As a boy growing up in the ‘80s, you had to watch certain things on Saturday television to stay in the loop. I distinctly remember going down to the playground in my apartment complex armed with the secret word from Pee Wee’s Playhouse so that I knew when to scream real loud. Those boyhood gatherings would soon turn into a discussion of a far more serious Saturday television event: WWF wrestling.
“Dude! Did you see Brutus ‘the Barber’ Beefcake cut that guy’s hair?”
“Oh man, the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage is mad!”
“Did you see what happened on Piper’s Pit? Hulk Hogan is gonna fight Andre the Giant!”
Recently, I have been nerding out on some WWF nostalgia. I ran across an A&E Biography episode about “Rowdy” Roddy Piper a few weeks ago and I loved it. It turns out that A&E is airing a bunch of WWF (now WWE) themed documentaries. I made sure to catch the one about Andre the Giant when it came on because he is a legend. I even watched one about Mick Foley, who was a little after my time but still very intriguing because he would let them beat him nearly to death for his craft. A few days ago, I saw one about another legendary wrestler from my childhood, The Ultimate Warrior.
It followed the usual formula for a biographical documentary. It talked about the Warrior’s youth, his meteoric rise to the top of the wrestling world, his struggles and fall from grace, and his untimely death. Something stood out about this one, though. In the section about his fall from grace, they first explained the real reason, which was the same as with almost every wrestler. He started arguing with his boss, Vince McMahon. However, they then spent a long segment on what they really saw as his ultimate sin. The Ultimate Warrior came out as a conservative.
The Warrior (he legally had his name changed to Warrior in 1993) actually became a conservative blogger and speaker after his wrestling career. The guests who were interviewed in the Biography episode wondered aloud if they could still admire the Warrior after learning about his unforgivable opinions. At first, this made me roll my eyes in annoyance at the blatant double standard. After all, had Warrior become a progressive pundit, would A&E have criticized him for it and painted him as a horrible person? We all know the answer to that.
After a bit of thinking, though, I am glad that corporations, the media, and the entertainment industry continue to reveal their hatred for anybody who dares to disagree with them. It chips away more and more at their credibility when people open their eyes to how intolerant those institutions are of anyone who doesn’t fall into line with their views. Their obvious bias against conservatives alienates many who may not even be conservatives themselves, but don’t think people should be vilified for holding conservative values. It certainly should make clear to conservatives that the mainstream culture has nothing but contempt for you and you have to stand up to them.
This contempt is not reserved only for celebrity conservatives like Warrior. Remember, the left sees conservatives as “a basket of deplorables.” You may not have the status to get as much attention as a famous person, but they still want to marginalize and silence you for taking conservative positions. Just try questioning the security of our elections and see how long it takes social media sites to censor your posts. If you have the audacity to say that homosexuality is not the ideal, which is one of the things they went after the Warrior for in the documentary, those on the left would attack you with a folding chair if they could get away with it.
Criminals who sneak across our borders illegally are A-okay with the left. If protesters block traffic and throw bricks through the windows of businesses, the left will make excuses for them. Publicly announce that you are no longer the gender that you really are and they will laud you for your courage. Murder a baby in the womb and the left will praise your “choice.” Those are all fine, but if you are found out to be a conservative, they think you should lose your livelihood, your reputation, and become an outcast from society.
The Ultimate Warrior was a flawed man. He was apparently egotistical and did not get along with many of his fellow wrestlers. Was Warrior the most articulate or tactful conservative speaker? Of course not! Would you expect him to be? He’s the Ultimate Warrior, not William F. Buckley. Was he perfect? No, but he did defeat Mr. Perfect in the ring. Was this article an excuse for me to take a trip down memory lane and watch old wrestling matches? Absolutely, but we do need to call out double standards in our culture when we see them. Do not let them silence you. In this fight, we all need to be warriors.
Steve Connally's Brain 