Today marks 27 years since I started my in-ring, active professional wrestling career.
My first match was on January 7, 1994 at the Victoria Park Civic Center in Calgary, Canada. I worked against one of my coaches, Lance Storm, who went on to become a champion in ECW, WCW and WWE.
I recall how my good friend Chris Jericho, now with AEW, lent me a pair of his old tights that he wore alongside Lance in their tag team, Sudden Impact. Chris also gifted me my first pair of wrestling boots for that encounter, a pair of plain black ones, which I have somewhere in storage back in Canada to this day.
My match with Lance was seven minutes on the nose, and Lance pinned me after a competitive outing that I was afforded by hitting a jack-knife pin after a powerbomb. The guys in the dressing room clapped it up afterwards, including my other coach, Karl “Jason The Terrible” Moffat, Lenny St. Clair (AEW’s Luther), Beef Wellington, Jericho and others, claiming it was the second best match on the card that night. The top honors went to Beef Wellington vs. Chris Jericho in the main event.
So here’s to a look back at 27 years ago half a world away. Today, I run my own wrestling company, SLAM! Wrestling, in Finland and Estonia, as well as being an active wrestler at the age of 47, still able to pull 30-minute matches with ease.
Life is for living, so I embrace every day that the Good Lord gives me and I’m thankful for the 22 countries and four continents I’ve been able to ply my trade in, and thanks to all the bookers and promoters who made it possible!
(photos by Sam Leppänen, Sander Burmeister and Rob Haynes)
Today marks 26 years since my professional debut as a wrestler. I owe it to my coaches, Lance Storm (WWE, WCW, ECW), who is currently working for WWE as an agent, and Karl Moffat, who used to wrestle in the ’80s and ’90s as Jason the Terrible under a hockey mask (Stampede Wrestling, Capitol Sports Puerto Rico, All-Japan and New Japan Pro Wrestling), as they started me off right and gave me the mindset and tools to make it this far.
After 22 countries on four continents, coaching in seven countries worldwide since 2003 and being a champion and main event player the world over, I can only be grateful that my career is still rolling strong at the age of 46.
I’ve had setbacks and injuries, faced the challenges that age brings to the game, navigated through the shark-infested waters of wrestling politics and petty shenanigans, and steered the course so that here in 2020, I’m spearheading my own wrestling promotion, SLAM! Wrestling Finland, with operations in both Finland and Estonia, with much more to come.
I’m thankful to the Good Lord above, in whom I steadfastly trust as any credible rebel these days would, for giving me the health, longevity and blessing to extend an in-ring career and professional achievement that no one in the Nordics of Europe has yet to surpass.
Here’s to the future, and to the challenges and victories that lay ahead!
StarBuck at SLAM! Wrestling Finland Mega Launch, 22/3/2019 Helsinki (photo: Marko Simonen)
As I get older, I try to do the world around me some good and pass on the lessons I’ve learned in case some random souls out there have the ears to hear and a heart to understand. I believe it’s one of our obligations as human beings to give something back, to make our personal contribution count. So here goes, take the following as you wish. Hopefully there’s something in it that you can take with you and make yourself a better person with that gained knowledge.
I steadfastly believe in the adage “if the shoe fits, wear it.” (photo: Hannu Eskelinen)
HUSTLE (like your life depends on it)
The older you get, the more you both understand – and feel – life slipping away at an increasingly rapid rate. When you’re young, it feels like forever as you look ahead to your future. Waiting to hit legal age, waiting to finish college or university, waiting to find that right girl to spend your life with. It all feels so long. However, in retrospect, life goes by in a flash.
If there is one thing that I have learned here by my mid-40’s, it’s that you’ve gotta hustle. Boy, you have got to make your two cents count, for the time is frighteningly short. You have got to bust your ass and make the most out of every opportunity because most key opportunities only come by once in a lifetime. And living with regret is a bitch and half, let me assure you.
What’s Your Driver?
Nowadays, more than ever, we’ve got armchair quarterbacks galore sitting behind their computer screens living a virtual life of nil content. It’s stagnating, the sedentary prison of tech slavery that most of us have succumbed to. A friend of mine once said, ”If you look back at your life and ask yourself what have I been doing most in the past five years, and if your answer is sitting at a computer staring at a screen, you have seriously got to get yourself a life.” Truer words have seldom been spoken. And many of us need to really get busy finding that life of worth, value and meaning… especially in our age of tech gadgets, virtual reality, escapism and social media overload.
The bottom line is that the crucial thing that your self-respect and healthy ego hinges on is getting shit done. Period. You have to make your contribution count. You have to create value in order to feel valuable. You must put one foot in front of the other and make strides toward goal after goal in order to have a life of meaning. There is simply no other way. In order for this to happen, you must hustle and work toward achieving worthwhile goals of quality substance.
