Wrestler Flip Gordon is best known for his high-flying aerial assaults. Recently, though, the emerging Ring of Honor star was momentarily grounded by an unexpectedly heated Twitter battle surrounding pro athletes kneeling during the National Anthem.
“I forget sometimes I’m not just a soldier,” Gordon told Arm Drag Takedown with Pollo Del Mar. “I can’t voice my complete opinion.”
In addition to professional wrestlng, Ring of Honor star Flip Gordon is a member of the Massachusetts Army Reserves.
In addition to his pro wrestling career, which sees Gordon on this weekend’s multi-city ROH “Global Wars” tour, he is an active member of the U.S. Army Reserves in his birth state of Massachusetts. While enlisted, Gordon became a C4 and explosives expert as a Combat Engineer.
Via Twitter, Gordon tried to explain his perspective on the efforts to bring attention to racial injustice in the United States, particularly disparate rates of police violence against African Americans. Gordon’s fans, proponents of the silent protest before major league sporting events, lashed out.
Feeling “attacked” rather than listened to, the wrestler snapped back. His message, he says, was lost in the crossfire.
“What I was trying to get across [online] is I understand what [athletes] are protesting,” Gordon said. “I’m behind [protesting] 100-percent; what I don’t agree with is the time they are protesting it.”
He generally side-steps political discussion, particularly on social media, Gordon told the podcast. However, the Montana high school wrestling standout-turned-pro recently weighed in on NFL and NBA players kneeling during the National Anthem, saying he finds it “disrespectful.” Soon, he said, things turned ugly.
“It definitely went awry,” Gordon confessed of the Twitter exchange which — in pro wrestling terms — became something of a “Pier 6 brawl.” “Part of it was because I let it get a little personal and my feelings got involved into my argument, because of my passion for my country.”
Eager to discuss the escalated 140-character back-and-forth with fans, Gordon told listeners he “take[s] full ownership” and “was definitely wrong for some of the things” said. That included one tweet where the grappler said “something like ‘Disrespect the flag around me and see what happens.’”
“It got a little bit out-of-hand…I took it really personally,” he admitted. “Then people thought I was threatening them.”
In hopes of clarifying, Gordon said he is “100-percent behind” the desire to bring greater social justice. He does, however, wish there was a better means of doing so than kneeling during the National Anthem. He opined: “You should never disrespect something that means so much to someone who has fought for the country.”
Of the ongoing protest started by National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the wrestler said it “hurts.” Especially, he noted, as an enlisted solider who has known many who have given their lives defending the flag and what it represents.
“There have been men and women who have died of all races for this country, for that freedom, for that flag,” continued Gordon, who joins ROH’s Pittsburgh “Global Wars” show Oct. 13, finishing the tour with a match against international superstar Will Ospreay at Sunday’s iPPV event in Chicago.
“People have died for the right to be free in this country, which would include the right to kneel during the National Anthem,” he stated. “The whole disrespect thing is what bothers me, but as said, that is their right — and the right I fought for.”
While he wholly supports other athletes “trying to speak up on a matter they are passionate about,” the high-flying in-ring performer feels a “different way or different time” might be more effective. “Whether it be before the game, before the National Anthem, after the National Anthem, half-time, during the quarter or not showing up to play the game at all — saying, ‘I’m not going to play until these issues are resolved’,’ Gordon suggested.
“Open to hearing all ideas on how to fix the issue at hand,” Gordon readily admits he does not personally have a solution to offer. However, he expressed concern the protest’s true intent — “a positive and good thing” — is lost in controversy around the National Anthem. “I wish there was a way to put it in a better spotlight,” he said.
He praises, however, athletes taking a stand for what they believe in. “They could just sit on the sidelines and do nothing,” he noted. “At least they’re doing something.”
Rather than discuss politics, which can be so divisive, Gordon would rather focus on something many more can agree upon — like professional wrestling. Earlier this year, he signed with Ring of Honor, where he is considered one of the company’s top prospects.
“It was just the right time, I think, and the right offer,” said the aerialist of the decision. Having worked with ROH in the past, notably a match against current Global Force Wrestling Impact Wrestling star Matt Sydal, and having friends in the company made it a “comfortable” choice.
“I think that’s mainly what it was, comfortability — knowing how [the company] was run, knowing I would be taken care of, knowing if I had any problems, I could talk to people,” he said. “That’s one of the ultimate things that made me sign with Ring of Honor.”
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