Well, most of you have either forgotten about lil’ ol’ me or have just given up on me.  Well don’t despair, I haven’t gotten too far.  Over the past couple of weeks, wrestling has been on the forefront of my mind behind work, school, moving and getting used to a new place.  See wrestling is in there somewhere. 

After getting a few Fridays off, Anthony and I have taken to the road to several new promotions.  From these promotions, wrestlers from Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas have made the treks to these shows.  Seeing these faces inside of these locker rooms made me realize how much each one of these people love the business.  While most of us see what is on WWE or TNA, the ones that are rarely on television are the ones that are the backbone to the federations that we love so much on Monday, Fridays and Saturdays. 

While making these miles appear on my car, the stories that fill up the novel that may or may not be in the making one day slowly start to fill the pages of the journal that is kept close to my heart.  The stories of these wrestlers have been varied.  From the generous wrestlers that brought me into the business to the one that I am married to, the stories never end.  Sit down one day and ask a wrestler about some of their stories on the road.  One might look something like this one.

Over the end of August, my husband and I were making the trip from our humble abode outside of Nashville to the federation that Anthony and I had called home for several months, OCW.  During the drive, the conversation went to the recent hurricane disaster that occurred in Louisiana.  The pictures on television sometimes do not give a full account of what happened.  We continued to speak about this topic until the idea of stopping at a state line welcome center. 

After two hours on the road, I have to stop and stretch my legs and refill on Pepsi.  When we reach the welcome center, the sun has started to go down on the tiny center near Athens, Alabama.  After walking out towards the vending machine, I happen to notice a group of military officials walking around the same area.  Of course, my journalist nature just couldn’t keep quiet, especially after the conversation that had just ended in the car. 

“Where are you gentlemen heading?” I enquired to what seemed like the commanding officer. 

“Well ma’am, (Yes he called me ma’am…weird huh) we’re heading towards Louisiana from Ohio and Indiana.”

Once again the look of concern draped over my face and I wished them a very safe journey and all of the best of the outcome of their trip.  My husband finally came towards the car and we had decided to take a look at the tourist attraction that is at some of the entry state welcome centers, this one just happened to be one of the rockets that went into space.  When walking towards this huge monument based on our scientific advancement into outer space, we happen to notice a couple about our age with a young child with them.  Ideal conversation found out that this couple had been traveling from Mississippi where the hurricane had ravaged their home and nothing was left.  All these poor souls had left was packed into a trailer with their vehicle attached behind them heading north away from the devastation. 

Things like what happened on this trip happen to wrestlers all the time.  Even though they are usually not lessons learned, except to remember the Febreze after a double show on a Sunday with rain heading towards the show, but the life lessons as to remember what and why we step into the ring each and every day or week, the people sitting at ringside.  Without them, there would be no wrestling.  There would be no money to pay the building.  There would be no us.  Everything would be a thing of the past.  Disasters happen every day, but the one thing that keeps us together is a unity that all humans have.  The feeling of help, of hope and of relief that each one of us can supply that can help make someone’s life a little better. 

Remember that each time the boots are laced up, the robes are put on, and the belts are put around the waists of these wrestlers, we’re human just like you, but with one extraordinary gift of wanting the wrestling bug to remain in our bloodstream.

For any feedback on this article, feel free to check our my website at www.belleofthebrawl.com or email me at belleofthebrawl@yahoo.com

I welcome all feedback, questions, suggestions.  To all the independent federations, continue to send over all your results, news and more!  I am looking to start interviewing as soon as possible.  I have at least two ready to line up and a couple more articles that I am looking forward to finishing. 

As always, stay safe.