Hello and welcome once again to The Trademark Rants. While I could probably go on about how RAW has dropped the ball with this last PPV by, of all things, pushing Viscera on TV with, to say the least, an extremely offensive gimmick, on top of letting Hogan’s Ego-Mania run wild once again, I’d rather write about something positive. The problem is, since Chris Candido died last week, there’s isn’t a whole lot of positive stuff to talk about right now. I could go on and on about MNM, but I’ll save that for later. This week, though, I’m just going to talk about a man I never really knew all that well…
First of all, it’s funny how everyone always talks about sending prayers to the family of the recently deceased, as if it was something that everyone does. I know that’s an awkward way to start a send-off, but then again, Chris Candido was always a rather awkward wrestler. At least, I always thought he was. Very few people worked like him, and even then, the people who did never got it right. He was actually something of a whiny little brat in character, which is, unfortunately, how most of us will remember him – in character. I never met him. I never knew much about him. I don’t even have all that many of his matches on tape. I never liked the “Skip” gimmick, and quite frankly, I never even knew what made people think Chris Candido was so great until just a couple months ago, when he debuted on Impact. I would see Candido wrestle in other promotions, like WCW and XPW, while I’ve unfortunately missed most of his ECW tenure. Perhaps, that’s why I never thought too highly of him until this past year. He really wasn’t… how do you say… all “there” in his XPW and WCW tenures. It wasn’t until I saw a fully clean, completely sober, and much more focused Chris Candido wrestling in TNA that I finally got to see why so many people made such a fuss about, well… this whiny little brat named Chris Candido.
The upside of all of this, and yes, there is an upside, is that Candido did not die of a drug-related issue, as so many people had guessed throughout the last several years. It’s actually funny, in the ironic sense, how he died. It had nothing to do with drugs, but rather, a freak medical accident caused by a complication of a recent surgery. Who would have figured that? In the end, Candido was able to overcome the drugs, get himself back into shape, come back into the business better than ever, just to end up dead because of some freak medical accident. IN a time when a lot of people are really sad, and rightfully so, I’m here, somewhat befuddled and perplexed by his death more than I’m saddened by it.
The saying goes, “No matter how hard you try, the damn thing doesn’t move”. I’m not sure where I’ve heard it, but it just came into my head, so obviously, it must have meant something at the time I thought of it. And right now, that’s my thoughts, summed up, on Chris Candido. No matter how hard he worked, the damn thing never moved. He deserved better than this. He deserved a better send-off than this. And quite frankly, I’m not the guy who really should be saying squat about him, because really… I was one of the people who ignored him until it was too late.
A few months ago, in a joint-production column with Alex Wipper, I had this to say about Chris Candido –
I’ll admit that prior to about a month ago, I did not think very highly of Chris Candido. I have seen him work before, but I was never really impressed. Then came all the rumors of his drug problems and personal problems, which only seemed to make him worse. But over the last couple weeks, seeing him work with the TNA wrestlers, I finally understand why so many people in the wrestling world thought so highly of him prior to his personal problems. The truth of the matter is that Chris is an amazing mental talent once he’s in the ring. His ring psychology is downright uncanny… He seems to have cleaned up, straightened out his life, and now, he’s probably better than he’s ever been. Hopefully he can make the best of this run in TNA.
And the truth is, yes, Chris Candido was an uncanny ring psychologist. His ability to draw you in and make you love him or hate him was oftentimes light-years ahead of people who we supposedly call “mental giants” of the wrestling ring these days. You know… guys like JBL and Triple H… Candido could work a crowd more convincingly than either one of those guys, and all he had to do was show up. There was no glamorous ring entrances or rich daddy’s daughters making sure Candido was at the top of the card. Heck… it’s amazing WWE ever hired him at all, really. And I say this because I honestly don’t think anyone in the WWE truly understands what real ring psychology is. The sad part is, despite his wrestling genius, Candido’s skills were only ever truly used in minor promotions, in minor roles, putting over talent that was either close to the same level of greatness but was never able to get a real break (like Barry Horrowitz), or guys he had no business putting over (like most of the XPW roster). And yeah, I was one of the people who didn’t get it, but once I did, I wanted nothing more than for Candido to completely reinvent the mental game of professional wrestling. But now, he’s dead, and what do we all learn form this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing whatsoever. Why? Because, no matter how much we say we love him for his talent or enjoyed his work-ethic, the truth is, we’ll only really know one or two versions of Chris Candido – the man in-between the ropes, either as “Skip”, or using his real name. We’re not going to miss him the way his brother does, or the way Tammy does, or even the way some of his fellow coworkers will. We’re lucky to know anything about him at all, really.
