Wrestling and baseball making for strange bedfellows
By Mr. Mal Occhio
Wrestlers Ramblings.com wrestling blogÂ
As those closest to Mr. Mal Occhio know by having already heard the tale, one of the strangest fever-like dreams I ever had growing up a young, impressionable professional wrestling fan in the 1980s was one where the Four Horsemen came to the ring (in my deluded brain) adorned with Detroit Red Wings’ hockey jerseys, complete with captain Steve Yzerman in tow. Upon waking, even Mr. Mal (having been witness to strange scenes mortal men could not comprehend given the scope of the evil eye) could only laugh. Hockey and wrestling? One in the same? Nonsense, right? Maybe not. Only in this case, substitute MLB baseball with the squared circle, and that dream once ridiculed now doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
Word has it former MLB-player Warren Cromartie – a veteran of the former Montreal Expos now clocking in at 53 years-of-age – is set to make his in-ring professional wrestling debut on June 17th in Japan at an event called Hustle Aid. To make things even more interesting? Rumored opponents are either Abdullah the Butcher or Tiger Jeet Singh. “He’s really excited about returning to Japan and is training very hard,” said Hustle Aid media relations director Chiyo Kishimoto. “He’s taking it very seriously.”
Tack this news onto TNA glomming on to the St. Louis Cardinals’ David Eckstein and Chicago White Sox’ A.J. Pierzynski late last year at their Turning Point PPV along with several Detroit Tigers such as Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya all avowed fans (and all attending the recent Wrestlemania 23) and you have to wonder why all the buzz with baseball and wrestling?
“It was a thrill to be out there. As a kid, I always enjoyed wrestling. All that went down, wow, that was unbelievable. Things got a bit heated with A.J.,� said Eckstein, who actually had a brief in-ring role at the event. “When you step into the ring, you’re stepping outside your comfort zone. I can handle playing in front of 45,000 fans, but going out in front of the TNA wrestling fans who always want to see action, I was nervous.�
“I’m a huge WWE fan,� Granderson told WWE.com back in October. “When I was in college I would watch every week. We would find a dorm room to pile into and we’d all watch the show. Now that I’m playing baseball, it can be hard on Monday nights but I do my best to watch every week.�
Detroit Tigers’ Curtis Granderson - wrestling fan!Â
Granderson, incidentally, lists King Booker and D-X as his current favorites, along with old school mainstays such as WWE Hall of Famer (the late) Junkyard Dog and the Ultimate Warrior. “I would have to say that I am one of the King’s loyal subjects,� noted Granderson.
Flame-throwing reliever Zumaya (no, not flame-throwing like the Original Sheik, wrestle-heads, flame-throwing as in his pitches have been clocked as high as 103 mph) has fiercely defended those who would dare slag pro wrestling as “fake� or – worse – nothing more than a male soap opera.
“I think those are people who need to get a life. It’s entertainment. It’s their jobs to do that and entertain us, and it takes a lot of guts. Just like us. We entertain people in baseball. Those (wrestlers) can get hurt out there; quite a few of them got hurt in WrestleMania . . I’m a big wrestling fan. I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was a kid. I’ve never been to an event but going to a main event like that was just breathtaking,â€? said Zumaya, noting the Undertaker as his favorite. “Just because he is crazy, man. He’s nuts and he’s a phenom of wrestling. All of the tattoos he has and all that stuff and his music and all that, he’s crazy. That is something I have inside of me, too. I have that craziness inside of me.â€?
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For more on the link between baseball and wrestling, click here!
Mr. Mal Occhio would like to thank The Heckler of www.BaseballBigMouth.com for use of the Curtis Granderson photo. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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