Who would be your Logo? Who would be your silhouette?

For me, there’s only one answer.

If the wrestling business was a person, that person would be Jake the Snake Roberts.

Jake is the guy who represents wrestling and all it’s contradictions in the same package. He’s been a star. He’s been a nobody. In the ring, he’s given us moments that are sublime and moments that are unwatchable…sometimes during the same match. He’s an example of  the best and worst elements of the business, equal parts entertaining and boring, sympathetic and self-destructive, laughably phony and frighteningly believable…but always compelling enough to keep you coming back for more.

If the business had a voice, it would be Jake’s, full of dark and seductive promise…and threaded with the possibility of betrayal.

If the business had a face, it would be Jake’s--lined and worn from years of abuse, but eyes that can still flare with passion, as if saying: it isn’t over yet.

If the business had a finishing move, it would be Jake’s DDT--the end can come at any time for anyone and once it’s over, there’s no getting back up.

But the contrasts are what draws me to Jake’s career…and what draws me to the wrestling business in general. There are times I am embarrassed to be a wrestling fan. Times I am proud of it. There are times I feel fortunate to be able to see what I see and times I wonder why I even bother. There are moments the business brings me great joy…and moments that fill me with an unspeakable sadness.

There are other guys who are icons in wrestling. The Undertaker, coming up on twenty years of loyal service. Hogan and Flair, the respective sizzle and steak of the eighties. Shawn Michaels, the performer.

The dark side of the business is also well represented by men and women who gave the business everything only to have it all taken away. Drugs, disease, murder, accidents…wrestling has a tragedy for every taste.

But the silhouette belongs to Jake. The consummate professional. The consummate screw-up. The reason I love wrestling and the reason I sometimes want nothing to do with it.

Looking around an indy locker room the other day, I saw veterans and rookies, serious professionals and partiers, the best and worst of what wrestling has to offer. And for a moment--just a moment--I thought I saw them all beneath the long, dark shadow of Jake the Snake Roberts.

I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. But I do know I’ll be coming back for more.

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