Epilogue.

It’s been a minute since I wrote one of these things.  I’ve been pretty busy living that thing outside of wrestling called life.  All has been well, thanks for asking.  I did take time out of my schedule to check out the yearly Tipping Point Podcast Awards.  I did notice a very big difference. 

This year, the awards owned up to what they have always been – peer awards.  In the past, they have fancied themselves as awards that highlighted the best wrestlers in the state, all the while ignoring virtually half of it.  Titling the awards as being Georgia Awards was always misleading considering the governing body’s fragmented view of wrestling in the state.  However, this admission definitely quiets those in south Georgia who weren’t nominated considering they weren’t in the conversation to begin with.  Nonetheless, congrats to all the winners.

Not that we got that outta the way….

I guess it shocked quite a few people when I announced that I was retiring from active competition.  The questions came almost immediately.  The biggest question was “Why are you leaving?”.  Well, that question has quite a few answers. 

First, let me state that my leaving the GIWA had no effect on my decision to hang up my boots.  In fact, I’d discussed leaving with the promoter months in advance.  The plan was simple.  Me and Chris Nelms had been friends since he was a teenager.  I figured I’d do him a solid and pass the GIWA belt to him.  So, while I forget the month I lost the belt to him, he should have been champion months earlier.  The only reason that didn’t happen is because the promoter was hesitant about putting the belt on Nelms because he was one of the worst wrestlers on the show.  But when the time came to drop it, I did it with no hesitation.  So I’d been ready to leave for a while.  What more is there for me to do? 

People I speak to are always mentioning trying out for WWE and other larger organizations.  But let’s face it, I didn’t go to college twice to be getting dropped on my head 300 nights out of the year.  Those who say “wrestling is life” would condemn me for that last statement.  Before you do that, look at the shattered lives of the 50 or so ex-wrestlers who are part of the class action concussion lawsuit against WWE trying to make a quick buck, all the while taking the same risks at an advanced age on the indy circuit and making far less money.  Yeah, you can have that.

The second reason is I made a promise years ago that I would not be one of those middle-aged weekend warriors whose idea of living for the weekend was putting my body on the line in a school gym or armory every Saturday.  I’d done it for many years.  Back then, it was appealing.  I did it under the premise that hard work would be its own reward.  However, pro wrestling politics and the legendary “good ole boy” system in pro wrestling take precedent over your presence or training in some places.  My real world success has been the direct result of putting my head down and working for everything I have.  Admittedly, I’ve chosen in the past not to enjoy the fruits of my real world labor funding and enjoying a weekend hobby known as indy wrestling.

It’s cool to tell the stories of four- and six-hour drives to do a show.  What sucks is the idea that when I get to those shows, I check into my hotel, hit the arena, wrestle, come back to the room, shower, go to sleep late, wake up extra early, and am back on my way home for another six hours.  So while I’ve frequented the Carolinas often to wrestle, I’ve never gotten a chance to truly enjoy Mt. Airy or Wilmington.   

Finally, I want to enjoy life out of the ring because I actually can now.  The years of 2013 and 2014 were probably the busiest of my entire career.  That was totally by design.  Hitting the interstate and wrestling everywhere someone would book me was all the space I needed to run from the one thing I couldn’t process or handle back then:  losing my beloved fiancée.  I know see that I’ve missed out on a lot running.  Now, I can either stand still or more freely in the world and accept the universe’s blessings.   

So despite the unfair notion that I was bitter and angry all the time, the truth is those actions were reflections of the “character” Velvet Jones, but the man behind him hasn’t been this happy in a long time.  And make no mistake about:  Velvet is a character.  A character who had an uninterrupted four-year title run between two championships in one of Georgia largest drawing shows.  I can take him off just as well as I can put him on.  Not everyone else can say that as this world of fantasy has become the sad reality of many.  Life happens every day.  Unfortunately, many in this business only truly live on the weekends for less than 30 minutes at a time.  If that’s your dream, chase it and I wish you the best in catching it. 

This isn’t goodbye.. ..just until we meet again.