Thank You, Tommy: A Reflection on an Unconventional Wrestling Legend

Earlier tonight, Tommy Dreamer retired.

OK, scratch that; Tommy Dreamer left WWE. His reason for leaving is apparently because of his distaste for how he has been used in WWE, and there are rumors that he is going to TNA.

But that’s not why I’m writing this article.

I’m not writing as a smark tonight. I know the details of his leaving, true. I know that this is likely not the end for Tommy Dreamer. But there is a time and a place for critical commentary. This is not it.

Tonight I’m writing more as a fan of pro wrestling. I’m writing as someone who believes in the fact that the little guy, the guy with fewer physical gifts, can make it. I’m writing as someone who is more than willing to cheer when he does.

So, with that being said, tonight I’d like to take the opportunity to celebrate the career of the most unlikely of wrestling legends.

So let me start again:

Earlier tonight, Tommy Dreamer retired.

I acknowledge that Tommy Dreamer was never a major world champion or a major player at all in WWE. Even in the stomping grounds that made him famous, the original ECW, Tommy Dreamer only climbed the mountain once, and he did so reluctantly (due to the Mike Awesome-Tazz quagmire in early 2000).

But yet, Tommy Dreamer became a legend in professional wrestling. Why? Because Tommy Dreamer never gave up.

Actually, I think his family put it better. To quote his goodbye speech tonight:

“My daughters go to kindergarten…my daughter Kimberly said ‘My Daddy falls down a lot.’ And my daughter Brianna says, ‘…But my Daddy always gets up.’”

What quote better describes Tommy Dreamer? What quote better describes someone like him, any underdog story? How many people would be better off in life if they could be described by that particular thought?

You may have the power to knock me down, but you do not have the power to keep me there.

Forgive me if I’m waxing overly poetic; if it’s still unclear, this article is not entirely about Tommy Dreamer. This article is about the fact that people like Tommy Dreamer can still make it.

The fat guy from Yonkers was very obviously beloved by everyone he said goodbye to tonight. The fat guy from Yonkers became an icon, a champion in pro wrestling. And hey, the fat guy from Yonkers also got to marry a beautiful woman too (Beulah).

Admittedly, I never watched the original ECW. As such, I’m not entirely sure of the impact Tommy Dreamer truly had on pro wrestling. Apparently he once was someone you had to damn near kill to beat in the ring.

On further review, that’s not hard to imagine.

Today’s pro wrestling world–indeed, today’s world in general–is full of the silver spoon-fed, muscle-bound jackhammers, people with superior genetics or connections or trust funds or this or that.

How many of those types have come and gone in the time that Tommy Dreamer has been around? How many superior physical specimens has Tommy Dreamer outlasted? Too many to count. Why? Because they didn’t have the guts that Tommy Dreamer does.

When they fell down, they stayed down, “this isn’t worth it.”

But people like Tommy Dreamer got back up.

Tonight, one of those feel-good stories called it quits. Tonight, Tommy Dreamer retired.

All I can say, as a fan, is this:

Thank you, Tommy! *clap clap clap-clap-clap* Thank you, Tommy! *clap clap clap-clap-clap*