What Makes You Think You're So Tough?

We're all small, weak, defenseless, compared to something or somebody.  We can lose sight of that fact when we're the big fish in a small pond.  The biggest part of being a man is not being top of the heap.  The biggest part of being a man is, when you are top of the heap, you start scouting out some bigger heap to climb and subdue.  It's pretty much the opposite of a woman's nesting instinct.  Men, and I know I generalize, the better sort of men, anyway, tend to seek escape from their comfort zone.

In Krush vs. the Street Punk, Underground Wrestling 63, Krush has come across this kid who has apparently not yet met somebody who could tear his shit up.  Maybe this fact had started him to thinking he was invincible.  Thin, pasty-skinned kid, 1950s close-cropped hair, but scrappy, wiry, game for anything--not hard to look at either.  But I like to think this kid was man enough to find the idea of invincibility boring after a while, didn't want to settle for a life without challenge, so he set out in search of it.  He found Krush.  Whether he knew it or not, whether he liked it or not, what he needed was Krush.  Krush could show him his limits.

Despite his moniker, Street Punk is no heel.  He is tough, yeah, but he shows respect and a certain degree of deference to Krush.  He looks up to him and asks his advice.  You have to wonder what kind of balls are on this kid to even step on the mat with the big bruiser.  I sure as hell wouldn't, and I'm bigger than the kid.  Street Punk doesn't hold back either--he likes, really likes, to deliver savage jabs to the ribs and back--and Krush doesn't hold back paying him back savage tit for savage tat.  The action is fast and intense, a lot faster than most of Krush's matches--and if the kid has never come across someone as big and tough as Krush to bump up against, it's been a while since Krush has had to scramble the way this kid makes him scramble.

I was reminded of a scene in the movie 300, not a great movie, as I remember it, but one with a few indelible images, one of which was Leonidas wrestling with his son.  It was a sweet scene.  The king teaching the tiny prince how to fight, sure, but also, more important, teaching him to deal with an insurmountable challenge, exactly what, if you're one for noticing foreshadowing, Leonidas and his men were about to face at Thermopylae.  Why are insurmountable challenges important?  They teach us the most important lessons of manhood:  humility, integrity, resilience, and discipline.

It would be interesting to see what Street Punk would be like up against Lucien, another one of Krush's mat buddies, closer to the kid's size but still a considerable challenge.  But, for me, I'm hungry for a bit more of Krush and the Street Punk.  There are lessons to be learned here--and the Punk seems smart enough to want to learn them.