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The Power Of Similarities In Our Co-Main Event; A PRW Dirtsheets Exclusive Piece On Sean Aries and Manik Mercer
Topic Started: Nov 30 2015, 02:58 PM (198 Views)
Joey NOX
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The Power Of Similarities

A PRW Dirtsheets Exclusive On The Co-Main Event Between Sean Aries and Manik Mercer


An Op-Ed from Daniel Fluoride

By now, all PRW fans are ready for Christmas Carnage. After what feels like years worth of tremedous hype and promotion from both competitors, Patrick Slaughter and Alex LeBlanc will enter the ring together in one on one match that could just determine who is Mr. PRW. Every PRW fan is ready for this one and we at PRW Dirtsheets are equally excited. Having said that, this writer is just as excited and perhaps maybe a touch more so for the co-main event. The match in question pits massive British battletank Manik Mercer against PRW's favorite psychopathic dad Sean Aries. It's a battle that most people seem to be harping about through their differences---but perhaps Aries and Mercer have more similarities than you'd realize.


With Alex LeBlanc and Patrick Slaughter, the differences could not be any clearer. Patrick Slaughter's entire PRW persona, an extension of who he is as a person, is the guy who never says anything controversial. Slaughter epitomizes diplomatic and has a Tim Duncan-level of professionalism which in turn matters his competitive edge. Alex LeBlanc is a man who lives in the moment, speaks his mind and more often than not aims to get people talking. Slaughter once made a joke about Gemma Traumaward's appearance and was so bothered by it, fearing it would set a bad example to kids who watched PRW, that he personally penned her an apology letter in private. PRW had to pay Gemma Traumaward to keep her from reading in the air to make fun of him. On the other hand, Alex LeBlanc has paid more fines and written more apologies, sincere or otherwise, than he can count. A PRW staffer once told me, with a hint of seriousness mid chuckle, that Alex LeBlanc has paid for more FCC staffers vacations through his fines than he'd even realize. "I've run out of ways to tell him to stop talking" said the guy with a laugh. Slaughter and LeBlanc have three things in common; 1) they're both alpha males at the top of the PRW pack, 2) they're both single fathers and 3) they're human beings. Everything else, from wrestling styles to personality to the way they walk and talk are drastically different. Their differences make it all the more intriguing. The fact they're such rockstars of diffferent magnitudes adds to the desire to see YOUR rockstar beat the other. If trash talk and bravado upset you, you're hoping Patrick Slaughter can stem the tide and send Alex packing. If you dislike the boring "one day at a time" coach speak and personality, you probably will be rooting for Alex LeBlanc to establish his superiority over Patrick Slaughter once and for all.


But we're not here to talk about the differences of Alex LeBlanc and Patrick Slaughter. We're here to discuss how similar Sean Aries and Manik Mercer are. This sounds crazy but even in their bodies, they're similar. Now granted there's not much similar about 5'11 (in his dreams) "Dad bod" Sean Aries and muscled up Manik Mercer when you look at them but their body shapes ar similar in how anti PRW they were and are. For Sean Aries, he broke into PRW during the era of "the big men". Long before the PRW fan climate changed drastically, guys like Manik Mercer ruled the scene. Big men with massive muscles and larger than life personalities. Guys like the massive Inquisitor or Lion or JR Judy or Matt Caje; bigger men---and yet the one who has outlasted them all is the small Sean Aries. Aries' height, his lack there of perhaps, was one of the main identifying traits of the Stoned Kodiak. His average size, average build, average carpentry skills combined with his all world heart, toughness and in-ring IQ made Sean Aries a legend among fans and despised by his older bigger pees. Fast forward to 2015 where the culture of PRW has changed. Wrestlers are smaller and more agile, their bodies look less like bodybuilders and more like lean soccer players. Even the champion is perhaps more of a "Dad Bod" guy at his height than a real physical specimen. Among the smaller wrestlers is the giant Manik Mercer who would've fit in in 2008 or 2009 but now stands out as the anthesis of what PRW fas look for. His body is a hindrance for some and a total blight to others. Both men, while looking totally different, have faced the same prejudices.


