I retired from pro wrestling a few years ago when I was going through a rough time. I had just found out my marriage was a lie, and while that was going on I was told that one of the affairs was with one of my “wrestling friends”. I was in such a sorrowful place in my life and I didn’t know who I could trust, so I just had to step away.
Fast forward to a few months ago and my friend Jordan, the booker for RPW invited me to referee again for probably the 20th time, and I finally accepted. He never gave up on me while a lot of others did. I’ve just been feeling better about myself and thought it might be good to get out and do things for myself again. I also wanted Renny to see me in the ring while she was old enough to remember. The last time she saw me in the ring she was way too young to understand what was going on.
Renny and I had been going to the local shows for almost a year, and everytime we went I got closer and closer to saying yes. Everyone involved in the show was super nice and very kind to Serenity.
The date got here and I was having second thoughts. I was doing the whole hoping it was canceled thing, just because of anxiety. It wasn’t canceled, I had committed so I had to go. Renny’s mom made Ren and her friend at wrestling Isabella Weatherman t-shirts. Ren was excited and Isabella liked her shirt too. We even got a request from one of the worker’s son for a shirt for himself. Serenity wore a Jayne hat her great aunt Mary Ann had crocheted for us years ago because she had died the day before. she wanted to remember her aunt that way. Being so fashion forward she wore her Firefly hose to match.
My first match back lasted all of thirty seconds, but it was enough for me to get over the butterflies and get back into work mode. I had half the card while Matt refereed the other half. The show was a benefit for him, his house burnt down recently and the proceeds went to him and his family. Because it was a benefit for someone in the business the locker room was packed with generous people donating their time and gas money to help someone out. I saw some people I knew and met some new friends.
It was the first time I wore an earpiece and there were some technical issues with it. For the most part, I could hear the beeps when someone was speaking to me, but not much else. So I had to wing it for the most part. There seemed to be a hiccup in the eight-man elimination tag match, but I wasn’t let in on what had happened. I’m a little hard of hearing, a lip reader, and a low talker, so it’s amazing it all turned out as well as it did.
For the past week or so I had been worried because I could only find one of my ref shirts. I had cut the tags out, I had a size large and an XL. I wasn’t sure if this was the large or I had gained weight since last I donned the stripes but it was a tight fit. I don’t think anyone noticed but me. Renny had a great time, she got to hang out with the women wrestlers that she loves, got another autographed print from Angel Crush and lots of hugs. Ren told me I did really good because people were yelling that I sucked, and to turn around. She understands my job. I love her.
