Tradition? Never Heard of Her…
His grip tightens around the edge of the sink—it’s a miracle the porcelain doesn’t crack under the pressure of his meaty palms. Sweat beads on his brow. He’s felt this before. The nerves. The weight. The gravity of this moment. It means something. It means everything.
Staring into the mirror, he sees more than just his own pudgy cheeks. He sees the ghosts of those who came before him, the ones who paved the road with blood, sweat, and grit. Their sacrifices got him here and letting them down isn’t an option. This isn’t just another night at the office. This is tradition. And he’ll be damned if he ever forgets that.
Which is why, in fifteen minutes, he’ll be powerbombing a 77-year old woman off the stage, crashing through a table below.
OK, so I might have made some of that up. But inside the mind of Bubba Ray Dudley is not a place I care to spend a lot of time, ya feel me?
Pro wrestling is a business built on tradition. Certainly. If ya don't believe me just spend 10 minutes on Wrestling Threads and you'll see the word thrown around more than you hear at the White(power) House lately. Look around. There's a whole movement of people trying to rewind the clock to some Howdy Doody boob tube dream of a golden age where men were men, the queers stayed in our sparkly lil huts, and your old lady catching a right hook in the kisser, cuz she didn't have dinner on the table, was just another Tuesday.
These fucks treat tradition like it's some kind of sacred rule for existing, something to be protected at all costs.
Some divine order sent from Sky Daddy to keep us apes in line. We see it in culture, in politics, in the way we cling to nostalgia like the last life boat off the Titanic, even if it means letting other's drown in the process.
So where do we draw the line between progress and stagnation? When is it ok to adapt to changing culture? To experiment? To try something fresh and new?
I see so much hate toward companies like AEW just for having the audacity to try something new. For presenting wrestling in a way that doesn’t fit the mold of Titan Tower.
Shouldn’t we be celebrating the fact that something we love is still evolving, still growing, still alive?
Does Foley never take the dive off the cage? Do we take away hot girl graps? Or do we strip it all back to the bingo halls, nobody throws a punch, nobody takes a kick, and the biggest pop of the night is Jack the Plumber slapping on a sleeper hold against Henry the Tax Man in a twenty-minute struggle snuggle? No wild tights either. Just plain, solid-colored undies. Because that’s how real wrestling used to be, right? That’s how Bruno done it!
Tradition is only as good as what it allows us to build on top of it.
But what do I know? I grew up when my favorite wrestlers were getting called reckless and hacky for daring to pull of a TLC match.
Tradition Shmashmishion.
