MID SOUTH WRESTLING

Neal Pollard

My foray into the world of “pro wrestling” was relatively brief.  My buddies, especially the Jones brothers–Steve, David, and Michael, loved it and we would watch it together some Saturdays on a fledgling cable station known as TBS or on a local channel (we lived in Cairo, Georgia, which meant we picked up stations airing in Tallahassee, Florida).  The biggest and best of these programs was “Mid South Wrestling.”  It was there I saw such heroes and villains as Dusty Rhodes, Ole Anderson, the Great Kabuki, Wahoo McDaniel, Terry Funk, Sgt. Slaughter, Ivan Koloff, the Fabulous Freebirds, the Junkyard Dog, Ted Dibiase, and Bam Bam Gordy.  As my friend, Matt Cain, put it, “It was a male soap opera.”  As a grade-schooler, I was hooked (or held in a camel clutch).

The ritual was to watch the highly professional, flawlessly executed moves on these musclebound icons, then try to duplicate it.  The problem was that I was not as agile as these larger than life stars, and more than once I received a debilitating foot to the stomach or an armbar, a half nelson, or a face rake that pretty well shut down the match.  It was my wise mother who eventually convinced me that what I was watching on TV was a little less than authentic.  I was shocked, but ultimately came to believe her.  Pretty soon, Major League Baseball and college football replaced my fascination with those toothless, flabby athletes I had so admired.

More than once in life, we will be disillusioned.  We will think something or someone is the “real McCoy” only to learn differently.  People we held up as heroes will transform into goats.  People who guided and influenced us will be discovered in a situation that offsets the great good they had done.  This can even happen to us within the Lord’s church, whether locally or regarding some well known preaching brother.

While man may always disappoint us, there are some things we can always count on being authentic.  The Bible, the promises of God, the “divine design” for the church, the cross of calvary, the hope of heaven, the power of prayer, providence, the perfection of Deity, and the like will forever stand.  We can count on all of this, though it is all based on substantial faith (cf. Heb. 11:1).  We do not leap blindly in the dark, though we walk by faith rather than sight (2 Cor. 5:7).  “The arm of flesh will fail you,” but not the Almighty hand of God!  As long as you live you will continue to be disappointed, but not by our Father.  Hold to God’s unchanging hand!