy it as much as he does. Of course I can’t participate in a lot of these conversations, but it’s nice to know any/all of my questions about wrestling can and will be answered. It’s always fun to see a friend in their element. Yes, I would refer to wrestling night as “Joe’s element.”

This is the best part about humans and/or being human: the gray area of likes and dislikes we all dance in. Some would probably scoff at me for admitting that I harbor this funny little affection for classic pro wrestling. But you know what? People aren’t black and white. True, people are generally picky about their preferences–even MORE picky with OTHER PEOPLE’S preferences, which is just downright hilarious to me. Especially in the world of the infamous internet. To narrow it down even more: especially in the world of blogging. Perhaps my thoughts are scattered here, but it’s something I’ve thought about for quite some time, and pro wrestling really brought it out for some reason. Watching Ric Flair yell WOOOOOOOOO! to a crowd of screaming fans in the ’80’s does not make me any less of a female, or artist, or poet(I mean come on, the theatrics! The plots!). It doesn’t brand me a misogynist. It doesn’t make me any less of an athletic person. And liking something doesn’t put me in or out of a box.

I like motivational sport montages, going to the ballet, the Family Ties tv series, the city as much as the farms back in Ohio. I like Hank Williams, De La Soul, Carol King, The Pointer Sisters, and Two Man Advantage. I like demolition derbys and symphony in the park. See? It’s the modge podge that makes us.