Moonlighting

The road to stardom isn’t as easy as most people think it is. Every year people from around the world land in Los Angeles and New York seeking to land a role in a television show or movie. They crave the spotlight, the fame and fortune that come along with celebrity and the advantages that follow. But it is not only in those two cities that a person can chase that dream. In fact in a warehouse in Bensalem, PA a man is chasing after that very dream, only he cannot pursue it until he is done sweeping up.

Jim Fetters by day runs his own exterminating business. Measuring 6’2” and weighing 280 lbs there isn’t much you could show him in the way of household pests that he couldn’t handle. “I get calls all the time from people freaking out because of the tiniest mouse running around their home. I go down and take care of it for them for $50 and have to stretch out the time I’m there to a half hour as to legitimize the fee.” When done with his daily duties of protecting us all from termites and the like Fetters drives a half hour to work out in a rusty old gym for an hour and then practices his three point landing. He states “In wrestling the first thing we learn is how to fall properly.” Fetters is in training to be a professional wrestler. He was going to originally enroll in college and pursue a degree in chemistry but decided the science of the squared circle was more his calling. When faced with the high costs of tuition of today’s universities and not wishing to go into debt because of it he decided to pay $3,500 to the Ring of Honor wrestling school. “I wasn’t getting any younger and wanted to do something with my life. I would watch the shows on television and say to myself ‘I can do that!’ so here I am busting my ass three nights a week and usually both Friday and Saturday nights on the weekend.”

The wrestling life is not an easy one. Wrestlers on the independent circuit today generally make no more than $75 a show. There are no health benefits as each wrestler is treated as an independent contractor. They have to get themselves to the shows on their own and maybe, just maybe, the promoter will load up the locker room with a couple of pizzas and some cold beer. “Try telling your wife that you just paid $3,500 for the right to make $75 a night twice a week.” Fetters makes a good point. The wrestling business makes its money by touring and putting on shows on a weekly basis. One week the show is in Boston, MA the next it could be Chicago, IL. For a married man with a baby due in less than 6 months the time away from home can be tough and it doesn’t help that he has only wrestled in one match thus far. In fact Fetters spends most of his Friday and Saturday nights setting up chairs in the arena, tearing tickets at the front door, selling programs, and then ultimately sweeping up the arena after the show is over before loading one of two trucks full of production equipment. “It’s tough; I’m not going to lie to you. I leave my wife every weekend and miss her like crazy just so I can get one step closer to fulfilling my dream of being a pro wrestler. She’s a good woman to let me do it, especially with the baby on the way.”

The **** ** ***** wrestling school has a stern policy on making sure its students learn the business of wrestling from the ground up. They are expected to be a member of the “ring crew”, the stage crew of the wrestling world, for a year before actually getting placed into a wrestling match in front of a live audience. Fetters just had his first professional match two weeks ago right in front of his wife here in Philadelphia. He came out dressed as an exterminator, “The Bug Buster”, as he didn’t have any money to buy the usually colorful spandex outfits the professional wrestlers sport today. He wrestled a fellow student who was half of his size and lost the match “because no one wins their first match.” Fetters exited the ring to a standing ovation after losing as many of the fans have come to know him as the guy who rips their tickets at the shows. “They’re a good bunch of people, they know how tough it is for us trying to break into the business and so long as we put on a good show they’ll be back the next week to show their support.” His wife was proud of him. She admits to not liking the schedule that comes with the sport and hopes that if he does make it in the business that he will be home more to be with her.

Following his first match Fetters explains he went into the backstage area where he got high fives and hand shakes from the fellow wrestlers. He then got undressed, showered, donned his civilian clothes, and waited for the show to end before grabbing his broom to sweep up. “It’s a surreal experience. You have the fans cheering for you, the lights burning hotter than they ever felt before, and this unimaginable adrenaline rush like nothing you have ever felt. I can’t wait to do it again.”

Back in the warehouse where the wrestling school is located five men are working out on old gym equipment that looks like it was imported from an eastern European prison. rusted in spots and patched together at points with duct tape. The smashing of weights against one another along with the smell of diesel fuel from the truck garage next door makes for an interesting training environment for sure. The ring, which the students are not allowed to use until they receive permission from the teacher, stands behind them with a single spotlight highlighting it. For them it is the promised land where each one of them will be able to make their mark in the world. Where they will get their chance to hold up the golden belt as champion of the world and gain that fleeting moment where there is no one that can touch them on this planet. Fortune and fame can be had inside of that ring so long as they are willing to give it everything they have and sacrifice whatever they have to in order to achieve it. Jim Fetters knows this and acknowledges it has been a tough time getting the support he needed from his family to pursue it. But how often does a person get to truly pursue a dream of theirs? Not often and Fetters knows this. “I’m realistic knowing this may not end up being a career path for me but I would never know if I didn’t try it. I want to die with as little regrets as I can.” With that he climbs into the ring in the back of the gym and stands under the spotlight basking in its warm glow.