If you don’t have a driver in your life – that being an incessant need that pushes you to get shit done – you’ll simply stagnate, and that only leads to death. You cannot simply stagnate and just remain as is. No, stagnation will change you, and moreso, kill you. Like a limb left inside of a cast, you will atrophy mentally and spiritually, leading to another kind of death before your physical time is up. But in order to have a driver, you must first have a passion. Something you burn for. For a man without passion is a sorry individual, indeed. Just take an honest look at your own social circle and you’ll certainly see the drifters, the ones without aim, purpose or passion in their lives, and this point will become crystal clear. ‘Nuff said and point taken, I gander.
The thing that has driven me in my life is something as simple as the fear of mortality. I never asked for this life but now that I’m here, I’m damn well going to make the most of it. My motto is: before you know it, we’ll all be dead, so get busy!
Who the hell are we, anyway? Just another wayfarer on this earthly trek, another generation come and gone, returning to the dust from whence we came? Before that fateful day, I want to get a lot of meaningful things done and make this one and only life worth something, if for no one else, then for myself and the sake of my own self-worth, self-respect and sanity. If they write about me in the annals of world history, great. If not, so fucking what. What counts is that I personally will have had a life worth living, a life full of meaning, brimming with worthwhile content. Then, when one day it will be my time to give up the ghost, I can do so as a fulfilled man that went out and did all he could with the time that was given to him.
My Story
I was born to an immigrant preacher couple in Canada back in 1973. The doctors never gave my mother any hopes of having a child. Her womb was too small, they said. My father, ever the servant of the Lord and a minister to the bitter end, encouraged his wife to trust in God above. I am her only child, the son that was never to be, and so she called me Michael, after the arch angel in Scripture.
I was the outcast since childhood, shunned by other kids simply based on proxy: I was the preacher’s kid. I became the lone wolf, the one that took the path less trodden. I went out into my personal wasteland in order to die and be born again, to reach full manhood, with a clear, personal identity, in order to be something more than the status quo.
Thus, I followed what my heart burned for and became a professional wrestler – the closest thing to a real-life superhero that there is. Of all the vocations on the academic palette, pro wrestler wasn’t in there. Yet, I knew I didn’t want to be anything on the list offered. So pro wrestler it was. And more than that, I became the most accomplished professional wrestler in history to date out of Northern Europe. Yes, longevity-wise and contribution-wise, I arguably even eclipsed the late Tony ”Ludvig Borga” Halme of Finland, who worked briefly in WWE between 1993-1994. I became pro wrestling champion the world over, on several occasions, and I still grapple to this day, currently holding a version the German world heavyweight wrestling championship. I’ve coached up talent in six countries to date and I’ve headlined in many of the countries and promotions that I’ve worked in over the past 25 years of my in-ring career. So yeah, I’ve done pretty well for myself and it’s something I can be happy about.
Due to the immense passion that I’ve put into my personal piece of business, I’ve had an effective driver that has propelled me to the heights that I’ve achieved and enjoyed. The reason I can hold my head up is because I’ve done my due diligence and put the time in, and therefore through true achievement I can lay claim to healthy, strong ego and self-respect. Where others have quit, I’ve persisted and fought even harder. I don’t say this to boast, I say it to validate the point made.
Brother, I have hustled and gone the extra mile time and time again for the things that my heart has burned for. And I continue to hustle, because life still continues.
Get Busy!
Life is short, so get busy! Get off your Playstation and Pornhub and start doing something worthwhile. Don’t care what the naysayers and critics think. Don’t listen to their lack of faith and disparaging remarks as to your aspirations or your seemingly, overtly-ambitious, goals. The dogs will always bark as the caravan passes by, such is the nature of the world that we live in. Maybe your wife or girlfriend will bitch you out, thinking whatever you’ve put your heart to achieve is a waste of time. Maybe your family won’t understand if you jump out of the rat race to pursue your true ambitions. Maybe the world around you will hold you to be a fool. Don’t listen, filter it out. You have to know where you are headed. You and no one else. Don’t look for affirmation from the outside. Brother, you have got to know yourself! Get your shit – and your head – together.
You must add value on a constant, unending basis to your life in order to draw value to yourself in turn. Value always comes to value, be it on a micro or macro level, just as water always seeks its own level. If your contribution is valuable in the eyes of those around you – and I mean valuable in a way that no one can discredit or discount that value – you will be successful before long. Maybe not as fast as you’d like, but yes, you will find success. It’s the law of life, you reap what you sow. In the measure that you meet out it will be met to you, to quote the Good Book. And like Simon Sinek says: ”People don’t buy what you sell, they buy what you believe.”
A History of High Achievement
When you look back on your life, it’s not so much what you want them to say about you when you’re gone, it’s how you feel about the actual value of the life you’ve lived up till now. As long as there is breath in your body, it’s never too late to turn your ship around and start living a life of high value.
How does one live and engage in a life of high value? Simply, by pursuing high achievement.
