I had never wrestled a bear.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to.  But, I had an open contract, which meant that the promoter could match me up with anyone (or anything) he wanted.  I went down the hall and knocked on the bear’s dressing room door.  “Come on in, Rock,” the trainer said.  “I’m Tuffy Truesdale.  Let me introduce you to my protégé.  This is Brutus.”  I found myself staring at a 550-pound live bear.  “Brutus has been touring California for the past few weeks,” the trainer continued.  “It’s been raining there, and Brutus doesn’t like the rain.  He’s been a little irritable.  He was supposed to wrestle the German guys tonight, but they wrestled him last week and they got hurt.  They refused to get in the ring with him again, so tonight’s your lucky night, Rock”  “Great,” I thought, “The bear has been hurting wrestlers in the ring, and now it’s my turn.  Oh, joy.”  Tuffy continued, “Brutus can do just about anything a human wrestler can do, only Brutus does it better.  When you tie up with him, make sure you keep your hands in a fist.  If you get a finger near his mouth, he’ll bite it off.  He’s not being mean.  It’s instinctual.”  “Great,” I thought.  “Make a note to yourself, Rock.  Make fists when tying up.  Good point.”  “Now, when the bell rings,” Tuffy continued, “be aggressive.  Brutus loves it when you’re really aggressive.  If you hold back, he gets bored.  Rock, he weighs 550 pounds.  If he gets bored and decides to leave the ring, we can’t stop him.”

It was time.  I entered the ring.  I looked at Brutus … and I smiled.  I was home now … the bear was on “my turf” … and, somewhat surprisingly, I felt absolutely no fear.  In fact, I was anxious to get the match underway.  The bell rang.  I was aggressive – very aggressive.  Brutus loved it.  He quickly backed away, lifting his legs as I attempted to hook them.  When he stood up, he was considerably taller than I.  He grabbed me under my left arm, lifted me several feet off the mat and threw me more than half way across the ring.  I put a reverse headlock on him, and he threw me over his back to the mat.  No matter what I tried, he had a dramatic counter-move.  Brutus was great.  His trainer was right; this bear was a better wrestler than many of my human opponents.  We had an amazing match.  We both enjoyed it immensely.  After about ten minutes, Brutus cocked his head to the side and smiled.  Then he took me down hard, pressed his 550 pounds on my chest and shoulders . . . and licked me in the face as the referee counted one … two … three.  I believe both Brutus and I left the ring happy, content and with mutual respect for a new “friend.”