When I was growing up, I had a dream job. However, my dream job is very unconventional. I grew up wanting to be a ring announcer or commentator for the WWE. I constantly played out matches with action figures, calling the action for no audience, dreaming of one day being part of the real show. I knew I needed field experience in some way, so a degree in communications is a great step in that direction. I believe that this scholarship will be both beneficial to my career, but will also benefit others with entertainment to put a smile on their faces.
The year was 2007. This was the year I fell in love with professional wrestling. I played the video games, I watched the product constantly, but what I find to be the most important, I began collecting action figures. In the presence of no one besides my parents, I put all my heart in to this fictional wrestling world that I came up with in my head. To me, wrestling was real, and I treated it as such. I was just a kid playing with toys, but in my head, I was the owner of WWE, creating dream match after dream match. This mindset stayed the same, but evolved as I started to figure out how this world really operated. Instead of contest, it became long-term booking. Instead of feuds, it became story lines.
Things changed in 2015 when I began live streaming pro wrestling video games. Under an alias, I streamed in virtual form what I had been doing for all those years with toys. I did the ring announcing and commentary myself, but I was not big enough to make an impact in the gaming world. I was still chasing the dream. In 2018, my dream became a reality when I became the ring announcer for West Georgia Wrestling Entertainment. Of course, this was my first real jump into the behind-the-scenes work of Pro-Wrestling. As time progressed, I felt like I was on Cloud Nine, but I still thought I could do more.
We signed on with another company and began to do television tapings. Our promoter began the search for a commentary team, and I saw this as an opportunity to broaden my horizons. I threw my name in the hat and was offered the position the next day. A few months later, I began my commentary journey as the promotion’s (now renamed Victory Championship Wrestling Georgia) play-by-play commentator. After some time of pulling “double duty,” I have evolved in both of these fields, but I have much to learn. The communications program at Columbus State will provide me with skills I have yet to obtain, and allow me to be a more confident on-screen personality.
Not only will this scholarship help me in the short-term, but I plan to carry this knowledge with me, even if my WWE hopes do not pan out. This degree can carry me into many different fields, such as news, sports, and performance art. In the long-term, I plan, no matter where I end up, to put a smile on the face of as many people as possible. Pro Wrestling has been a smile-producing product for over 50 years, and I want to be a part of that. However, other fields such as sports casting can produce similar results, and I will use this program to make lots of people happy, even in the darkest of times.
#CHRISTIANSPIVEY