BRP: More Than a Pod
Ed note: This is an op-ed that friend of the pod Jermaine from Sucio Sportz sent over. These are his thoughts and views, and he allowed us to share them with you. Shout out Bad Liquor Drinkin' Jermaine!
Words: @The_Jermaine
Have you ever sat in silence, but the noise in your own head drowns it out? Read that line again and let it sink in. We’ve all been there before, and if you haven’t sat in a quiet room and been consumed by the thoughts racing around in your mind, consider yourselves lucky. Me? I experience this far too often. It’s become a common thing.
You fall asleep sometime between here and there. You wake up at an odd hour. The second that first thought crosses your mind, curtains. You spend the next hour or more wondering about a myriad of things. The lack of sleep leads to other issues. You wonder why you snap and have a short fuse? The chest pains from exhaustion. Feeling sleepy and not being able to sleep. The misery.
Every so often, you find a respite. Something that helps put your mind at ease. Something that brings you to your happy place. Your happy place could be a thing you’re into. For some, it’s video games. For others, it’s sports. I’ve been into both of those. Video games (sports games mainly) have been a part of my life since I first held an Atari controller. Sports is a different thing.
I’ve been into sports since before I could speak. They’d sit me in front of a game on TV, and baby me would be mesmerized by sports. I even gave inaudible commentary. Once I could talk, it got worse. Or better, it depends on who you ask. I’d get told to be quiet or else plenty of times. I guess that’s why I got into sports media all these years later. It was injected into my veins early on. Once I got that first high, I couldn’t let it go.
My aunt Charlene would tell this story about me watching the Saints. They had drafted the stud running back from South Carolina, George Rogers. If you want to know my age, Google that info and draw a conclusion. I’m not telling y’all. [Ed note: I was going to call you old but soon realized Rogers got drafted the year I was born. We old.] Anyways…I was barely able to speak many understandable words, but I knew to say “GO BIG GEORGE” any time a Saints player did anything! I vividly remember gathering around the floor model TV set to watch the Celtics vs. Lakers in the NBA Finals. Couldn’t stand Orel Herschiser for what he did to the Bash Brothers in the World Series. Aging myself. #IYKYK
The one sporting event that grabbed my attention and became my happy place was pro wrestling. It could provide what other sports couldn’t: a consistent result that made you feel a way, but also kept you on your toes and could bring you on a rollercoaster of emotions. Back then, wrestling was simple. Faces and heels went along traditional lines. My Uncle Michael introduced me to it. We grew up like brothers because of the 10-year age gap. He was my mom’s youngest brother, and I was the first grandkid.
I, in turn, introduced it to my little sister and brother. Eventually, I got my cousins on board as well. My little brother Chris cried for hours when my dad took me and one of my cousins to a live event and he wasn’t able to go with us. I believe we saw Andre the Giant that night. Elementary-aged me thought it wouldn’t get any better than that. So glad I’ve been proven wrong many times over since.
The first live pay-per-view I watched on TV was WrestleMania VI. Terry vs Warrior was the main event. Looking back, my favorite match was Demolition vs The Colossal Connection. I used to rent tapes to watch wrestling. Video Joe off the Westbank Expressway. I had to have good grades and behavior, or else. Talk about motivation. I could tell you who won the matches, or who won the games. Other kids bought/borrowed funny books from book fairs and the library. I bought the sports almanac, wrestling books, and other sports/wrestling-related materials. I borrowed sports biographies and fiction from the libraries.
Whenever my family got together, either side, we talked shit. A LOT of shit! Everybody played sports, even the women. Hell, some of the best shit-talkers were the women, again, on both sides of my family. You had to be quick and have good comebacks. I learned from sports and wrestling. They taught me to have that bravado or confidence in myself, but also that I had to back up whatever I said. I struggled and took some Ls, but the story is still being written. The latest chapters are more like when that light bulb goes off and that wrestler finds that gimmick or thing that works. Or when that player finally lives up to the potential he had when originally drafted.