Plain and simple, and especially as men, our self-worth, self-respect and self-value is directly hingent upon how much we feel that our contribution has been worth to those around us. This is where the self-serving, modern mindset fails in spades, as it cannot bring about value due to its selfish nature, which is all about me, me and more me. You absolutely must make it about others, about your contribution to the world around you, no matter the size of your social circle. The social mirror just works this way. It is what it is. You get what you give in the measure that you give.
Coming from a pro wrestling background myself, one of my biggest inspirations early on was a fairly famous wrestler from the 1980s named Tully Blanchard. Tully was most famous for being one of the original Four Horsemen in the mid-’80s and his name has thus gone down in grappling lore. One of Tully’s most famous promo quotes was: ”Be whatever you wanna be, just be the BEST.” That’s something that has stuck with me all these years. Just choose to be as damn good as you can be at whatever endeavor you apply yourself to. Have that amount of personal pride in your doings. Don’t settle for second best. Be a leader, be an alpha.
Motion creates emotion, it’s an old adage and wisdom at that. You cannot feel good about yourself unless you actually do something to justify feeling good. That’s why drugs and alcohol fail to achieve this end. Dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin simply don’t just get triggered by any random thing. The reward center of the brain is geared to release ”feelgood hormones” only after the justifiable effort has first been put in. Of course, you can sabotage your dopamine levels, for example, through indulging in porn, playing the slot machines or winning at Playstation, but none of those will create fulfillment for you. True fulfillment comes through successful accomplishment, even winning smaller battles along the way, long before the war is ever even over.
The world today is handicapped and plagued by the social sedation brought on by technology and the virtual addictions that come with it. Simply reasoned, people today are less fulfilled than ever, due to the fact that they simply achieve very little outside of the immersion of virtual reality. Watching TV, Netflix, movies and YouTube won’t make you feel fulfilled. Playstation and gamer culture won’t make you feel fulfilled. Engaging with yourself while watching porn won’t make you feel fulfilled. The drought in your spirit won’t go away unless you feed it with meaningful, tangible action. So get busy.
To Sum It Up
In closing, ask yourself one, simple question: ”If I were to die tomorrow, what will have my life have been worth?” The answer should suffice to wake anyone up and start hustling.
Lastly, consider the words of Theodore Roosevelt from his ”Man in the Arena” speech:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
I’ve been a performing musician for the past 19 years, and as such I’ve enjoyed a modicum of adventure and success around the world.
My own baby is a band I created back in 2000, which I called Stoner Kings. The name is a takeoff on Josh Homme’s Queens Of The Stone Age band, which I found to have an absurdly contradictory name back in the day. “If there’s a queen, there must also be a king!” I mused to myself. And alas, in my personal bravado and grandeur, I auspiciously called my own heavy rock outfit, complete with chunky, grooving riffs and heavy drums beats, Stoner Kings.
STONER KINGS 2018
We released our debut album back in 2001, entitled Brimstone Blues. At the time, I felt like I had conquered the world. It was my maiden voyage, with my very own crew, me, the captain of the ship. Sure, I had been in a band prior to this, but it was someone else’s ship. I was just a crew member. With Stoner Kings, it was mine, all mine.
We went through the ups and downs, trudged the roads of trial and tribulation, met adversity from those others might have deemed “brothers” in our chosen genre, were kicked off stage in the middle of a particular set, and traveled Europe together. It was a brilliant time, one I wouldn’t trade for anything.
In 2006, we released our sophomore effort, entitled Fuck The World. I was pissed off, angry at our detractors and tired of smacking our heads against the glass ceiling. In Finland, it was a small circle of inside members, and if you weren’t hip with the big boys, then you weren’t playing ball. I bucked the system with FTW, gave as good as we got and then some. That said, we did pretty good with FTW domestically in Finland, although we failed to make a bigger imprint with it globally.
Eero Kaukomies and Hannu Leidén
In 2007-2008, Stoner Kings went through some major upheaval. All the guys in the band got overhauled and changed, except for Yours Truly, Captain StarBuck. It was a tumultuous time, one that saw a very disjointed and wavering adaption of Stoner Kings. It wasn’t going to last and it didn’t. At the end of 2008, I called it quits and hung it up with my baby.
I engaged in different bands after Stoner Kings, finding solace in other musical endeavors and efforts. Yet, deep down, I knew Stoner Kings was my brainchild. It was my imprint, for better or worse. You can’t run from who you are and you can’t bullshit yourself. And so it was, that at the end of 2016, I felt the urge become undeniable. I reformed Stoner Kings, complete with my my original drummer Janne Kontoniemi, 2007-2008 bassist Rude Rothstén and a young, hungry guitarist named Joonas Vepsä.
Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) lends a hand to one of our new songs with a mean lead & solo!
