All Out was extremely violent, and honestly, Bryan Danielson’s stuff was tough to watch. I have mixed emotions. When done right, that kind of stuff can tear a roof off like Bryan’s did. However, I wouldn’t want my brother Joshua to watch stuff like that, or kids, for that matter. Let’s face it, wrestling is multi-generational. When I do signings, I greet so many parents and their children. Growing up, I didn’t have a father, so it especially warms my heart to meet families and hear how much their wrestling viewing experiences and memories mean to them. Then again, there is an audience that loves the extreme, and you want to cater to them, too.
When you see your favorite stars going to the extreme, you may want to blame the promotion. Honestly, though, it’s the talent who will usually make the calls in the ring. While I credit talents who go to the extreme in terms of violence inflicted upon themselves for their passion and courage, I also want talent to have longevity and to graduate from this world healthy and able to function. Our bodies go through enough with all the bumps, not to mention the travel and schedule. Personally, I’m at a place careerwise where I’d like to avoid extreme matches – unless it’s a true big value add to the company.
Okay, here I am talking out of both sides of my mouth. After sharing some strong thoughts on extreme wrestling, I’ll state, hands down, Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale’s street fight absolutely stole the show. It was one of the best women’s matches of the year, and one of the greatest women’s street matches I have ever seen-ever! I mean it. I couldn’t take my eyes off the monitor. Kris and Willow hooked me from go. Our women’s division just keeps ascending.
Okay, how can I talk about extreme wrestling and street matches without talking about my own? My most memorable one was against Charlotte and, what a match it was – kendo sticks, fighting in the stands, we did it all. The crowd was insane for us, and it only fueled us to keep going. We tore the place down. A couple of funny things. First, I never took one hit from the kendo stick. I did all the hitting. Because I was a face and due to the storyline, it made more sense for me to beat her with the stick- which I did! Charlotte, being Charlotte, being so equally committed, took it and kept right on coming. Honestly, I didn’t want to get hit with the kendo stick and was glad not to. But trust me I had my share of high spots and jumps that left me pretty bruised. However, the second most interesting thing was that when I won, it was Ric Flair, Charlotte’s dad, who raised my arm. Ric is someone I love and always enjoy seeing.
