My Proudest Match

I know this website is really supposed to be about the wrestling business and my small contribution to it, but since it’s MY site, I can do what I want so this isn’t really about wrestling. So, if you’re looking for insider scoops or my usual thoughts on what the problems are regarding the business, you should stop here and look at my “Diary of a Mat Man” columns elsewhere on the site.
The “match” I’m referring to is not one from “inside the squared circle”, but rather something far more personal.
On April 25th/ 2008 I became a father for the first time.
To twin boys. (see the hilarious Oskar Wilde wordplay regarding the word “match”? OK, maybe not hilarious, but dammit this page is SUPPOSED to have something to do with wrestling!!)

I not only consider this to be the best day of my life and the next step for me to ACTUALLY make the adjustment to becoming a “grown-up”, but this is even larger.

It is my “RE-birth day”.

To be honest, I’ve NEVER been a truly happy person. I’ve always been the type to do what’s best for the team I play for and always try and put others ahead of myself. This philosophy has screwed me over time and again from my dealings with WWE (you can’t HONESTLY think the “Just Joe” thing was my idea OR that I enjoyed ANY part of it!), or with TNA (no secrets there and I don’t really need to go in to detail AGAIN on that!) or the dozens of guys I’ve helped out in this business who seem to forget I exist the minute they move ahead (in reality, I can’t name 5 people who have made the effort to hook me up after I went out and helped them, and to be honest, I don’t even ask for help, just to stay in touch).

But on the morning of April 25th/2008, I FINALLY felt what true joy is.Now, my 2 boys had to spend some time in intensive care and while one is home safe, as of this writing the other is still in hospital. I’m getting up at 6:00am every morning to drive to the hospital to feed and change him and it’s just a matter of time until he comes home. I don’t mind doing it.

Usually twice a day.Because I see in them everything that SHOULD be right with the world. They are sweet, innocent, wonderful little people and I can’t think of anything I want to do more than watch and help them to grow up. I’ve been told by MANY parents over the years that looking in to your child’s eyes makes all of the cares of the world fade away and to be honest, I thought they were full of crap. But I drove through traffic that made me crazy (I’m 100% guilty of serious “Road Rage”) and when I got to the hospital and saw my little boy look up at me, they were 100% right and all I could think of was how little everything else mattered to me.

After 16 years in this business, NOTHING about wrestling seemed to matter. What DOES matter is:

– Helping my kids to grow up healthy
– Helping my kids to be strong, independent people
– Teaching my kids that the cerebral is EASILY as important as the physical
– Helping them to find their own way spiritually
– Teaching them to be respectful to those that deserve is and accept NOTHING less in return,
– Teaching them to be careful and not to be fearful,
– Teaching them the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing, but it’s the BEST thing,
– Showing them that being good is about DOING good and is not just the absence of bad,
– Reminding them that a man is best measured by how many measure themselves by him,
– Assuring them that they should ALWAYS stand by the courage of their convictions,
– Showing them that “kindness” is not a metaphor for “weakness”,
– Showing them that a man of TRUE strength is one who is fearless enough to let his guard down,
– Showing them what a good father is that they might be good fathers to my (future) grandchildren,
– Letting them know that mistakes are made every day and forgotten, but lessons learned last a lifetime,

– Telling them “I LOVE YOU” every single day,
– Making sure they smile EVERY DAY,
– Assuring them in every day that they are and always will be my best friends and I will ALWAYS consider them better than me.These two are the greatest inspiration I’ve ever had to become a better man, to see myself more clearly through their eyes and to be “re-born”. EVERYTHING in my life up to this point has been a prelude to this and I’m happy to start again at day one with my two perfect sons.THAT’S why I’m calling it my “Re-birth”day.

It’s been said that “if you put everyone else ahead of you, you’ll always come in last”, and to a degree this is true.But now I have two wonderful children I’m putting ahead of me and while I won’t be first, fourth is just fine (the kids and my wife… I suppose the bunny rabbit as well so that would put me fifth. HOLY CRAP am I losing ground fast!!!) and I’m still not in last! I suppose I could go on and on with this, but you get my drift. I’m now sitting here writing this with one of my son’s sleeping on my chest and my wife visiting the other in hospital right now. I have business E-mails to write and bookings to accept and all that, but I can’t concentrate because all I can think about is seeing this little guy smile at me when he wakes up.So for everyone I’ve ever worked or trained in this business, thank you very much. But my definition for “best match” has changed dramatically. Some of you I like, some I respect, some I can’t stand. And maybe it’s because I’ve set my standards regarding friendship too high and they are unrealistic for anyone to live up to.Maybe.

Or maybe my standards have been set by my NEW best friends and the best match I’ve ever been a part of. So, if you have a glass, then please raise it now in a toast to Maverick Joshua & Connor Logan Hitchen. They are the best people I’ve ever met, the best friends I’ve ever had and the best inspiration I’ve ever known.

Team, daddy LOVES YOU!!
www.legendwrestling.com

All the staff at TotalWrestling.net would like to congratulate Joe and his wife on the birth of there twin boys and whish them all the best of luck in the future.

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