I had a vision. I had unrealized songs hidden away in my musical drawer, just begging to be released. Songs I had written in part 15 years earlier. They were ready, awaiting to be incarnated on tape. Other tunes had been spawned within the past few years. Yes, I was still churning out the only kind of rock that I knew how to make with my eyes closed. Chunky, heavy, groovy, catchy, riff-laden, attitude-infested raw rock. The kind that cavemen would dig. Primal. Animalistic. Simple.
And so it was that over the past year, from the fall of 2017 to the fall of 2018, we did our due diligence in the studio. We performed and laid down recordings over three separate sessions in order to focus our energies on writing a quartet of songs at a time. We got serious. Driven.
Now, here in the autumn of 2018, on a Monday tagged October 8, we brought our newest Stoner Kings incarnation of an album to a successful close. We mastered the thing at Chartmakers West in Espoo, Finland, under the auspices of Svante Forsbäck. Our producer Hannu Leidén and our sound engineer and mixer Eero Kaukomies stood by with us as we finalized the deal. It was a group effort, and we all shared in the thrill of the kill.
Svante Forsbäck puts the final mastering touches on our new album today.
So alas, here we are now, with a complete, finished third Stoner Kings album in hand. Even in today’s desperately crappy record label jungle, I’ll still shop this doozy around to see if any possible players are game out there. Knowing the nature of the game and dire numbers of physical album sales, I’m not holding my breath for any miracles. Nonetheless, I’ll do my best on behalf of my baby. I believe staunchly in the product we’ve created and it’s an absolute killer in my ears.
Returning from what had to be one of the best tours I’ve ever had of Japan, I can only be grateful and happy for the experiences I enjoyed in The Land Of The Rising Sun between September 22-30.
First and foremost, I want to thank my friends Dr. Hiroaki Terasaki, Mayumi Miyazawa and Fumi Saito for making this trip truly memorable. In addition, thanks to promoter Jimmy Suzuki of Tokyo Championship Wrestling, Masa Anchan, ASUKA Project, my old tag partner Akira Nogami, Yoshitake Hatada and his wife for the hospitality afforded to both me and my wife, Diana, on this trip.
In the first match that I had on September 24, I tagged with UTAMARO against Mitoshichi Shinose and Shota Nakagawa, the latter of whom was still reffing for WNC back in 2014 when I was in Japan last. We beat our opposition after I pinned Shinose following my world-famous spike piledriver to score the win for our team at ASUKA Project’s event in Tokyo.
On September 27, I tagged with UTAMARO once again to face the duo of my age-old rival Yoshihiro Tajiri and my former Synapse teammate Yusuke Kodama. This was the main event for Tokyo Championship Wrestling’s big event at Shinjuku Face Arena on a show that featured 50 wrestlers in total. Sabu vs. Masato Tanaka vs. Yuko Miyamoto in a hardcore Triple Threat was also one of the feature matches at the event with Atsushi Onita of FMW fame refereeing.
In our TCW Shinjuku showdown, we fought like spirited dogs of war, ending the battle when Tajiri nailed UTAMARO with his infamous Buzzsaw Kick to the head, claiming the win for his team. Regardless of our past rivalry, Tajiri extended his hand after the match and raised my arm in a show of respect and mutual admiration as the Tokyo crowd ate it up.
Thanks once again, Japan! This has been a truly memorable trip and here I share some of the moments with you in photos.
Here at the end of 2017 as the New Year is about to turn a new page for all of us, I reflect back on what the past 12 months have meant for me personally and professionally.
I have to say from the bottom of my heart that this past year has been one of the best overall years for me on record, especially in terms of my professional wrestling career and movie actor ambitions. I once stated that if I could do with my life what I dare dream, it would be to become a world-traveled professional wrestler, a touring rock artist and a movie actor. Here, at the age of 44, I have achieved all of those things and more. That is certainly something to be proud of, and I can only look to make the good things in life prosper and grow in the fact of each new challenge as life rolls on.
2017 saw me claim my 21st country in pro wrestling, that being Pakistan, this past May. Pakistan is about as exotic as a location as it gets, and the treatment we got from the local PWE promoters was top-notch. Five-star hotels, bodyguards and even a presidential suite were all in the offering, as we were treated like royalty by fans and organizers alike. I was the only wrestler on the international roster out of the Nordics.
With the big boss of PWE in Pakistan!
Getting the upper hand on Chris “Bambikiller” Raaber in Lahore, Pakistan
My long-awaited autobiography, Battleground Valhalla, also came out in May through Crowbar Press in the USA, a highly-esteemed publisher of wrestling autobiographies, whose earlier releases include Donnie Fargo, Ole Anderson and Stand Hansen to name a few. My book has sold great to this date, as I’ve even mailed out a ton of signed copies to folks far and wide who’ve asked for personalized copies. My story also got released through Kindle on Amazon as a digital e-book, which was icing on the cake!
