外国朋友这篇写得太好了，看得xrspook内牛满面！！！！不过呢，xrspook才疏学浅，《堂吉诃德》是大部分懂的，但《指环王》部分就一窍不通，我还需要更多的文学沉淀哈……

作者道出了一个真理——WWE，当顶级正派通常没有朋友，他们独行独断，自己能搞定一切，为了某个顶级头衔他们孤独一生。但近期WWE渐渐出现了不少友谊，Brodus Clay和Tensai，Daniel Bryan和Kane，Kofi Kingston和R-Truth。

但如果要说到友谊，最最让我们觉得窝心的还是——Alberto Del Rio和Ricardo Rodriguez！可以说，他们出生入死，尤其当Del Rio是反派的时候，Ricardo还是忠心不二地为其服务。如果说Del Rio是堂吉诃德的话，他的豪车就是他那条瘦马，Ricardo就是桑丘，Del Rio追逐他的destiny就像堂吉诃德傻乎乎地在说为他的女神而战。 人人都说Del Rio是翻版JBL、翻版Eddie Guerrero，其实Del Rio是现代版的堂吉诃德！！！ 反派Del Rio追逐WHC的道路2年多了一直没成功，尤其是2012和Sheamus发生剧情的那段，简直就和堂吉诃德犯傻自取其辱毫无区别！但即便如此，Ricardo还是从未变心，自始至终守护帮助他的主子。堂吉诃德大战磨房风车，结果是悲剧的；Del Rio大战Big Show，很类似吧，但因为Del Rio不只是为他自己而战，他是为Ricardo而战，风车没有倒下，但Big Show倒下了。

Ricardo是Del Rio成功转正的关键人物！！！他们的主仆关系渐渐转变为朋友关系意味深长，根据作者的说法，WWE近10年来没有建立过如此让人动容的朋友剧情，但时间和经历的叠加让Del Rio和Ricardo很无价！！！这是摔角，但这也是剧情，剧情应该反映真实生活，生活不能没有坚如磐石的友情！

友情万岁！！！！！！！！！

Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez, from Don Quixote to Lord of the Rings

7 Mar

Friendship is the most beautiful thing in the entire world. The WWE has forgotten this for much of its history, especially the last decade, and we oftentimes only see friendships happen between bad guys. CM Punk seems to be friendless while a hero, but as a villain he seems to be surrounded by people who value his friendship. Who, after all, is Sheamus or Randy Orton friends with?

Lately the WWE seems to be changing this. Brodus Clay and Tensai are now friends, Daniel Bryan and Kane’s entire gimmick is built around their roller coaster friendship, and even Sheamus seems capable of working together with other good guys these days. Even little things like R-Truth coming out to rescue Kofi Kingston from the fiendish Damien Sandow goes a long way towards creating an actual living and breathing world. When wrestling exists as just a roster of individuals all out to become champion we no longer have an actual world, but alliances and friendships really help add a lot of context to each match, and gives more meaning and gravitas to the proceedings. Not every wrestler should be a champion, but if I can still be invested in their character and their relationships we can start to have more compelling stories occur in a vibrant world.

No two people represent this shift more than Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez. For years these two worked together as villainous versions of Don Quixote and his personal servant Sancho Panza. Del Rio was fixated with his destiny, and believed that he was entitled to become World Heavyweight Champion, while poor Ricardo was his much abused servant. Del Rio was largely unsuccessful, at least after an initial flurry of successes, and Ricardo showed a base level of intelligence and willingness to do all he could to serve his master.

Like Don Quixote, Del Rio became delusional and acted as something he was not. Don Quixote’s armor and thin horse, Rocinante, are no different than Del Rio’s fancy cars and parades of wealth and class (doubly so if you think of Sancho’s ass as being no different than Ricardo’s beat up junker he drove out in at the 2012 Royal Rumble). Despite acting as a jet-setting Heavyweight Champion Del Rio was still without the belt and merely tilted at windmills. Del Rio even had the quixotic habit of butting into situations that resulted in humiliation, with his servant getting the worst of the punishment.

Del Rio and Rodriguez had played out their master-servant relationship for years when something funny happened. While Don Quixote believed he was jousting with giants, Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez wished they were facing a windmill instead of the giant Big Show. While Don Quixote’s windmills could not fight back, Big Show could and did. Delusions of grandeur disappeared as Del Rio fought hard and long against this giant, and something changed within him as well.

Throughout history the servant-master relationship has evolved. JRR Tolkien talks much of this evolution in various letters relating his experiences as an officer from a privileged background in World War I. Many British officers were assigned “batmen”, oftentimes enlisted men from the working class, who would assist them in much of their day to day life on the front lines. Tolkien spoke highly of these people and openly admits that he and many of his fellow officers were completely unprepared for life on the front and would have died without their trusty servants.

Tolkien wrote of this servant-master relationship in the Lord of the Rings. Without Samwise Gamgee there is no chance that Frodo Baggins finishes his quest. Sam doesn’t just make the quest possible for Frodo, but he gives Frodo strength to retain his own humanity so that he is not completely consumed with the horrors they encounter on the quest. At the end of the quest we find Sam not just another servant and a gardener, but something more. Just like World War I brought about societal changes that flattened, even if only a little, the class system in Great Britain we see the same happening in the Shire as well.

Alberto Del Rio similarly finds his humanity because of his servant. Fighting with the Big Show saw him supporting Ricardo Rodriguez and realizing that he should no longer be his master, but that he should instead be Ricardo’s friend. We have not heard Ricardo Rodriguez talked about or treated as Del Rio’s

servant since Del Rio became a hero. Instead, they are seen and act as two friends who are equal to one another and who help one another. Now that Del Rio has achieved his raison d’etre, we see him growing and changing as a person. Gone are the fancy cars and the act of being the World Heavyweight Champion, and instead we see him acting as a champion by defending those weaker than himself against bullies.

Instead of remaining villainous versions of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, we see Alberto Del Rio finding his humanity because of his servant. This very humanity leads to him breaking the servant-master relationship and instead becoming equals and friends with someone who has remained loyal. Don Quixote could never break the servant-master relationship with Sancho, so much so that while Don Quixote realizes his own madness he finds that Sancho has instead bought into the same flights of fantasy. Conversely, Frodo and Sam do become friends and equals. By surviving and supporting one another through their quest, just as Del Rio and Ricardo survived their harrowing quest for the Heavyweight Championship, we see Frodo and Sam becoming friends who redeem one another.

Without Ricardo we would never see Del Rio’s rise to heroism and success, as it would be even more difficult if Del Rio was merely fighting for himself and for his destiny. It is the creation of their friendship that made this so. For once in a long time we see two good guys become friends and for it to mean something.

Friendship is awesome.

Casey Campbell writes for his website, The Hammer Dialectic, where he talks about Wrestling, Warhammer, and Marx. Follow him on Twitter and he’ll probably follow back if you chat with him about any of those things.

http://themandibleclaw.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/alberto-del-rio-and-ricardo-rodriguez-from-don-quixote-to-lord-of-the-rings/