I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks. I’ve been feeling trapped in my own head and dealing with a lot of heavy, negative thoughts about myself. Truthfully I haven’t really gotten better, but I tend to turn toward writing when I’m in the midst of such breakdowns. This piece was inspired by my recent mental spiral and written in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. Here are five WWE moments that made me cry.
Honorable Mention: The Shield’s breakup and last ride
To say that the Shield meant a lot to me is an understanding. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and the former Dean Ambrose came around at a very dark time in my life. I was stressed out from the transition to college, had just been diagnosed with depression and had not yet figured out how to cope with it, and I was planning to take my own life. But somehow these guys being on my television gave me enough hope and strength to keep going. I often say that if I hadn’t gone to that random WWE house show and gotten to see them live for the first time, I might not be here right now.
When Rollins betrayed his brothers, I cried angry tears. How could he do such a thing?! I guess that’s the power of good storytelling. When the Shield had their last match, I cried again. I’m happy that Mox is happy and thriving but I know we’ll hear that SHIELD intro again at a future Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Roman Reigns’ leukemia returns
On that fateful August night in 2018, I settled in for Raw with a small snack as always. And you know what? I don’t even know if I finished that snack. When Reigns came out to the ring in his street clothes, I knew something was wrong. I’ve seen my fair share of title relinquishments due to injuries, but this was something entirely different. A cancer announcement. Injuries usually have timetables for recovery. Cancer does not. At that moment, a bunch of different questions came to my mind. What if Roman never got healthy enough to return to the ring? Or worse, what if he died? I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t watch wrestling for almost a month.
Thankfully, Reigns beat leukemia once again. Honestly, it was probably the happiest and most united I had seen the wrestling fandom in a long time. And he himself seems happy and healthy nowadays as well.
Chyna’s death
Technically this moment didn’t happen under the WWE banner as Chyna had long since separated from the company when she passed, but I associate her with WWF/E so I feel like this fits in with the list. I remember seeing the notification on my phone and not believing it. I thought it was one of those celebrity death hoaxes that people love spreading on social media. Then I found out it was real and I sad for the rest of the day, struggling to save face through classes and study groups while grieving for a woman I didn’t actually know.
Chyna meant a lot to me as a young girl watching wrestling. She didn’t have the conventionally attractive female body type; she was tall and muscular, but men still found her attractive. I also enjoyed watching her toss around the men sometimes. I’m really glad she was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Streak is broken
To this day, I think that the decision to end the Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak was dumb. I feel that the Undertaker should’ve retired with his Streak unbroken. It was such a cool, legendary piece of wrestling history and I think Vince McMahon just wanted to add some shock value to the match. Also Taker got a concussion in the first ten minutes of the match and the whole thing went downhill after that. He would also go on to have a few other less than stellar matches after teasing retirement, but that’s a topic for a later discussion.
This moment is looked upon with fondness because I’m pretty sure my freshman year roommate thought I was insane when I was lying on our dorm room in floor in tears over a wrestling match. We may have even had that dreaded “you know it’s fake, right?” conversation but I was barely paying attention to her.
Edge is forced to retire
I may have mentioned this before, but I lived in Japan for several years and there was a video store not too far from my house and they always got new movies/DVDs on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, I’d stop by the store after school to check out the new wrestling DVD selections. I remember picking up Edge’s DVD: A Decade of Decadence and proceeding to watch the entire thing once I’d gotten home. I loved Edge and I was looking forward to seeing him wrestle live again whenever I got back stateside. Unfortunately he would be forced to retire just three short years later.
Wrestlers coming out in street clothes is such a crapshoot. They could be coming out to cut a scathing promo but many times, street clothes means bad news. In this case, I already had tears in my eyes as Edge recounted the numerous injuries that had ultimately led to his early retirement. But hey, 2020 gave us Edge returning in the Royal Rumble match!
Eddie Guerrero’s death
When I was really getting into wrestling, Eddie Guerrero stood out with his charisma, high-flying moves, spectacular cars, and catchy theme. I really enjoyed watching him wrestle and quickly got attached to the storyline romance between him and Chyna. When he passed, I felt a deep sadness. It was a little confusing because of course, I had never known Eddie Guerrero in person. I was a young child when he passed as well and I think that this may have been one of the first times, a celebrity that I knew and cared about had died.
It is amazing how much honor and respect many fans and wrestlers continue to show Eddie Guerrero in the years since his death. He inspired a whole generation of wrestlers that continue to wow us today.
