On February 27th in Des Moines, Black Sage pinned Nevada Smith to become the FWF's National Champion, their highest honor. With this, one might assume that Sage had achieved something equally elusive, the respect of the FWF's locker-room and fans...but like too many groundbreakers and revolutionaries of the past, it appears that respect is only willing to surface in death, this life's ultimate tragedy for its unsung heroes.
What makes he wrestling world so apprehensive about Sage?
Surely it's something greater than his association with the New Breed, and the controversy they've created. This leads several to point directly at Sage's past, *once again*. A lot of people still see Sage as a guy who had every opportunity at one point, and let everyone down. They say *wrestling gave*...and Sage kept taking and taking and taking, like repetitive mindless robots. Sage, of course, will argue this to his end, saying...
"I didn't throw anything away. I simply looked it in the eye at one point, said "no thanks", and walked away. If you're not happy doing something...just STOP." (Black Sage)
If this is the case, many people aren't buying...and now seem to believe that the only reason Sage is around is because his only two choices are *wrestling and prison*...so in turn, he's only creating problems in the business, which is what he wants and does best. Even Sage's former ASWF tag-team partner, Ares, has gotten into the act recently, surprisingly virtually everyone when he said...
"Sage *IS* the Darryl Strawberry of pro-wrestling. Was anyone surprised the fifth time Strawberry got busted? *NO*! Just like we weren't surprised the second time he got busted! Once that trust is lost, it's lost forever, no matter how much compassion the world shares. He's lucky he's got a job! ...so shut the **** up already!" (Ares)
I, however, don't buy *this*. Ares is on the outside looking in, and that's bitterness speaking. What bothers the fans and a lot of the FWF payroll is seeded deeper than petty conflict. It's what Sage represents that threatens the wrestling world. They don't want to enter back into the logic of Sage's world, like they once did, only to be let down by some the breaking of some unwritten law that people in the spotlight have to be what to the people who put them in that spotlight want them to be, regardless. Sage is a man who has lived in violence, grown in violence, buy yet...has developed a view on life, which *gave* him life. The cost of this is exceptional for an ordinary man, with the majority left to live in shame. *Not* Black Sage though. This man has stepped back into the wrestling world, and on a larger scale, the real world...and he's intent on using logic for better than worse, not only wanting the best of this world for himself, but wanting the best of himself for this world. He's sick of military logic. He's sick of a whore's logic and a pimp's logic. He's sick of the promoters logic. He wants no more of *mothers wit*, of *smarts*, or of *playing the dozens*. He sees a challenge in the battle for justice and fulfillment against the money-fixed eyes of street hustlers, politicians, and his wrestling peers. For Sage doesn't see any difference between these men, only social standing.
"Do we celebrate the best, or those with the best chances? Face it...silenced voices are achieved through limited choices!" (Black Sage) Cut it all down, and it amounts to Sage not craving the empty acceptance the bourgeois world awards for conformity...and that world being threatened by it. Sage is the unmistakable hero of every man who's waged war with destiny for as long as it classified who they were by some ridiculous *gimmick*; the cigarette smoker, the junkie, the crook, the bitch, the negro, the faggot, the corporate executive, the punk,...and anyone fixed on power. Sure...some sent congratulations, but each contained unmistakable hints of condescension. FWF broadcaster, and occasional columnist, Jake Shades said upon Sage's crowning...
"Lebron and Malec outta front for a tickertape parade. For confetti they use Sage's shredded arrest warrants!" (Jake Shades)
In response to that particular comment, Sage had this to say...
"I'll be as much of a man to people as they are to me, but I can't prove myself if they won't let me. Let the past be the past, and I'll be a valiant champion. Yeah...I might be the champion now, but I won't feel like a champion until things change and I'm the reason why!"
For Sage, it's a lot like an election, only in reverse. Here he is, already in office, and now he has to go out and start campaigning! People see Sage as an offense to society. This isn't surprising in a society that lacks a reform system, no matter what degree the alleged crime...and not by failure, but by choice, one of Sage's main arguments. To an unbiased eye, Black Sage is a return to reality, representing more of it...and in actuality, is less of an offense to the mirage of American life. Then you have the extremists! Retired wrestler "The Natural" James Lee, who's greatest claim to fame was a six day reign as Mid South TV Champ in 1983, took a harsher approach than most, saying...
"Watching Black Sage crowned champion was like finding a dead baby under the Christmas tree!" (James Lee)
Even if such disdain is deserved, then wouldn't these critics at least parallel Sage's supposive moral fabric with that of the business that employs him? That's the problem with extremes. They're only the extreme of one side, not as a collective whole. No one expects someone like James Lee to say that Sage tells the truth about pro-wrestling, a corrupt champ in a corrupt business, the perfect symbol! They won't bite the hand that feeds them, no matter how corrupt, and this is exactly what separates Black Sage from the rest of the white sheep! I went straight to Sage for his conclusion on this debate, rather than my apparent own, since they'd likely be the same. Here's what he told me...
"Another day, another obstacle...but I'm in it for the long haul. ...so just tell people there's a lot I *want* to do, that I'm going to do...and that I want to reach them so they don't have to worry about me disgracing them for supporting this business. No one has to worry about me stopping progress. The FWF's progressed more with six months of the New Breed than in their entire history! I've been to the top...and I've been to the bottom. I'm the *guy* who can walk into schools and prisons and say...I know it's tough, but don't give up on this world...even with all its disappointments and deceit, good things can happen if you let them. *I* can make that difference!" (Black Sage)
(c) Copyright W.O.W. magazine, 2000