2017 was the year that I was named the inaugural Valhalla Nordic Wrestling Champion by ’80s pop sensation Samantha Fox and STHLM Wrestling out of Sweden. After being lauded the honor of interim champion in (again) May, I went on to defeat a very capable up-and-coming young star in Timmy Force on July 8 in Stockholm to become the undisputed, first Valhalla Nordic champ. This match was highly-praised by one of the heads of WWE, who was on hand, front-and-center ringside to witness this 30-minute classic that will go down as quite possibly the greatest match to date on Swedish soil.
Timmy Force falls to my world-famous finisher, the jumping spike piledriver in Stockholm (photo: Fredrik Streiffert)
2017 was the year that I ventured into the studio with my reformed Stoner Kings band, recording new material after a decade of absence. We even filmed the first-ever music video we ever did with the band for a single called Cro-Magnon, which was a very proud moment for me as the founder of Stoner Kings.
2017 was the year that I took three unprecedented vacations, something I had never done in that number per annum, in Morocco, Romania’s mountains, Spain and Thailand. Thanks to my wife, Diana, for arranging these trips, as she’s quite the tour organizer and could easily be a commercial tour guide if she chose to do so.
2017 was also the year that I captured my fifth Finnish wrestling championship. On December 2 in Helsinki at Finland’s biggest annual pro wrestling spectacular, Talvisota XII, I unseated Juhana “King Kong” Karhula in a 25+ minute mat classic, becoming a double-champion this year.
StarBuck – FCF champion for the fifth time, December 2017 (photo: Marko Simonen)
2017 also saw me featured in two ground-breaking movie releases: It Came From The Desert and Rendel. Both films have been sold worldwide now and have been dubbed in multiple, foreign languages like Japanese, German and Spanish. My roles in both movies were incredibly intriguing and important characters, both of which for I was able to channel my vast pro wrestling experience into.
My Russian mercenary character in Rendel has arguably the best fight scene in the whole movie
All in all, I can only be thankful for the awesome year that was 2017. Even as a personal trainer and voice-over speaker, I accumulated several new clients and commissions. As a graphic artist, several customers utilized my talents as a traditional illustrator. With my voice, I was able to parlay my talents as a guest ring announcer at various boxing events, in front of new audiences.
The cover of a children’s coloring book for Vesileppis Sport & Spa hotel in Finland, featuring Yours Truly as the human lead.
I have said that for some unexplained, divine reason, particularly good things happen to me in seven year installments. This year was one such waypoint. My previous seven year boon was in 2010, when I debuted as a professional wrestler in Japan – my career goal – where I became a star on the national stage overnight. Seven years prior to that in 2003, I started the entire professional wrestling phenomenon in Finland, bringing the fighting art form to this neck of the Nordics and teaching it to the very first class of Finnish students in history. Seven years before that, in 1996, I moved to Finland from my homeland of Canada to begin rewriting personal life history and create a legacy which even I had no inkling of, nor the its magnitude, as the years would roll on. That said, here at the very end of 2017, I can say with all humility and honesty, that I am the most accomplished and successful professional wrestler in history to this day out of Northern Europe.
I eagerly await to see what 2018 brings. While the world at large seems to be headed into a maelstrom of uncertainty, I can honestly say that the Good Lord above has blessed my life and continues to do so. All respect the Big Man upstairs. For me, the proof is in the pudding!
Good grief, it has taken a looooonnnnggggg time to get my autobiography finished and finally out, but alas, it is now HERE!
This is a project that I started in June of 2010, while on tour with my southern rock band Crossfyre in Europe, as something to pass the time and just finally get underway. In truth, I had been contemplating writing a book for a long time by that period already. I figured thousands of miles spent on the road inside a tour van would be a good place to start, if for nothing else, then to kill the boredom and time. It was a smart move.
The more I reminisced and wrote, the more I quickly began to realize that this would be a lengthy project. Indeed, I had lived a life of which many only dream. Heck, I’d lived more up to that point than a dozen other people that I could name off the top of my head! I had a full wellspring of memories and happenings to draw literary water from.
So I wrote … and wrote … and wrote. Up until the summer of 2015, when once again, I found myself in the same tour van with the same band, back in central Europe, with a laptop at my disposal and the tail-end of my autobiography left to pen.
So much had happened in five years between starting the book and finishing the book: I had become a breakout superstar in Japan, I had gotten married, I had added several countries to my list of countries that I had grappled in, I had recorded new albums with my bands, I had created album covers and characters for the most successful children’s heavy metal band in history, etc!
My story was sure to inspire and wow audiences far and wide, I was sure of that. I went to every length to make a truly memorable saga out of my life story. Being the perfectionish I am, it truly was worth taking my time and fleshing everything out over five years. I went back and re-wrote certain segments, adding to memories as they came to mind, and generally, just re-worded parts here and there to make them more interesting.
This was originally supposed to be the cover photo for my book, taken by master lensman, Jarmo Katila. Over time, I came to choose the current pic of the published book cover, taken by Marko Simonen.