The true story of Chris Candido’s life and talent can only really be told by someone who knew the real Chris Candido, and I’m not that guy. All I can say is, I’m glad that he kicked the drug habit, I appreciate his talent, his work ethic, and his mental mastery of professional wrestling. His passion for the business was only really evident, to me, at least, by the fact that he didn’t let his life end once his career crumbled, but that he refocused, got himself straight, and came back stronger and better than he was before. But beyond that, all I ever knew was the in-ring persona… the whiny little brat named Chris Candido, who never shut up once, even when he said he wasn’t the kind of wrestler who didn’t whine about being screwed. I wish I knew someone else. I wish I knew the guy that Tammy knew. I wish I knew the guy that his brother knew. I even wish I knew the guy that Dusty Rhodes knew, the guy who Dusty put a lot of faith in and gave him the shot to perform in TNA. But I don’t know that guy. I’ll miss Chris Candido as I knew him, and I’ll miss him even more as the inspirational story that he left behind… but I can’t miss the man I never met.
Going back to the first thing I said today, about how people only really seem to talk about prayer when people are dead… It’s sad that people don’t pray when the people they love are still alive and could use that prayer. It’s only once people die that anyone recognizes that there’s even a God at all, really. Why is that? Why is it that the only time anyone really thinks of God is when someone dies? Don’t we live? Don’t we pray for health and long life and blessing for friends and family? Don’t we ever pray for peace and charity and joy and all that other wonderful stuff we all want in our lives? Don’t we ever just say “Thank You” when we pray? Or do we just try to do it all for ourselves, and never ask for help… never ask for someone else to enjoy life the way we do… never so much as think of anyone or anything else until they’re gone… and certainly, never thank God or whoever it is that you’re praying to for the blessings and good fortune in all of our lives. Yes, it’s a good idea to pray for the people who are now mourning the loss of Chris Candido, but it’s even more important that we’re praying every day for the people who are still here! This life is temporary, and yet, there’s also a life eternal. And that’s why I wonder why we never pray for the ones who are still here, who haven’t passed on to eternity yet. See… there’s a choice we make in this life, and with that choice, we face eternal consequences. At least, that’s what I believe. And it baffles me that other people, who claim to believe in the same God and Savior that I do, only seem to think of that God and Savior when bad things happen. People reserve prayer for the mourning and the sick, and never seem to pray out of gratitude, or just for a friend that they care about, or even, for people they don’t know by name, but know only by what they might see in a newspaper headline, a TV broadcast, a book, or through a friend. Maybe, I’ll get some hate mail for saying this, but I just don’t see why people are like this. I don’t see why I’M like this! It’s all about what we want, and I’m tired of living just for myself. I’m tired of only giving a damn when people are dead. I’m tired of only caring about other people when disaster strikes, and I’m tired of missing the point of people’s lives.
Last week, Chris Candido died, but all we can do, really, is pay lip service to an idea that we’re praying for the welfare of his family and friends. I’m tired of paying lip service to a mushy idea of caring, then not following that up. And I say “I’m tired of it” because I’M TIRED OF IT! This is a personal declaration to you about something I want to change about MYSELF. So don’t feel I’m talking about you, because I’m really talking about me. But, I’m also not the only one who’s like this, either. Maybe that’s you, maybe it’s not, but if it’s not, don’t worry. I’m not talking about you.
I was able to spend Sunday Night with my two best friends that I have in this world, because I care about them, and I don’t want to end up dead tomorrow thinking that I missed an opportunity to share a moment of time with people I care about. I went to Church on Sunday Morning, not because I feel some sort of guilt trip to go, but because it’s a time each week when I can spend time with people who I consider my family and reach out to my God, the most important person in my life, in a special way. I do these things because I care about the people who are in my life, from Terry and Chris, who you know because I mention them almost every week, to some of my new friends, like Kern and Corrie, and my church family. I don’t want to think of them only when they die or something else tragic happens… and I certainly don’t want to only care about them when I die. I haven’t always been this way, though, but I’m changing. I’m starting now.
Much in the same way that I take time to be with my friends and family, I take the same measures to spend time with God, because I don’t want to only think of Him once a week or when something bad happens to me or someone I know. I pray every single day. I’m not quite as focused on it as I’d want to be but I do it nonetheless. I pray for friends, for family, for the government, for my church, for people I know, and people I don’t know. One day, out of the blue, I found myself praying for B.G James, just because, it came to mind to do so, and just a week or so ago, a reader writes me to let me know that he read a column about how B.G had just recently found Christ. I mention this, not as a way of giving myself a Gold Star, because, quite frankly, I don’t care about that. I mention this because, when you truly allow yourself to just talk to God, to really communicate with Him, He also talks to you. Sometimes, it’s though an e-mail from someone who reads your column. Other times, it’ll be through a guy you just met at church though your Men’s Group. And yes, sometimes, you just hear a voice in your head that tells you to act. Chris Candido is dead, and he will be missed, but I would hate for his death to be the only time anyone reading this actually talks to God.
That’s all for this week, folks. If you have any comments, questions, or anything else you’d like to share, feel free to write me at TheMaverickMJ@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading, and feel free to come back again for another installment of The Trademark Rants!
– Ephesians 6:12 (King James Version)
