美国国家公共电台 NPR When Wrestling Is 'Physical Theater,' Fans See Art In The Ring

When Wrestling Is 'Physical Theater,' Fans See Art In The Ring

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right, so some people are into wizards and hobbits. Other people live for their sports team. Others love musicians. We're all fans of something, right? Well, fandom can play a big role in a person's life. It's the foundation of friendships. If you dig a little deeper, it can really reflect something personal.

This week, we're doing a series of stories about this, asking fans why they like what they like. And today, we're going to meet Jeff Melton from Charlotte, N.C. His passion is professional wrestling. He and his friend Adrian Rohr drove more than four hours to watch a regional pro¹ wrestling event that was being taped for TV, and that's where our producers met up with him.

JEFF MELTON: Hello, my name is Jeff Melton.

ADRIAN ROHR: This is Adrian Rohr.

MELTON: And tonight, we're at Ring of Honor Wrestling at Center Stage in Atlanta, Ga.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting, unintelligible).

ROHR: We're just here for the night just to see this one show and meet up with friends. That's really what wrestling has become for us. It is just a way to build our friendships.

MELTON: The experience is like none other. We just enjoy the action, and we love making as much noise as we possibly can.

(CHEERING)

ROHR: When I'm watching a wrestling show, I just sort of disconnect from the stresses and worries of the world and just be consumed by what's happening in that ring.

(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED WRESTLER²: (As character) Whoa, whoa, whoa, golden boy, I know you're so used to getting everything you want.

MELTON: I believe that it's an art form - just a different interpretation³ of a form of art. People might - may be more familiar with theater. I prefer to call professional wrestling physical theater.

(APPLAUSE)

MELTON: Well, I've personally been into wrestling - I started watching as a kid about 6 years old. Yeah, the first time I saw it on TV - just the first person that I remember is Chief Wahoo McDaniel. And he was a big, huge character who came out with a huge Indian headdress, and that immediately caught my attention.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (As character) Listen, Wahoo, you and I are good friends, right?

EDWARD MCDANIEL: (As Wahoo McDaniel) Jones (ph), we used to be good friends. Don't put me on that plateau with you anymore.

MELTON: They were just losing their minds on the TV screen, and that really appealed to me. Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, you know, that type of entertainment strictly⁴ wasn't allowed. You know, you go to school, you're not allowed to partake in anything. Like myself, I wasn't able to do any sports. Of course, you know, they don't believe in birthdays or holidays.

So you always have to ask to be excluded from the class when that stuff's going on. I went to church four to five nights a week and also on a Sunday. But definitely, you know, if the parents had to be out running errands or out paying bills or something, you definitely had a chance to get to the TV. You definitely took an opportunity for it.

(CHEERING)

MELTON: So right now, we're going to watch Chase Brown. And he's on the first TV episode taping tonight.

ROHR: OK, so Chase Brown is from the North Carolina area. He's sort of carved out a niche⁵ for himself with a very unique character. He had a little bit of the cauliflower ear that comes from wrestling and kind of ran with that. And actually, he comes to the ring with cauliflower and sort of uses it to give him power during the match. And so if he's down and he gets a hold of that cauliflower, he might eat some of it. He might use it as a weapon against his opponents.

MELTON: The cauliflower is the same as spinach⁶ for Popeye. He uses it as a power-up (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Weighing 205 pounds - Cauliflower Chase Brown.

MELTON: Chase Brown, woo (ph).

I grown up - I grew up in a very blue-collar kind of family, myself, personally. It's definitely escapism. Whether you're working a crappy job or you're going to school and you're having a bad day at school, there's definitely a lot of escapism into it.

All right, well, the match just started, and it's Chase Brown versus⁷ Silas Young. And right now, Silas Young is working a headlock on Chase Brown.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLAM)

MELTON: And Chase just eats a huge shoulder tackle.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Yelling, unintelligible).

MELTON: (Booing).

If you've had a bad day at work or a bad week at work, you can go there and just let all your stress out.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLAM)

MELTON: And a huge monkey flip⁸ by Chase Brown.

People are cheering and booing for everyone and saying things they probably wouldn't say in front of their moms.

(BOOING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (Unintelligible) You suck.

MELTON: Yeah, there's a lot of stories that go through pro wrestling, but usually, the favorite ones that I had was usually not necessarily the good versus the evil but maybe the boss man versus the worker, especially when I started into the workforce⁹. If you're lower, medium income, you know, you're just constantly clocking in and clocking out, you know, not really willing to say what you need to say. You know, there's been times I've wanted to punch my boss.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLAM)

MELTON: But in real life, you can't do that.

Hold on, mayhem has erupted here on Center Stage.

But if you see somebody doing it on TV or in a live arena¹⁰, you know, that's awesome¹¹ to me.

Whoa, they're going after the ref, security, everybody else.

I have been pushed around a lot in life. So that's probably why the storylines and the wrestling appeal to me, myself.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLAMS)

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) One, two three. (Cheering).

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG BOSS MAN")

ELVIS PRESLEY: (Singing) Big boss man, can't you hear me when I call?

GREENE: Those were wrestling fans Jeff Melton and Adrian Rohr.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG BOSS MAN")

PRESLEY: (Singing) Big boss man, can't you hear me when I call? Can't you hear me when I call? Well, you ain't so big. You know, you're just tall. That's all.

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

3 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

4 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

5 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

6 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

7 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

8 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

9 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

10 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

11 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.