From Stephen Platinum:
“Once More Unto the Breach” is from Shakepere’s Henry V. It is King Henry urging his troops to take control of a town by force. That’s not as interesting as what that phrase inspires in me. I think of it as a personal request. Do this thing again.
Beyond the Tipping Point podcast I do with Larry Goodman that’s been going for around eight years, and the Georgia Wrestling History Awards that I’ve helped make the epicenter of accomplishment inspiring camaraderie, crying, and more false declarations that people “don’t care” (it is heartwarming to know how many actually do) I haven’t really been involved in pro wrestling for a very long time.
Larry asked me when’s the last time I commentated. That would likely be Sacred Ground: Chapter Three.
Do I still dispense advice? Sure. A small stint helping to run a locker room here and there, or doing the literal and figurative dirty work at a promotion? Yeah.
But I haven’t done it. Haven’t been a booker, or promoter, or talent. Not gotten on that horse, lowered my visor, and tilted at the windmill of pro wrestling in a real way. Don Quixote, another book that makes more sense the older I get.
That is until I put my availability out there, and he asked. He wrestles as DMC, and his name is Marquis Carter. Normally, I’d hate it. A wrestler who thinks he knows better on how to run a show, so he’s doing it. The purity of Ivory soap is the percentage of promotions that fail under this premise. But Clash of the Culture and The Establishment tick all the marks for me. I have preached long and loud for over thirty years (first time I have done the math in a long time - THIRTY YEARS) that it starts with a vision, and Marquis has a great one. Then, the hard part - selling that vision. And oh, he has. From my safe perch from which I peer, I see that people around him believe. I see that he doesn’t show the ugly fraying of bitterness that has taken root in most everyone in wrestling - the whining about wrestlers not sharing fliers, the endless braying of advice and what people need to do, should do. Marquis shows, not tells. Leads by example.
I put it out there privately. I’d want to commentate. And he asked at last.
So Saturday I am there. Taking a break from the more than 80 hours of working each and every week. Sure I am working this morning, then overnight, but I’ll get a few hours of sleep and be at 930 International Drive in Lake Mary, Florida. I’ll commentate for two separate shows.
I told my kids about it. I assumed they wouldn’t want to be there. They’ve been around wrestling their whole lives. Their interest in it is passing at best at this point (thank goodness.) They won’t be bookers or talent or whatever in the future (thank goodness.) But they want to be there. Not sure why. Almost afraid to ask. I suspect it’s because they want to see me as I used to be.
And frankly, so do I. I have three jobs right now. One is on the definitive upswing. Been there for years, and they’ve got me doing stuff in the restaurant industry I’m good at. Prepping. Making things. Coming up with the fastest and the bestest way. The overnight job is a grind. But a money making one where I perform, I figure out ways to make money, where I connect with people. The new gig? It’s humbling. Working all places on a line in the kitchen for the first time continually reminds me that I have a whole lot to learn. I’m now 52 as of two weeks ago, and being put in a position to learn things anew is exciting as it is exasperating.
I need to remind myself that Stephen Platinum has things he does well. And talk about wrestling, surf the ebbs and flows of a crowd, knowing when to speak and when not to, guiding towards a story and letting the audience know directly and the boys and office know indirectly - this thing I am talking about matters, it deserves their attention, and it is a vision manifest.
Here’s the real. I’m doing this because I think DMC is a great talent. I’m doing this because Marquis is smart. I’m doing this because Clash of the Culture and The Establishment seem to have that elusive “cool” that I’ve chased and tried to embody in some form or fashion since I was old enough to prefer one thing to another for reasons that I couldn’t quite define.
I’m also doing it for a very selfish, very private reason I will share with you now.
I knew I wasn’t going to be a wrestler in the big time - never going to be in the (then) WWF as a wrestlers, never in WCW as a wrestler, never going to even be in ECW or ROH as a wrestler. But a commentator that could take a hellacious bump? I could do that. It’s what I privately wanted (and expressed to then Kevin Kelly when they plucked my VHS tryout tape out of a pile and contacted me, but that’s another story) but I never said it outwardly, publicly, in a way that could have forced accountability. Well, I’m saying it now. I am a great wrestling commentator, and unique wrestling commentator, and I’m going to show that I am as good and a damn sight better than most everyone doing it now.
I have a Masters Degree in English, Creative Writing emphasis. I was pursuing a PhD in the same before I joined the pro wrestling circus. Shakespeare was a big part of everything back then. Now I’m more inclined to quote and paraphrase a messy perfect movie like “A Knight’s Tale.” In short, I’m doing this because when I look at Marquis and his promotion his men and women love him. If I knew nothing else about him, that would be enough. But he also tilts when he should withdraw, and that is knightly, too. And so I’m jumping back in by his grace and request, and I’m not coming here just to feel a part of something bigger, not just to relive old glories or feel the warmth of reflected light, but to win. To be great. To show everyone that I am better, nay the best. I am informing my opponents of it.
Look for my shield on the lists at once.
