In a span of 24 hours last weekend, I had the pleasure of calling the fourth round of the 1A state playoffs and suit up to announce the stars of Georgia Championship Wrestling.
Quite the stark contrast, but running my mouth is one of the rare things in life I’m good at.
I often joke that my dream job is to be a sports broadcaster – but, somehow, I have been in newsprint for most of my journalistic career. Along the way, though, I have been able to dabble in broadcasting, and between Georgia and North Carolina have commentated on everything from youth basketball tournaments to varsity football games. It takes a certain wealth of knowledge to take on such an arduous task, as the viewers/listeners count on you to keep them apprised of each and every play.
Sort of like ring announcing.
As a lifelong professional wrestling fan, it was another dream to ring announce for a living. Identifying the muscular characters as they approach the squared circle and the stakes at hand in each bout is germane to getting the product “over,” one of many terms used in the business to articulate if something is successful.
My first venture between the ropes took place some 13 years – and 40 pounds – ago. A recreation center in Woodstock, Ga., was the setting. I strutted to the ring wearing a patented black, short-sleeve dress shirt and khakis, climbed inside the ring to get the crowd warmed up and … my microphone did not work.
Already a bundle of nerves, I did what I had to do; I shouted. The rowdy crowd was non-too-forgiving of that. Around the third bout, the microphone mysteriously started working. It turns out the sound engineer had unplugged the wireless system to charge their cell phone.
Priorities.
Anyway, my initial stint lasted four years and spanned countless counties throughout north and central Georgia, as well as a gig in suburban Chattanooga.
But the itch remained. There’s something about the adulation you get from making a crowd cheer – even though they know it’s all “entertainment.” So when my friend Chris Nelms posted on Facebook earlier this year that he and a business partner were reviving the old TBS staple, “Georgia Championship Wrestling,” I wanted in. The spectacle that is Georgia Championship Wrestling runs in a rather-unassuming building in Buckhead (not that one, trust me). Held inside a former schoolhouse that has been converted into a modern-day skating rink, the monthly shows draw anywhere between 100-200 fans.
For yours truly, it’s a three-hour trip on U.S. 441 South and takes me through Franklin, Clayton, Cornelia, Commerce and Athens (go Dawgs). Often, I end up being the nicest-dressed “worker” on the show (one oblivious fan asked me in June why I was wearing a suit at a wrestling show), but when “bell time” hits at 7 p.m. and the Georgia Championship Wrestling theme blares over the sound system (wireless microphone system fully secured in an outlet) and I march to the ring, the ovation is intoxicating.
Yes, they identify me as the ring announcer, but they are cheering because they know the show is about to begin.
A single halogen spotlight illuminates the 16x16 spectacle (sound familiar, Robbinsville wrestling fanatics?) and for at least two hours, a wide array of superstars put on an athletic exhibition for the folks that have paid their hard-earned money for some family friendly fun. The good guys (babyfaces) do not always prevail over the baddies (heels), and despite the audience participation that informs the often-misguided referee of the outside shenanigans that prove costly to the hero, the decision often stands as is.
So, what makes the publisher/editor/sports writer for The Graham Star spend one Saturday a month on the road in what many decry as a “fake” (which is most certainly is not) sport?
Passion. I had the same nervous adrenaline rush Saturday that I had in 2008 before I walked through the curtain. The same one I get when I hit the “live” button from the press box under the Big Oaks and turn the microphone volume up to begin a local broadcast.
Kevin Hensley is publisher/editor for The Graham Star. His voice began to soften after announcing the winner of Saturday’s “Bunkhouse Stampede” in Buckhead, Ga., but should recover nicely in time for the 1A Western Regional Final.
Pending state approval, of course.