Life will throw things at you that you may not feel prepared to handle. When that happens, you go to what gives you comfort. Wrestling. In February of 1997, when Chris was killed, I had the Monday Night Wars to keep me company. A couple months later, my grandma had a heart attack and stroke. This is when the cooking with Uncle Mike started. Cooking has been my other comfort. The Montreal Screwjob was later on that same year. It was a shock to the system, entertainment-wise, after dealing with my grandmother’s heart attack and stroke. However, it kept me going.
The next few years were on autopilot. Stone Cold kicked off his new era in early 1998. He was the top guy in WWE at that time. WCW was still going strong, but started to grow a little stale. The nWo storyline that carried them was jumping the shark. Also jumping the shark was my time in New Orleans. Lost my scholarship to Tulane (2.4925 instead of a 2.5) and was about to get into some serious trouble. Shout out to the NOPD officers who harassed me throughout ’98 and ’99.
Later on, I dealt with more death, the pandemic, more death, a divorce, being a single parent, financial struggles, mental health struggles, being a parent with kids who are hurting, more death, and life just lifing like a motherfucker! However, during some of those dark days, I stumbled across a tweet from Krista B of Those Wrestling Girls. It was something to the effect of advertising an interview or article with a WWE wrestler. The fact that a young Black woman working at a hip-hop radio station in New York City was promoting wrestling? Instant follow.
I noticed she would tweet daily “Pray before you slay” and it resonated with me. I do my daily “Hi weirdos” as a check in/good morning tweet. Started noticing more Black members of the IWC populating my timeline. Scrolling Twitter, I’d see some Black wrestling fans speak of a podcast by some guys who looked like us. I’d heard of BRP and saw some stuff from them. The deeper I got into Black IWC, the more I’d see/hear about this podcast. It was a total grassroots movement and I appreciated it. Only wrestling pods I knew of were very white. Nothing wrong with that, but having someone who looks like me (almost quite LITERALLY in a couple cases) and is around the same age/life experiences talk wrestling…that intrigued me.
I started listening every week. Even followed the crew. Started participating in the chat, more and more every week. Got introduced to more Black members of the IWC and more Black wrestling content creators. The A Show, Black Announce Table, and others. Not just Black, either. Vin Forte and Emilio Sparks of WrassleRap are two dudes I really rock with. So is Mike Sempervive. The more I immersed myself in this online wrestling community, the more I found people with a similar passion for wrestling.
There was something different about BRP. The way we connected was fun. I’d comment, they’d post it on the screen, and everyone would laugh. Sometimes, I would actually be serious and post something poignant. It would get everyone’s attention…then Matth would say it’s the liquor talking. He named me “Bad Liquor Drinkin Jermaine” because I always had something high-proof in my cup. Fast forward a year or two later…he saw me in action. We met up while he was in town and hung out. Fast forward, now I’m family.
The familial atmosphere extended beyond pleasantries online or in the chat. Some of these people became more than friends, almost like a real family. I even found a small tribe to create content with: C.D.B. Multimedia, our podcast network made up of Sucio Boyz, Sucio Sportz, Dre Lax Podcast, A Different Angle, and Aim High. It turns out that we also became like a family. Crazy how a few chance meetings, follows, and conversations can lead to life-altering changes and friendships. I do life on a daily with a LOT of the people I met. We hold each other accountable and check in routinely. I have phone numbers for the ones I’m especially close with. They’re liable to get a text/call from me at random checking-in and seeing how they’re doing. Can’t say how many times I’ve had that smile on my face seeing a name/number pop up checking on me.
When you’re fighting things meant to destroy you, you need weapons to help you fight. Sometimes, those weapons aren’t actual weapons. They can come in the form of words of encouragement, an uplifting moment of silliness, an impromptu therapy session, or just a good talk about wrestling with a friend. I’ve found that and more through this community.
When I say this is more than a podcast, that’s what I mean. It’s a community. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a family. We may not always agree or get along, but I’ll move furniture behind them! Trust me. I’m the last person you wanna see angry. I feel that way because some of us wouldn’t have made it through almost losing the home you never thought you’d own to begin with, or your uncle/cooking partner you were raised with cause yall 9 years apart unexpectedly passing away, or their wife leaving them in a pandemic. I know I wouldn’t have made it without through all that without this podcast… friendship circle… community… family… (*cues Marvin Sapp*). Because if I luv wrestling, and you luv wrestling, then WE LUV WRESTLING!
