Scott Schlaufman
Sports Editor

I got beat up by a woman. No lie.
Standing outside the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix following saturday’s Dragon Gate USA pay-per-view taping as part of Wrestlemania weekend when it happened.
After taking a knife edge chop to the chest­—one of professional wrestling’s most simple-but-painful moves—from a friend of mine from Texas, his girlfriend (also a wrestler) wanted a shot at me.
I figured, “Hell, I survived the guy’s shot, this should be cake.” But the soft, delicate touch one would expect from a woman was quickly forgotten.
While her boyfriend gave me a straight slap to the chest, she wasn’t going to go easy.
She wound up, putting her whole body into the move. She quickly moved towards me, her right hand leading the way. I’ll never forget the piercing look in her eye. It was possessed, nearly psychotic. She was out to make me hurt.
You could say it was my reintroduction to professional wrestling.
The chop, simply a backhanded slap to the chest, is one of wrestling’s oldest traditions. In today’s world, the move is usually accompanied by a “woo” from the crowd, in honor of wrestling great Ric Flair. When used on rookies, it’s meant to intimidate; when used by veterans, it’s meant to show toughness.
So taking that chop, it was like a term of endearment for me. How much did I love this pseudo sport? Sure, I traveled nine hours and spent hundreds of dollars on tickets, tee shirts and hotel reservations, but could I appreciate the slightest amount of brutality that these athletes endure on a daily basis?
My guess is that most people couldn’t.
Despite the fact that most people have been interested in the sport at some time in their life, whether they were cheering for Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin or the Rock, many don’t understand the physical tolls that professional wrestling takes on a body.
The rings are padded, but these guys aren’t falling on mattresses like it’s portrayed. It’s merely padding equivalent to a blanket, sitting on a series of two by fours, which isn’t as nice to fall on. There is a large risk of injury, supplemented by a lack of health insurance, even in WWE.
The death of Eddie Guerrero, among other people, has led to increased awareness of many of the sport’s dark sides, but many of the hardest working people in the business are the ones who will never be on your TV on Monday night.
Could I appreciate the physical effort that they put out to impress a bar full of fans?
When I felt that hand hit my chest, it hurt. She followed it up with a chop to my back. That also hurt. Hell, I even took a forearm shot to the side of the head that left me more scrambled than eggs on a Saturday morning breakfast platter.
Wrestlers realize that not everyone appreciates what they do, and the only people who truly can appreciate it are the ones who lace up their boots and step between the ropes.
I can sit ringside for as many shows as possible, but I would never come close to the perspective that comes from actually performing against an athlete who lives to be a professional wrestler.
I can’t wait to get chopped again.