The Grand Debut

I’m currently sitting in the hospital waiting for the birth of my first child. My wife and I couldn’t be happier, but we are obviously scared and nervous. We may never have this parenting thing figured out, but I know we will put in our best efforts possible for our little girl.

I’ve been thinking who will she more closely resemble – her mom or me? What will her interests be? If she’s anything like her dear, old dad, she’ll grow up watching two things on a regular basis: Penn State football and professional wrestling. I don’t look to push anything onto my child that she doesn’t like, but maybe one day she’ll take an interest.

I grew up in the Monday Night War watching both Raw and Nitro whenever I could. I saw the transformation of Sting and the creation of the New World Order (happy 25th anniversary). I witnessed the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. After WCW went down, I found myself stuck with WWE until discovering TNA and being hooked on Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels.

I saw the other side of Christian Cage while I could still cheer on my childhood favorite Sting. Eventually, I dropped out of wrestling until a good friend of mine introduced me to Ring of Honor in 2015. I tuned in just in time to see Jay Lethal win the ROH World Championship, an accomplishment well deserved and long overdue. I found New Japan shortly thereafter because of Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega.

Today, I get my weekly WWE TV reports from Dave Meltzer and try not to miss any AEW or ROH in between a crazy work schedule while catching up on New Japan.

Does my daughter know what she might be getting herself into?

With today’s streaming platforms, it’ll be easy to show her the glory days of Hulkamania and the Four Horsemen. Will she react to the guitar riffs of Bret Hart or the Ultimate Warrior? Will she be scared of The Undertaker like I once was?

Enough about the past – what might she grow up on?

The mouthy MJF who knows how to play the biggest heel possible. The GOATs that are Jericho, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jay Lethal. Kazuchika Okada holding onto the IWGP Heavyweight Title for another two years? Or does another shining star in “Switchblade” Jay White conquer all of Japan once again?

She can see the brilliance of promos from the likes of Kingston, Moxley and Dem Boys from Sandy Fork, DE. She can see the excellence that is a company run by billionaire Tony Khan and backed by wrestlers like The Young Bucks, Cody, Brandi and Omega. A true promotion by the wrestlers, for the wrestlers.

In the future, great performers like Jungle Boy, Scorpio Sky, Darby Allin, Jonathan Gresham and Brody King could be her champion. She will probably one day be very nice and very evil like Danhausen (but no swearing). She can have a “Role Model” to look up to, but if we ever move to Florida, maybe Britt Baker could become her dentist, too.

I promise to love my girl with all my heart. I promise to support her no matter what walk of life she wants to take and whatever her interests are. If she wants to join me in this crazy fandom of pro wrestling, that’s excellent. But if she doesn’t want to, then that’s fine, too.

The point of this is having my first child is easily going to be the most intimidating thing I’ll ever do. Wrestling has provided relief and an escape my entire life, and I’ll be relying on it all those sleepless nights. If she just so happens to enjoy it, too, then that’s a perk of fatherhood.

I can’t wait for her grand debut, her first words, her first steps, her first day of school and beyond. If her classmates give her any grief for her dad being a wrestling fan, she’ll have to lay the smackdown. And I’ll have to tell them the truth: she’s better than you and you know it!