Sean Aries' battle with PRW authority, management and even his fellow wrestlers is well known. Aries looked "too goofy," he was "too small" and those who didn't get him wondered how others did. While fans refused to let Sean Aries be forgotten, those with power just wondered how a guy like him would ever be taken seriously, missing the point of why fans liked Aries entirely to begin with. Once more, fast forward to 2015 where the fan attitudes and cultures have changed. Now the gooffball is the drawing card thanks to the internet where vines, memes and instagram have made fans more social media savvy. The door has been opened for more comedy figures to become "stars" and while most will argue that "funny don't make money", PRW has shown that you don't need to be a grunting no personality having oaf to be a star. In the process, it has been made more difficult for people like Manik Mercer to breakthrough. Mercer may have charm and personality in his own right but beyond that, he still remains a man with a quiet character to him. PRW fans have gone from believing that you should speak when spoken to believing that if you're not speaking, you're forgettable. In the locker room, most avoid Mercer because they feel he takes himself too seriously and is "a serious drain on morale." Mercer, like Aries, has been a victim of the culture of PRW and how fans view their talents.


Both have been victims, in a sense, of real life relationships impacting their careers. For Sean Aries, the Heidi Apocalypse pregnancy and subsequet birth of Grace Aries impacted him both positively and negatively. It gave Sean a purpose in life and in PRW and motivated him to do greater things. At the same time, it opened the door for the world to watch as Aries learned "on the job" how to be a father and balance his career at the same time. That sort of public pressure does a lot to a person even if they won't admit it. Even now, Aries struggles with "the void of love" and who knows where the hell Emily Hart is anyways? Furthermore can it be argued Aries never really learned from the Heidi fiasco by getting back into business with someone way crazier? Similarly, Manik Mercer "found love" in Suerte and then lost her when she passed away tragically. As you'd expect, that loss took a lot out of Mercer's momentum as he lost a partner in the ring and in his personal life. The passing of Suerte impacted PRW in many ways and one of those ways just how much steam it took out of a guy who could be a future star. Those closest to Mercer believe that not only has he not gotten over it, he may never will. Perhaps the guilt is due to Suerte's death being, coldly perhaps, referred to as a wrestler's death. A wrestler's death in the business is something everybody can see coming but nobody seems to attempt to prevent because "it's wrestling." Perhaps Mercer is guilty emotionally about not being there to prevent the worst case scenario? Both guys have been hurt and whether that hurt fuels them or drains them is something only they can answer.


What's more, perhaps most of all, both have paternal relationships that shape them. Manik Mercer was very close to his father and while those who ask about it won't get an answer, Mercer is still at his core just a big man trying to make his big man proud. While Aries' father is a subject never broached, Sean Aries IS the father to the aforementioned Grace Aries. While Aries takes little things seriously, he is deadly serious about the little thing in his life that tied together the most hectic periods of his career. Those who know Sean Aries know that Grace Aries is a soft spot for him and that while insults about his city or his "ratfuck of a life" do little to impact him, he does take the digs at his child personally. I'm not sayin Jesse "Bro" Drive should take note but perhaps he should spend less time insulting Emily Hart and more time finding the matters that actually bother Aries. In many ways, Manik Mercer can relate to Aries when it comes to just how important a paternal relaitionship is. Where as Mercer fights due to his father, Aries fights due to his status as a father.


Sean Aries vs Manik Mercer isn't a big marquee match on paper. Mercer is still trying to establish himself and Sean Aries really has no quarrel with him beyond twitter. Aries' return boils down to him feeling like he let his fans down in his last match with Agustin Gates and feeling as though if he is to retire and leave PRW for good, he should eventually do it on a run that doesn't end with him emotionally turning bitter and cynical about wrestling. He has no real true beef to this point with Mercer and Mercer's beef with Aries seems to be less about who Aries is and what he represents. Sean Aries' frequent twitter tirades represent to Mercer what I suppose an American would consider the Monday Morning Quarterback. While Mercer is trying to find his home in PRW, Aries is on twitter ("oftentimes just for fun" according to a source) making sure that his displeasure with PRW gets read. Mercer views it as Sean Aries shitting on the place where he (being Mercer) eats. Aries views it as calling out a substandard product that he's poured passion and energy into. Mercer sees the chance to grab a hall of fame scalp on his wall, Aries is looking to get back in the ring and take on a man who could one day be a hall of famer. Combined, the two have found a common ground and a common interest to fight one another.


If only fans and perhaps they themselves could realize just how much more they have in common.
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