For over a century now, professional wrestling has given spectators and fans worldwide a platform to voice their opinions and choose their idols and heroes, and conversely, choose their villains and anti-heroes.

For anyone who has ever seen the A&E channel’s “The Unreal Story of Pro Wrestling” piece from the late-’90s, there is a quote in there about the psychological impact of pro wrestling as a catharsis for the average person in modern society, offering a conduit to purge the soul through the role of the “face” or “heel” counterparts in any given wrestling match.  Pro wrestling is the last bastion of living folklore in a world that has arguably forgotten their heritage and roots, especially in the day and age of multi-culturalism, TV and film.

In pro wrestling, the viewer or fan is compelled to pick a side, living vicariously through the protagonist as they battle against the antagonist, and thereby being able to dispel any possible antipathies or angst that they might have.  It’s one of the last, great open forums of unconstrained and uncensored debate in today’s increasingly politically correct environment, where free speech is being drawn back and slowly, but surely, eradicated.

World culture and the media slant these days pushes the message hard that we must all be tolerant and “just get along”, as has been seen in Europe of late with the mass influx of refugees flooding the continent, along with current hot topics, such as transgender toilets in public schools and other institutions.  This same pitch has also crossed moral and ethical boundaries, with the gay rights and LGBT movement aggressively moving forward through Hollywood and TV culture at large, where formerly-noted minority groups are now not only given a regular platform, but they are pushed into the faces of everyone at large, whether you agree with it or not.  And you, regardless of your personal beliefs, are supposed to simply stand there and “accept” it.  Be tolerant.  Silently agree.  But don’t you dare publicly disagree!  Because if you do, the masses, who have largely been programmed by the media at large to think a certain way, will blackball you and ruin your good name!  Yeah, this is the paranoia and spirit of the day that we have arrived at.  People are damn afraid to speak anything that isn’t in line with the generally-accepted thought of the day.

The great thing about pro wrestling is that we all don’t have to simply “just get along”.  No, if you have a differing opinion than the person sitting next to you, you are free to voice that opinion loud and proud.  You can boo and cheer who you want!  You can freely choose a side to stand on.  Whatever resonates with your values system, you can pick that side and roll with it.  Let the warring parties fight it out in the ring and back whichever one tickles your fancy!

The “babyface”, or “face”, has traditionally been the good guy in pro wrestling jargon.  They represent the noble, honorable virtues and morals held to be true.  The “heels”, on the other hand, represent the bad guys.  They have traditionally been the unscrupulous bastards, who are only in business for themselves and they use the collective sentiment of the given day as their personal roll of toilet paper.

Now, all this brings me to a promo that I held yesterday at Helsinki’s Pressa Club during FCF Wrestling’s Wrestling Show Live! event, after transgender fan favorite Jessica Love and Finnish wrestling veteran Stark Adder proved victorious in a tag team outing.  I took the mic and proceeded to cut a verbal message to Jessica Love, who is my counterpart in just about every conceivable way, and also happens to be my main antagonist in this summer’s theater release of Spandex Sapiens, the movie about my life and pro wrestling travels around the globe.  While Spandex Sapiens is not a wrestling movie in and of itself, showcasing a much wider array of topics and meat on the bone besides pro wrestling, it does serve as a very open platform over the polarizing discussion of modern, overt liberalism vs. old school, conservative values.

This morning, when I opened my Facebook, I saw a private message for a certain wrestling fan asking why I opted to go heel yesterday.  I simply sat back, amused at this estimation.

Since when did standing for traditional values become a negative thing and something to be frowned upon?  Since when did being a real man, in the most traditional sense – standing for solid, unmoving principles – become a heelish thing to do?  Maybe I’m the one missing the boat here, but I just don’t get it.

I have not changed my views, opinions or message during my entire pro wrestling and media career.  Since 1999, when I first began getting media exposure to a larger degree, I have kept the same image and approach, regardless of what has been “in”, “hip” or “pop” at any given period in time.  I have stemmed the tide, stayed the course, and been consistent.  I have not wavered or changed my tune because of deriding opinions or attacks on my character.  Even back in 2006, when my Stoner Kings band released our Fuck The World album, I/we got blasted by certain medias and people, who completely shat all over our piece of business, but even then, I stood my ground and stood tall.  Nothing has changed.  In my estimation, this the measure of a man.  Say what you mean, and mean what you say.  Stand for what you believe in, regardless of who is against you or whatever is the popular consent of the day.

In the last Rambo movie from 2008, Sly Stallone’s John Rambo character summed up the message of the film in one, single, iconic line: “Die for nothing, or live for something.”

Me personally, I have done just that.  I have stood for traditional, masculine values in an ever-changing world and vastly convoluted age.  I have offered the iconic view of masculine forte, for better or worse.  It’s been the kind of prototype that kids could look up to, as I have heard several parents attest to.  I believe the man is the head of the household, the one that leads the dance with the girl, the one that takes charge and carries his own responsibility and stands like a rock for what he believes in.  Take it or leave it!  I make no apology.

So therefore, I come back to my promo regarding Jessica Love and the theater debut of my story, Spandex Sapiens, on June 17 this summer across Finland and Sweden.  Yeah, right up here in this neck of the woods, where PC thought reigns supreme and the gospel of tolerance of all kinds is espoused over and beyond reason.  And I find it peculiar, that my movie comes out just before Pride Week in Finland, where the exact demographic that “heels” on my kind of beliefs and traditional values will have it’s annual day in the sun.

Jessica Love represents everything that Pride Week is about.  Jessica is the perfect posterboy/girl/person for the LGBT community and exudes the liberal sentiment of our current state of society, especially here in the Nordics.  In pro wrestling, especially for fans in the southern, capital region of Finland, along with a plethora of Swedes in cities like Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm, all find Jessica Love to be a sympathetic “babyface” to rally behind.  Indeed, you would be hard-pressed to find a more complete opposite of myself than Jessica Love.

So this summer, take a stand.  Choose a side!  If you believe in the man being the head of the house, and still believe that a man must be king in his own home, leading the charge and taking responsibility, standing where others fall, then I welcome you to my side.  Stand with me and represent classic, traditional masculinity!  If the Russel Crowe movie The Gladiator rang bell with you, then my call goes out to you!

If you vehemently oppose my train of thought or simply cannot stomach traditional societal roles, then I welcome you to join the opposing side with Jessica Love, where the colors of the rainbow shine brightly.

If being a real man in the classic, iconic, traditional sense makes StarBuck a heel, then so be it.  I have no misgivings and no regrets.

Get your tickets to Spandex Sapiens around the country at Finnkino theates HERE.  It all starts on June 17!!!

On Friday, June 17, the day that Spandex Sapiens hits Finnkino movie theaters across Finland, there will also be a huge pro wrestling one day festival outdoors in downtown Helsinki in front of Tennispalatsi Finnkino theater.  Matches will start at 12:00 noon, with a series of three matches at the top of every hour, until 20:00 when the main event and apropo theme of the Spandex Sapiens movie takes place, as I wrestle against Jessica Love in the last slot of this eight-hour-plus action extravaganza!  Plus, remember folks, outdoors it’ll be free to the public!