Trading Safety for Skin
Friday, February 12, 2010
ROHWrestling.com has obtained a new blog written by Tyler Black as he heads into New York City tomorrow to face Austin Aries one last time for the Ring of Honor World Championship. Their last encounter at Final Battle 2009 went the full 60-minute time limit, and may be the more polarizing title bout in the history of the company. Now both combatants return to that scene one last time to put an end to their feud of over a year.
Reprinted from his personal blog, Black looks at himself, the future, and the 8th Anniversary Event and provides a personal insight, in his own voice.
“My Voice: Trading Safety for Skin”
Taken from http://rohblack.blogspot.com/
We are all machines. Self-sufficient and perfect. Programmed and reprogrammed every second of every day by the behaviors and environments that surround us. God, money, love. We are excellently adapted for survival, for getting by….
Myself included. I am a jaded liar. I am a robotic cadet. I’ve made excuses for my shortcomings and my mistakes for far too long. And as a result, sometimes when I look a little deeper into the mirror, I wonder if I have become the things I once loathed. Have I bought in? Has the pilot light burnt out? Am I running on fumes? I’m tired of hiding from myself.
Some might say that if I even have to ask myself those questions, then they answer themselves, but I disagree. In life, there are times when we can’t just accept what’s going on around us and shrug our apathetic shoulders. We can’t just point fingers and place blame and give up so easily. Sometimes we can’t just pretend everything is alright. The fault does not rest in the hands of timing, nor of circumstance. I have never relied on fate to get me by. Never trusted in a god or a "plan" to keep me motivated. I have always believed in myself; the person, not the machine.
I choose to no longer let them wire me. I choose to open my eyes. I choose to destroy, to rebuild, and to reclaim. And in turn, I’ll step out of safety and back into skin. The 8th Anniversary of Ring of Honor will be a rebirth. For me. And for professional wrestling. We will live again.