Many around the world grow up with dreams of grandeur surrounding Pro Wrestling. Of Pro Sports. It's an industry built on the backs of childhood dreams. The unfortunate reality for some is that it never quite holds up to how they imagined it as a kid. Not unlike Dorothy when she finally makes her way into the Emerald City and to the Great and Powerful Oz. Much to her dismay he's a bitter old man behind a keyboard. The industry can be just like that sometimes and the unfortunate thing is that so many get into it loving it and leave it hating it. We've heard this story so many times from so many people told in so many ways. And yet we expect it to be different ever single time. At some point we need to weigh in on if we're the exception or the rule. Eventually like Dorothy you make your way out of the Emerald City continue on your journey of self-discovery and leave it all behind to get home…
You may be wondering what all this has to do with anything, and its actually quite simple. There's been many wrestling sites discussing Hulk Hogan recently. All reporting about how he feels he should have retired after his 20 year mark. And reading that got me thinking about how this is a very common thing among Pro Wrestlers and more particularly Pro Athletes. I've had WWE Hall of Famers, current stars, and NFL Superbowl Champions on my podcast, Talks with Taeler Hendrix, and no matter how old they are or what walk of life they're from, they all agree on one thing - the waking nightmare of being a Pro Athlete/Wrestler. Not unlike the confession of Hulk Hogan.
The longevity of Pro Athletes and their dreams is so much shorter than we realize. Yes, you have a higher earning potential than a lot of other careers. But what most don't talk about is the probability and the window of opportunity. The probability of you making it to the NFL is slimmer than getting signed to a company in Pro Wrestling. But both have a small window of opportunity to make that lifestyle elevating money. Whereas a doctor, real estate, CEO, investing, lawyer, sanitation, AI prompt management, etc all make very good money and can be done for so much longer than being a Pro Athlete/Wrestler. That bump card creeps up on you unsuspectingly. The trauma to your brain. The damage building up with a compound interest like a smart investment. Except this investment isn't paying you monetary dividends, it's actually taking years off of your life. But you don't think of these things when you're a kid with delusions of grandeur and no idea how the real world works and how to properly set yourself up for the time in your life when your childhood dream shifts and needs to make way for something else. Something new.
Hulk Hogan's generation was not doing all the crazy death defying things we see the incredible stars of today doing night after night and week after week. At some point we have to ask ourselves: but at what cost? What's the pay off? And to what ends? Is it worth it? What will actually be remembered? Am I setting up my older self and my family for generational wealth, health, happiness, and all around prosperity? At what point do our childhood dreams become the stuff of nightmares? Is it when we cannot walk at 50? Is it when we're broke at 65 and have to rely on hoping someone will book us so we can eat? When someone dies in the ring? What about the life expectancy of Pro Athletes and Wrestlers being shorter than the average healthy person? Both mental and physical… The damage to both is significant and yet we continue to make the same mistakes on or own journeys through Oz and then we realize on our way home what we've truly accomplished.
Pro Athletes and Wrestlers pay a daily rent for the success they ultimately want to have and to maintain for as long as is possible. It comes with certain sacrifices that we aren't always in control of. We don't always get to leave on our terms or the way in which we think we deserve or on our own timeframe, or with our consent. And with business acumen not being taught in wrestling schools or at combines and camps, we're left to wonder what will happen in 20 years… That's the waking nightmare that doesn't have to be every Pro Athlete's reality if we all choose to learn from the bread crumbs of success so to speak. Books like Smart Money: How Pro Athlete's Don't Go Broke are an invaluable tool. As well as risk mitigation, financial acumen, and health assessments.
My hope is that if we look at where the business was, we can understand where we are headed and how we got here to this particular moment. All so that we may be the ones that break the cycle and can live with longevity in this business - in our childhood dream as it looks to us and to the future versions of us that we are in the middle of creating by learning from others' mistakes and the new information available. Maybe we don't have look back like Hulk is doing now. Maybe just maybe we can turn the tables and have our dreams be on our terms and be able to be confident that when all is said and done we did it our way. We can leave still loving it and not be physically, mentally, or emotionally broken. And maybe just maybe through smart decisions we can make our dreams more probable and extend that window of opportunity. After all, I'm a firm believer that small minds kill more dreams than the act of growing up and going after those dreams. Even in failure, at least you tried, and that means so much more to the kid you used to be than you could possibly imagine right now. Let's all strive the be the adults we needed as childhood dreamers…
Taeler Hendrix Links:
Youtube: www.youtube.com/@taelerhendrix
Blog: https://medium.com/@taelerhendrix
Cameo: www.cameo.com/taelerhendrix
Website: www.taelerhendrix.net
Podcast: https://russosbrand.com/?s=talks+with+taeler+hendrix
The Hopeful Spider by Taeler Hendrix: https://a.co/d/c1qxSFG
It's Not Easy Being A Sloth by Taeler Hendrix: https://a.co/d/3nuzPfC
