Saraya Knight: An Appreciation

You might love her when she's angry
Photo Credit: Gregory Davis/DDS

I would not want to know the Saraya Knight character in real life. She's cantankerous, miserable, volatile, and violent. It's funny how loathsome character traits in real life make for supremely entertaining tropes in theater. Over-the-top is enthralling at an arm's length, whether positive or negative in connotation. I guess there's a commentary about the definition of comedy while I'm on this wavelength, but I think all of us know the difference between reality and make-believe, right?

So when Knight walks into the main auditorium of the Berwyn Eagles Club, ripping up signs, yelling at fans, and showing absolutely zero mercy to her opponents, she's got my attention at fullstop. The intent is that I'm supposed to hate her, or more specifically, be deathly afraid of her (because she might leap out of the TV screen and rip my throat out, you see), but the thing about me is that when a tempestuous unnatural-redhead comes sweeping onto the scene throwing the the most animated hissy fit this side of my son's preschool, I really can't be assed to do anything but show my admiration.

If you're new to this blog, I'm more of an appreciator of performance rather than a guy who gets lost in the moment (live shows are the exception, because if you don't get lost in a live show, you're doing it wrong). If you give me sublime execution of character, I will support the shit out of you. Knight may not be the best wrestler on a roster that includes Ayako Hamada, Portia Perez, Cheerleader Melissa, and Athena for starters, but it's hard to argue that anyone else gets into their character as intensely and passionately as the reigning SHIMMER Champion.

The thing is that this isn't something that's her personality dialed up to eleven. From everything that I've heard about her when the cameras aren't rolling, she's as sweet as a Hershey's Kiss, often acting as a den mother for younger wrestlers in her company. Like I said, I don't want to know the character in real life, but the person seems like a sweetheart. I don't know her, but yeah, I hear things.

But again, this is about when the cameras are rolling. If I really wanted it to be a puff piece, I'd mention that her career was almost ended by a soda can. It's true, she landed accidentally on a soda can that sliced through her knee in a match against Cheerleader Melissa. How she came back from it is a testament not only to modern medical science but to her working hard not only to make waves in her homeland of England but to conquer SHIMMER as well.

Knight's character might make me want to hate her, but there's nothing about any of the trappings of it that I actively dislike. You could say that makes her a failure as a heel, but I say it's a testament to how well she does this thing called professional wrestling. If I ever make it to Berwyn, it'll be my personal mission to have one of my personal effects destroyed by Knight on her way to the ring. I might act offended, but deep down, I'm pretty sure that I'd be the happiest boy in the room that I was able to be harassed and harangued by the most wonderfully cantankerous wrestler in all the land.