I am super proud of the opus that I now have in my hands, entitled Battleground Valhalla! It’s my testament to the world. My showcase of the path of the lone wolf, who ventured out into the world and made something truly remarkable of his life, becoming the most acclaimed and successful pro wrestler in history out of the Nordics and Northern Europe in general.
Many of my top opponents and other key players throughout the years in my wrestling adventures and escapades have written inserts for my book, giving you, the reader, a truly unique perspective into who Michael “StarBuck” Majalahti truly is: “The Japanese Buzzsaw” Tajiri, Steve Corino, Amin Asikainen, Akira Nogami, Michael Kovac and a plethora of other notables have their testimonials in my tome.
Every once in awhile, I feel the urge to write something prolific and meaningful that I hope someone out there will take to heart and be able to adapt or learn from. One such topic is that of Neomasculinity, something that is rather close to my heart.
Some people might ask “why?”, but those same people will obviously be confused themselves as to their own gender roles and forte(s). First of all, everyone must understand, that Neomasculinity and MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) are two completely different entities and concepts, which have nothing to do with one another.
Whereas MGTOW urges men to join the “sexodus” crowd (opting to quit pursuing females because of their seemingly unattainable/unfulfillable demands), immerse themselves into gaming culture and just drift in search of something that they’ve been unable to procure or tap into themselves, Neomasculinity urges men to re-establish their standing as the head of the tribe, king of their own home, adopt warrior-like mentality, become responsible and begin acting like Alpha Males.
Yeah, I like the sound and vibe of Neomasculinity, probably because I was raised that way. At the core, I have always been a classic man. My parents saw to that, and I have them to thank for the fact that I am not confused about my standing or who I am in today’s ever-convoluted, ambiguous culture and world.
So why all the fuss about Neomasculinity? Some people get bent out of shape at even the slightest espousal of traditional values. After all, they seem to be a thing of yesteryear and almost the laughing stock of the media and culture of the day. Well, Neomasculinity’s argument lies in the fact that no man wants to feel like a chump, a wimp, a whipping boy, a dog on a leash (except for those unfortunate individuals who have tendencies to be “slaves”, which is a certain kind of perversion) or “the weaker half.”
No real man out there would opt for any of the above-mentioned descriptions when speaking about themselves. Real men want to be respected, feel powerful, in control, leading the dance, hunting the prey, making the kill. Real men do not play second fiddle to anyone, because they know their self-worth and internal stock value.
I find it quite absurd and even tragically comedic, that the vast amount of YouTubers out there talking about Neomasculinity sound like their balls haven’t even dropped yet. There isn’t much weight behind their words, because they sound like they themselves are just analyzing the phenomenon, and trying it on for size like an over-sized leather jacket at a clothing store: they don’t own it yet, but they are hoping it would be for them.
Only one source on YouTube has a voice, sans imposing physique to match, however, that carries a credible voice for the cause. Take a listen to Paul Joseph Watson as he espouses the virtues of Neomasculinity and breaks it down for y’all…
So once again, why Neomasculinity? Well, because men these days need to man the fuck up. Men have let things slide, they have given the squeaky wheel of feminism, PC thought and “sexual equality” propagandists the proverbial grease, in the hopes of shutting them up and getting their own way. Men have not safeguarded their standing in society, their position at the helm of the household, nor their position as leaders that answer for their deeds and show responsibility at the end of it all.
Instead, modern men have become shellshocked, soft, relenting and yes, confused. They don’t know where they stand anymore, be it in their romantic relationships or in society on a whole. Men have lost their place, which was etched in stone for thousands of years, and this has not boded well for the modern man, as the spine of society on a whole has crumbled in its wake. Oh, and men are not well at all. They are depressed, lost and weak because of their lack of purpose and numbing confusion.
Simply acting like a traditional man is considered offensive and sexist now. I wonder what icons like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood would say about this. Well, I know what Eastwood had to say, because he let Esquire magazine have it awhile ago, claiming the generation today is one made up of “pussies.”
Where does that leave men? Good question. Scrambling for answers, I’d say, as they try to appease and win over the opposite sex through adapting to the rules of the new game, much like Mel Gibson in the movie What Women Want. Really, you ask? Yes, to a large degree.
Men have become players, even moreso than before, because they cannot seem to find any other way to score with the demanding, domineering modern female. They opt for the one night stand in lieu of a long-standing, serious relationship, because men do not see the long-term payoff in the big picture. There’s nothing to bank on, nothing worth the investment. Sad, really.
Back in the day, both sexes brought something valuable to the table – actual life skills like cooking, housekeeping, gardening, mechanical and fundamental competence in line with their gender – and the complementary dynamic of these combined skills made for a promising marriage of opposites. Nowadays, the counterparts in the relationship are damn near homogenous, and this cannot be a good thing. Ever.
