BRAWL OUT

The January 22 episode of AEW Dynamite opened with not one, but TWO, of my favorite tropes in professional wrestling. The first being the pure manic joy of the “good guys v bad guys” brawl and the second being the classic “enemies to allies” story arc.

When it comes to the pro wrestling brawl, few are more famous than the 1979 Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl, which has gained near mythical status among wrestling fans. What started as a simple tag team match between Memphis legends (and frequent “enemies to allies”) Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee and Larry Latham and Wayne Ferris, soon spilled over into the concession stand area of the small Tupelo, MS arena where the match took place. And what happened next is four or so of the most chaotic and influential minutes in wrestling history.

If you believe the legends—and isn’t it always more fun to believe the legends—the Concession Stand Brawl directly influenced the “hardcore” style of wrestling popularized in the 90s by Paul Heyman’s ECW and inspired several young viewers to become pro wrestlers themselves.

THE 90s CHANGED EVERYTHING

Despite existing in some fashion since the earliest decades of the 1900s, the sport of professional wrestling reached its zenith of popularity in the 1990s when stars like Stone Cold Steven Austin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Nash, Bret Hart, Chyna, Goldberg, and others transcended the ring and left an indelible mark on pop culture. A mark that inspired the careers of several of the professional wrestlers we watch on our screens today—professional wrestlers like those at the heart of the Jan 22 AEW brawl, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay.

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY, SOMETHING SOMETHING…

Historically, Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega have hated one another. That’s not to say anything about how the two men feel about each other off screen. I don’t know anything about that. But in character, Ospreay and Omega are old enemies. When Omega was the “ace” of New Japan—a Japanese wrestling term for the “top wrestler” in the company—Ospreay was the guy in his rear view. Ospreay at the time portrayed the character of a brash, arrogant, reckless, and electrifying risk-taker. He wrestled an almost identical style to Omega, who had once been the same brash and arrogant young gun, but was now holding court as the elite of the elite in New Japan. Across multiple years and companies, their enmity reached a fever pitch, culminating in the ultimate betrayal—Kenny Omega’s long-time father figure and mentor, Don Callas, betrayed Kenny and joined forces with Ospreay.

This played out briefly on television before tragedy struck the real person behind one of the characters—Omega was diagnosed with diverticulitis, a disease that kept him out of the ring for over a year and almost ended his career. And in that time, Don Callas did the same thing to Will Ospreay that he’d done to Kenny Omega—he betrayed him in favor of Ospreay’s mentee, the younger, flashier, prettier Kyle Fletcher. Wrestling is so cunty.

PRODIGAL SON VS. TOXIC DADDY

So, fully healed from his surgery and cleared to compete once again, Omega returns triumphantly to AEW television and finds Ospreay in the same position Omega himself used to be in—betrayed by Don Callas in an effort to update to the newer, more exciting model. He’s still out for revenge on Callas, but when it comes to Ospreay he mostly has an attitude that vacillates between “Fuck you” and “I told you so.” That sets the stage for the January 22 episode of Dynamite, which opens with Ospreay appealing to Omega to join forces in order to enact revenge on the sugar daddy who kicked them both to the curb.

Ospreay tries to convince Omega that he’s changed, that he’s learned his lesson, that he’s seen the error of his ways, but the moment Kenny challenges that, Ospreay loses it, lashes out, and chases Omega from the ring. It’s at this moment that Callas and his “family” attack, going after Omega and—GASP!—his recently surgically repaired abdomen. At first, Ospreay is content to let Omega rot, but quickly the better angels of his nature win out and he charges from the ring to save the man who was once his bitter rival.

What happens from that moment on is a joyous display of chaotic, heroic violence, With Omega and Ospreay turning the tide against Callas’s family and their superior numbers through sheer force of will. They battle around the entrance way, they tumble off the ramp, and then, in a glorious moment of human symmetry, Omega and Ospreay perform moonsaults to Callas’s goons (and a cadre of security guards [ACAB]); one from the stands, another from a lighting truss, both over ten feet in the air. It was INCREDIBLE. And when it was over, Omega and Ospreay scaled that lighting truss together and Omega cut an incredible, earnest, and heartfelt promo about the power of forgiveness and about joining forces to face an evil greater than themselves.

There will be no shortage of hyperbole in this newsletter, dear reader, but I assure you I (probably) mean it when I say this—this is my favorite brawl in pro wrestling history. Not just because it was an epic feat of athletic symmetry and live sports editing, but because of the story it told.

WHEN WE FIGHT WE WIN

If you’ve been in leftist circles for any amount of time at all, you’ve likely felt frustration at the difficulty we have with organizing around a central message and strategy. While fascists of various political ideologies and socioeconomic backgrounds seem to have no problem allying themselves around all the horrifying ways they can dream up to make our lives a living hell, we sometimes struggle coming to a consensus on which toppings to get on the pizzas we’re ordering for the community action meeting. (Just get Cheese. Everyone likes Cheese.)

As I’m writing this, healthcare organizations around the country are cancelling gender affirming care appointments for children. Republican “lawmakers” are attempting to repeal marriage inequality. The CDC is being ordered to scrub all references to Queer and Transgender people from official scientific documents. Fascism is no longer a possibility to intellectualize about, it is here and it is real and it is dangerous. And as I, a neurospicy, pansexual, genderqueer, polyamorous, chronically ill person think about what the future looks like, I find myself thinking a lot about Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay and how they figured out how to unite against a common enemy.

Now, before you jump to any conclusions, I’m not asking you to “look for common ground” with Republicans, support neoliberal “Democrats”, or break bread with your racist uncle. What I am suggesting is that we, the people who have been in this fight for our whole lives—let’s call ourselves the “Kenny Omega” of this analogy—try to recognize the value in people who feel like they’ve just woken up to this reality and are trying to help, even if, in the past, we kind of thought they were pretty naive—the “Will Ospreays”, if this analogy weren’t abundantly clear.

But, and this is honestly more important, if you see yourself reflected at all in the Will Ospreay side of this arc, then I want you to work to dismantle a lot of preconceived notions you might have about the people and the coalitions on the left that have been doing this work and fighting this fascist machine for years.

I want you to reach beyond the banal “inclusivity” of Disney putting a Queer kid in a Marvel movie and instead find the organizations who are helping Queer kids access the care—mental and physical—they need right now. I want you to listen to sex workers and adult industry professionals when they tell you the surveillance techniques used to police their (very real) jobs (that deserve respect and fair pay) will be turned on you and your community next. They are and have always been the canary in the coal mine. I want you to become closer with the coworkers you know you can trust and I want you to look for ways to organize with them. Your labor is power and withholding it is one of the most “Kenny Omega moonsaulting off a lighting truss” ass things you can do. I want you to commit to learning something, anything, new. It can be a skill, a piece of history, an instrument, or just your neighbor’s favorite food. Knowledge is a blade that cannot be blunted.

I want you to be patient with people who have been in this fight longer than you, I want you to listen, I want you to learn. And if you need any help doing any of those things, I want you to ask for it. Ask me, ask your neighbors, ask your friends, ask your family, ask anyone you trust.

This is going to suck (it already does), it’s going to be difficult (it already is), and it’s going to take all of us. But if Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay can come together for the greater good, I’ve got all the faith in the world that we can too.

PLACES TO PUT YOUR MONEY RIGHT NOW

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