In the latest edition of Kashing in with KJ, I think back in 2016, when the mere thought of actually becoming a professional wrestler crossed my mind happened, I was terrified. I was not going to send those emails to these trainers, or promotions and I knew if I did, that I would be opening myself up to failure, or disappointment. I have started in the past, that realizing that the only way I would ever be disappointed, would be if never even tried. That would be the ultimate failure (even if I turned out to be a terrible wrestler). This is the power of support.
Over the last two years, I have had countless family members, and friends come to see a show. That support will always be remembered, I promise you. However, the one person who has been my biggest cheerleader since day one is my little sister. She has silently been the one who is always there. She doesn’t need to advertise her support, because she just does. That is our relationship. No matter how dumb we can be, we are the first to jump and stand up for the other.
I have had some literal day one friendship that happened on my first day of training. In turn, my sister was the person that actually made day one happen. A lot of people know I don’t show my emotions often, but with my sister, they are written on my sleeve. So when I came into her room that one December night, she immediately knew something was wrong. I sat on her bed for almost twenty minutes before I told her what I wanted to do. She told me to go get my computer, so I could email this promotion because there was no way she wasn’t letting me pass this up.
The Power of Support
So she sat with me while I nervously typed out some email that could pass as professional enough for some school to want to train me. I will be honest, if I didn’t mumble out to her that I was thinking of emailing this promotion, it may have never happened at all. Her exact words to me were “Don’t be such a little (insert imaginative word here), and just do this”. This idea in my head that I am training to become a professional wrestler was just our little secret for weeks. She was the only one who knew, and that I wanted to know. When it became time to tell some people what I was doing, I made sure she was there because there is no way I couldn’t have my littlest protector there.
For the first few weeks of training, I grew incredibly frustrated with my lack of progress. I would come home being completely exhausted, because I had worked 8 hours, went right to training for a few hours, worked out, and drove home. She would just scoot over, and ask if I wanted to watch Netflix with her.
Even though she can only make it to a match every other month or so, her unwavering support still shines through. Whenever I tell her it’s a big match, she makes sure to send me a short story about how great I am, and how proud she is. She just “knows” all the time. She knows when I need that kick in the butt, or when I just need a hug.
She Refuses to Boo Me
In the matches she does see in person, she refuses to boo me. No matter what I do, or who I wrestle, she told me she will never boo me. I remember this one show she came too, and this lady kept insulting me. Leah told me, “Do you have any idea how much self-restraint it took me to not trip her?” She will always take it personally, but that is okay, because I always say, “Any reaction is a good reaction”.
I have always said that wrestling was the first decision I had truly made for myself. I knew no one before I started, but I just knew I would regret not taking the first step. My little sister knows me sometimes better than myself, considering she knew I just needed that little push. That “little push” was the giant shove I didn’t know I wanted. I just wanted someone with good intentions, to tell me it was okay to take that chance.
So with this article, I just hope to shed a tiny bit of light on how easy it is to support someone in wrestling. I will never take it for granted. So thank you, baby sister. This was the power of support.
