stephie1_0

[Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a blog posted by Jennifer at her personal blog Wrestling Reflections. We wanted to bring some of it here but honestly the full dose is a much more satisfying journey. Go check it out HERE]

On Thursday, September 19th, I set off for the home of independent wrestler Sassy Stephanie. I would join her for the next two days as she traveled to two different states to wrestle for two different companies. I would be lucky enough to peer through the looking glass, as it were, and get a taste of “the life”. Granted, I had been on road trips with a few wrestlers prior to this, but that was to Dreamwave, a promotion that garners a sizable crowd in a rather populated city. This time, my travels with Sass would take me, first on Friday, to Farmville, Virginia (yes, there really is a town by that name) for Bruiser Wrestling Federation. Second, on Saturday, we would head to Oil City, Pennsylvania for Darkhorse Championship Wrestling. I had never heard of either promotion but it turns out, according to Adam Lash, BWF has been around for close to fifteen years; whereas DCW had only had two shows prior to the one we would be at. Needless to say, this would be a far cry from the previous promotions I had been to.

I arrived at Sassy’s about 8:30 at night. Her car was already packed up. She would be heading to bed soon since she had to be up at 3 a.m. to be at her non-wrestling job at 4 a.m. She said she would be leaving work at 9 a.m. so I needed to be up and ready to go by fifteen after. Unfortunately it took an age for me to get to sleep, but I was up at 8:30 and ready to leave when she got home. We threw some energy drinks and water into a cooler, got some snacks, put my stuff into her car and off we went.

……..

When we got out of the car and went up to the building, a few men were there to greet and direct us where to go. As we walked out from behind the backstage, passing the ring, I realized…this was a barn. Granted, the weekend before this I had been to Wrestling is Heart, which was also in a barn but it was more like a showcase area, large and rather spacious. This was much smaller, dirtier and…an actual barn. Dirt and hay were under our feet, and I could hear the soft mooing of cows and clucking of chickens nearby. Past the barn was the actual fair itself. This was a far cry from the Eagles Club or the Knights of Columbus Hall. However, it was what it was, and I followed Stephanie and the man guiding us to outside, in front of the barn. There were tables set up already. The one on the left hand side had WWE merchandise such as figures and shirts. The tables to the left were clear, and we were told we could use the one right next to the entrance. Sass quickly got her merch out and set up with an efficiency that was impressive. One of her newest shirts; stickers; trading cards; a program with a small biography about her; photos from WWE, TNA and various independent shows she had taken; old 8x10s; a binder filled with her newer 8x10s; and three bags filled with misc gear. One was marked at $100 as it was a complete set; the others were lower since it was only one piece and not a full set. I wondered at setting these items out – what casual fan would purchase something like that? I said nothing though, and listened as she wrote down the prices for everything and gave me various instructions. I was to be her “merch bitch” for these two days. I had hopes of selling several things for her as, since admission to the wrestling show was free if you paid to get into the fair, I worried that her booking fare wouldn’t be worth the drive.

Despite my worries, I never discussed pay with her. That’s one subject I feel is off limits, no matter how close of a friend I might be with any wrestler. It’s something I never need to know about. By this point, there was an hour left until the show started, and Sass, after making sure I was fine and understood about prices, left to go get ready. The table I was at was right in the path of the setting sun, so for awhile I was sweating it out until it went down. The flyer for the show was on the wall above me. Reading over it, I noted that their main attraction, their star for today’s show, was “The Patriot.”

………..

As we drove, Stephanie told me about something that had happened during the match that she had never experienced before. Normally, she said, once she’s out there in the ring she doesn’t register faces or people in the crowd. She’s in that “zone” that all wrestlers enter. However, when Kacee had her in a submission, she looked out and saw a kid that probably wasn’t over seven years old. Their eyes met and although she couldn’t hear him, she read his lips. “You can do it.” Even when she had been a babyface prior in her career, she had never had that kind of connection with anyone. “He believed in me,” she said, “I wanted to justify his belief in me. He may forget this in a week, but that’s something I will remember for the rest of my life.” I could tell by the look on her face and the tone of her voice that she was serious. This child had connected with her. It was still real to him. To that kid, and indeed to the rest of them that were at the show, everyone in the ring was larger than life. Wins and losses still mattered. The age old struggle of good versus bad still held a magic, to kids and adults alike. Food for thought for me.

Read more by going here: http://thedangerousqueen.blogspot.com/2013/09/road-tripping-with-sassy-stephanie.html
You can talk with Jennifer on twitter at http://twitter.com/PocketVolcano

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *