Saudis learn lesson

[Guest LesnarLunatic]

from http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=17278

 

‘You really can get hurt in professional wrestling’

By K.S. Ramkumar, Arab News Staff

 

 

JEDDAH, 28 July — How many times you have switched off your TV while watching a wrestling bout dismissing it as a fake encounter? Or, how many times have you left a wrestling venue terming a fight as a stage-managed affair? If you are one of the doubting Toms, you are sure to change your opinion after taking a look at American professional wrestler Kevin Donofrio Cyborg.

 

On the opening day of a freestyle wrestling event at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here on Thursday, Cyborg received multiple injuries while fighting his compatriot wrestler Lex Lovett. The four-day event, which ends today, is held as part of the ongoing Jeddah summer festival. More than a dozen other wrestlers are taking part in the tournament. They include Canadians, Europeans and American Indians.

 

Cyborg, 40, encountered an attacking Lovett whose overenthusiastic blows in the bout left him with multiple injuries.

 

His injuries have been so serious that he had to undergo surgery at different places.

 

“Professional wrestling is very dangerous,” Cyborg told Arab News as he lay recovering from his injuries at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital yesterday. “Look at my bruised and swollen left eye, look at the stitches on my lips and face,” he said complaining also of a severe headache.

 

Yet, he has no complaints against Lovett. “He’s a friend of mine. Honestly, I’ve great respect for him,” said Cyborg, adding: “These are the hazards of professional wrestling. Surely, my wife back home in Florida will be upset by all my injuries.”

 

Asked how it happened,” Cyborg said: “ I was on the mat. We both went through a series of moves. Then he went to the soft ropes then a complete flip, a back flip and his knees made contact near my eyes and also my chest. He tried to perform a very high-risk maneuver. He went to the top of the rope and did a ‘moonsault’ when I was still on the mat. That’s how I was badly injured all over.”

 

Cyborg’s hopes of thumping his opponent to the roars of the crowd took an early blow when he was literally laid low by Lovett.

 

Cyborg, who holds South American, German and European heavyweight championships, said he did not need to wrestle for money. “I own three medical clinics and a 25,000 sq. ft. gym, rather a fitness center, back home in Florida. I spend a lot of time with kids training them because I love them,” said Cyborg who is married with a six-year-old son. “I love to entertain people with professional wrestling,” added Cyborg who has been wrestling from the age of seven. What amazes him is children here love wrestling.

 

Pointing at the injuries he sustained in fights in the past five years, Cyborg said: “I’ve reconstructive surgery to my shoulder, and undergone hernia, ankle and neck surgery. I’ve been treated for a broken toe, broken hand, three broken ribs and broken tooth. This is the price you pay when fighting professional fights.”

 

Said a wrestling fan who came to see Cyborg: “His bruised left eye, and stitches on the eye, lips and shoulders should serve as an eye-opener to every wrestling fan that a professional fight is genuine, not a fake one.”

 

On his part Cyborg is determined to continue to fight. “I’ll not give up, I’ll continue to fight because I love to entertain wrestling lovers,” said Cyborg who wrestles in all major international heavyweight tournaments the world over.