Close to the action

What would you die for?

On May 3rd I had the opportunity to ref a match between ‘Mr. Beefy Goodness’ Vance Nevada and Massive Damage. I had never been that close to the action. The winner of the match was Massive Damage — the new All-Star Wrestling Champion. I wanted to write that the show they put on was top notch. And it was. I want to tell you about how I was close enough that I could feel each bump and bruise. And believe me a those slaps to the chest were painful to watch!

Nevada’s chest post match was as red as a tomato. But that’s not the story. Here’s the story. It was all real! Not one part of the match was rehearsed. I was with Massive Damage all night before the match. He told me many things but as far as the match was concerned, his big concern was a count out. He asked that I call this down the middle. At one point he seemed giddy at the thought of a title match because he hadn’t had a title in years.

This meant a lot to Massive Damage. After the match he posed in the back with his friends. He was a happy guy, because earlier that day, he never thought the title would be put on the line.

The true art that took place in the ring was feeling. After being in the business for a combined 38 years these two professionals put on a show. I was merely the closest bystander.

My story that I’ve taken way too long to get to surrounds Sean Dunster. Sean speaks to kids about the damage that drugs can do to you. Sean has been concussed numerous times in his pro-wrestling career. He has been told he can never wrestle again at least two times in his career. Yet there he was in the ring taking on Vance Nevada.

Sean is Massive Damage in the ring. And Massive Damage has caused Sean a lot of pain. But Sean is okay with that because Massive Damage is Sean’s dream. Sean told me he may die in the ring and he’s all right with that. Because he’s doing what he loves and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

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