At the core of it all, men do not want to be controlled or manipulated to facilitate something that they feel is outside of what they can realistically produce. And why is this? Because men are still driven by the innate need for respect, to feel strong and to be powerful through and through. When a man’s deeds and actions are not met with affirmative respect, he loses interest and caring, and proceeds to piss in the wind and “fuck it all.” When a man does not feel that he is strong, he shies away and tries to cover up his weakness, making him feel like less of a man. This is not hard to understand, nor is it rocket science.
The younger generation, I’ve noticed, has little to no clue about what it takes to be a man (or to be a woman, for that matter), and they try to overcompensate with things like social media photos of themselves in little to no garb, which only initiates the most primal mating call of them all, and nothing beyond that. They think that superficial values will get the job done, without having to put in the hard work and persistence of time.
I’ve got news for you, folks. We’re in trouble. Our society is on the crux of a great, social overhaul. Gender roles are being done away with, and if you only care to take a look around with unassuming eyes, you will see that we are in for a shit storm. The polarity of the sexes, the things and idiosyncrasies that have drawn men and women to each other over the centuries, is being erased. No one is going to want to invest in the long-term with the opposite sex if the perks, goods and life skills are not there to begin with. Forget the window dressing, we’re going deeper than the surface here.
So, Neomasculinity is the only clear, healthy answer for men today, period. It seeks to re-establish the throne and take back the proverbial lost balls of those unfortunate fellas, who let them slip away to begin with. After realizing such a move only made them feel like shit, their only course of action is to backtrack and reclaim what they should have never parted with in the first place.
I have my parents to thank for a traditional upbringing, with a sense of responsibility, virtue and a strong sense of manliness that has never wavered, even as times have changed.
Make the stand today, gentlemen, or risk losing what is left of your self-respect.
In closing, if anything I’ve said or written here has offended or distraught you… well, to quote my favorite pro wrestling promoter of all time, Bill Watts: “If the shoe fits, wear it.”
If anyone needs further clarification about Neomasculinity, read this.
As many of you possibly already know, I am also a personal trainer in addition to being a rock musician, pro wrestler, voice-over speaker and artist. A jack of many trades, indeed! The Good Lord blessed me with several talents, and thereby I am able to parlay my knowledge and aptitude across many waters, so to speak.
For 12-years now, I have been a personal trainer. My oldest client has been 85-years of age and my youngest client has been 14-years old. All across the proverbial board, I have trained folks from all walks of life, from beauty queens competing in Miss-What-Have-You pageants to athletes to ordinary folks both male and female. Interestingly enough, the majority of my clients have been women, as I guess the ladies feel more at home with a man in charge! But alas, that is A-OK with me!
Miss Estonia Kristina Karjalainen is one of the known celebrities that I have trained.
Nonetheless, now, here in 2016, I decided to take my personal training aptitude and expertise to the next level. I wanted to up the proverbial ante and really immerse myself in the field, in order to offer a more comprehensive whole to my clientele, especially in light of the total deluge of personal training services these days, many of which should not even exist if the truth be told. There is a definitive difference in understanding physiology and muscular function vs. taking a said course on the matter and just going by what theory has taught you.
I have lived through a 22-year pro wrestling career full of all kinds of injuries and physical setbacks. I have learned to navigate through the murky waters of limitations and pain, due to the realities suffered in my chosen sport. In so saying, I understand the body better than most. It’s an intuitive kind of knowledge that comes through personal experience and application of varied training and reparation principles, when working through and around injuries. Thereby, I have a more comprehensive understanding of human physiology that I can use to my benefit, and for the benefit of others.
(Left to right) Yours Truly, Harri Kokkonen, Ivo Gonzalez
This past weekend, I ventured out to Hamina, Finland, along with my personal training comrade Ivo Gonzalez, to get my PhD in personal training with a man that is known all around the Baltics as a guru for strength training, powerlifting, weightlifting and bodybuilding. This man is named Harri Kokkonen. He is the owner of SKIP Nutrition Finland (SKIP is the oldest sports supplement manufacturer in all of Europe, a pharmaceutical grade line of the highest market quality available today, which I am proud to be sponsored by), Gorilla Wear Finland (since 1982, straight out of the USA, my personal gym gear of choice and also my sponsor) and Voimapuoti Gym in Helsinki and Hamina, Finland.
I am a Gorilla Wear sponsored athlete, baby! The best training gear on the market. (photo: Jarmo Katila – http://www.jarmokatila.fi)
Ivo and I went to Harri to fine-tune our knowledge of the nitty-gritty details that make all of the difference in the world, when it comes to targeting each specific muscle to the maximum, taking into consideration the nuances and idiosyncrasies that either make or break any given lifting technique. I am two days removed from that merciless immersion into personal training, and let me tell you, my nervous system has yet to recover from the muscular overload that Harri put us through! These are 100% guaranteed techniques, when performed stringently and properly, that will absolutely develop the body beyond prior limitations either imagined or real!
The angle of one’s wrists… the line of movement in relation to the targeted muscle… the implications of the supported core muscles in all movements… time under tension… all of these bullet points and more were covered by Harri, as he passed on his vast array of knowledge and expertise to us.
