Clancy’s Corner: Community
A look at Clancy’s support system behind-the-scenes
An emerging talent on the indie scene, “Fancy” Ryan Clancy has quickly evolved into one of the most intriguing prospects throughout the northeast. Yet a torn ACL led to complete reconstruction of Clancy’s left knee, which has temporarily removed him from the ring.
That doesn’t mean Clancy isn’t still fully immersed in the world of professional wrestling. Every Friday, he shares his newest story for Undisputed.
Clancy’s column is a subscriber-only feature.
COMMUNITY
One of the earliest lessons I remember hearing in school and from my parents was, “You are the sum of the people that you surround yourself with.”
For this week, I thought I would take a look at a specific community of my own that has had a profound impact on my career and personal life.
As a two-time Wrestling Open Champion (the only one), I take my time and my wrestling at Wrestling Open incredibly seriously. Now that Wrestling Open has been around four years, it is amazing what the wrestlers on the core roster have been able to accomplish, myself included. I mean just for a few examples off the top of my head are Bear Bronson, Swipe Right, Marcus Mathers, and even the career run currently that guys like Dustin Waller, Ichiban, & Kylon King are on. You cannot find any high-level independent wrestling show going today without some wrestler who has a connection to Wrestling Open.
I think this is for a very specific reason. We have created an incredible community of selfless wrestlers who want to see each other succeed.
Let’s take myself, Miracle Generation, and others for example.
At the very beginning, we were wrestling in front of maybe 40 to 50 people max. While we would do our best for 4 or 40,000, we took it as a challenge to collectively grow this brand and, in turn, each other. We hopped in cars together, challenged each other’s beliefs, promoted the events like crazy, and most importantly as the years progressed, we were there for each other in ways you can’t imagine. I remember a very specific time where I had personally been going through a lot of difficult life challenges, but each and every person in that locker room reminded me of what we were doing and what we could continue to create together.
The biggest culmination that comes to mind to me is the finale of the tournament to crown the first Wrestling Open Champion. Ichiban vs. Brad Hollister was the match, and they put on a hard-hitting classic. By this time, we had grown Wrestling Open into a destination for some of the best wrestlers on the indies, and we were only getting started. Ichiban wound up winning and became the first champion. As soon as he came back from the curtain, we all huddled up and lifted him up cheering up and down collectively. It felt like a win for all of us. Our community had grown so much from such small beginnings that any win was a win for all of us.