Men’s Physique Competitor (left) and 3-time European pro wrestling champion (right) at your service, ladies and gentlemen!
I feel that this past weekend was a major boon personally to my applied knowledge of physiology and the human body, as they pertain to muscular development and total fitness and conditioning. I can honestly say, that I am a better personal trainer, having already applied my learned knowledge with a client yesterday, than I was prior to this weekend.
I will be starting my own personal training business this month, which will be launched shortly, where I will apply the lessons learned in my time in pro wrestling, integrated with traditional weight training, bodyweight conditioning and cross-training. Keep your peepers peeled for that!
Ivo Gonzalez, who has a vast amount of experience in competitive athletics and is a men’s fitness physique competitor, and myself, being a 22-year pro wrestling veteran with coaching experience worldwide, have begun working as the official personal training duo for Voimapuoti Gym in Helsinki, as of this month. Voimapuoti is a traditional weight training gym, not a health club. Voimapuoti’s fundamental offering is found in free weights, a variety of different barbells, powerlifting apparatus, and traditional back-to-basics weight training equipment, because let’s face it… a real, strong, powerful body is made by application of fundamental truths that are based on free weights and body control. We sell results, not pipe dreams.
One week from today, it’ll be time to lace up the proverbial boots and step into the pro wrestling ring for the first match of 2016. Just this past week, on January 7, I passed my 22-year mark since my first live wresting match as an active competitor. Now, here in 2016, this old dog is still alive and kicking.
Hell, I’m sure there are some that would just wish an old warhorse like me would die out and fade away, but that just ain’t happening. Not yet. I will be the one to dictate when and where, barring serious injury or an Act of God.
There are days that I wonder how long I will want to keep up actively wrestling. There is a limit to all things, a bump card that keeps filling up, and every year, I just have to find a way to wrestle smarter and navigate better. It’s a challenge, but one that I embrace. After all, at heart, I am a fighter.
At 42-years of age, I look at many contemporaries in our business and size myself up against them. Old friends like Chris Jericho are a mere couple years older than me, and still in good stride, able to compete at the highest level. My old wrestling coach Lance Storm of Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary, Canada, gets in the ring daily with his wrestling students and has actual matches against them to help them improve, and Lance is three years my senior. Heck, when I lost the SMASH championship title to Dave “Fit” Finlay in 2011 in Tokyo, the legendary Irishman was just over 50 at that point, and he ran me ragged!
Dave Finlay was an absolute beast inside of that ring past the age of 50!
Alas, here in 2016, I sit at my desktop computer, writing this blog, and I ponder my own situation. I’ve been at this grappling game for a good number of years now, putting in the miles, flying here and there, up against the best competition around the globe. I look at a guy like Keiji Muto in Japan, a man whom I look up to greatly for his legacy and longevity in our business, and see how beat up his knees are past the age of 50 now. I think of guys like Triple H, in his mid-40s now, wrestling a very limited schedule, with only a few shots a year at most. And then there is The Undertaker, who continues to hang on, also grappling a mere few times a year, as everyone asks when his last Wrestlemania moment will be.
As a veteran, it’s hard to hang it up, because at the heart of it all, we are all fans of this game. Look at Terry Funk, the legendary old NWA World champion and hardcore wrestling legend. He could never exorcise the wrestler out of his system, and the number of his announced “retirements” has been baffling. That’s because Terry Funk loves pro wrestling. Just like the other veterans out there, who refuse to die out and fade away.
I recall Bret “Hitman” Hart saying in his autobiography, that he never wanted anyone to see him wrestle as an old fart, past his due date. I can relate to that, as it becomes a matter of personal pride in your own legacy and accomplishments. You don’t want to be in a place where you are just a shell of what you used to be at your prime. As long as you can produce top-notch matches and carry your personal piece of business with your head held high, I say go. Don’t let anyone stop you.
And so it is in 2016, that 22 years into the pro wrestling game, I look at the date of January 16 at the Pressa Club in Helsinki. I look at the match I will have that night and the tag team partner that I am paired with that evening: Stark Adder.
Adder is another veteran, a year older than Yours Truly, but equally a warhorse of high fortitude and morale that keeps the flame alive. We’ve fought each other numerous times over the past decade, and we have nothing but the highest mutual respect for one another.
Now, on January 16, Adder and I will join forces to do battle with Adder’s former tag team partner and ex-protege, Ricky Vendetta, and his partner, FCF champion, Valentine. This is a huge tag match on paper, a monumental bout that will see Adder and Vendetta lock horns for the first time since Vendetta turned on his former mentor about a half-year ago.
I warmly welcome you all out to Helsinki on January 16 to see what very well may be deemed as “The Veteran’s League”, as we clash with the kind of opposition that will surely translate into a classic match at the Pressa Club in Helsinki, with a showtime start of 18:00 and doors opening at 17:30, tickets 20e/person.
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