Sorry Pal Podcast — Season 3, Episode 13“The Ladder Analogy”

You climbed the ladder. Congratulations. But who the hell gave you the right to kick it out from underneath everybody else?

On Season 3, Episode 13 of the Sorry Pal Podcast, Levi tackles an attitude in professional wrestling that pisses him off: a wrestler who reached the national level looking down at wrestlers who didn't make it as far and telling them they shouldn't be giving advice about the business.

Levi doesn't deny the accomplishment. Making it to national television matters. Working for major companies matters. Reaching a level most independent wrestlers never reach deserves respect.

But does reaching a higher rung suddenly mean everybody below you knows nothing?

That's where “The Ladder Analogy” comes in.

Levi compares it to a guy who climbs a ladder, reaches the roof, then kicks the ladder away and looks down at everybody underneath him saying:

“If you knew anything about climbing, you'd already be up here with me.”

There's just one problem...

You didn't build the fucking ladder.

This week, Levi talks about the difference between success and knowledge, why a wrestler's résumé doesn't automatically make every opinion correct, and why someone who never reached national television can still have decades of experience worth listening to.

Coaches don't have to be Hall of Fame players.

Trainers don't have to be world champions.

And a wrestler doesn't need to have worked WrestleMania to recognize bad wrestling, bad psychology, bad business or bad advice.

Levi also turns the argument around and asks a simple question: If only wrestlers who reached the highest levels are qualified to give advice, how many trainers, bookers, veterans and wrestling minds throughout history would suddenly have to shut their mouths?

Levi never claims he reached the same heights as the people he's talking about.

He doesn't need to.

He trained. He wrestled. He paid dues. He took bumps. He set up rings. He sat in locker rooms. He made mistakes. He learned from veterans. And after spending enough time inside professional wrestling, you learn some shit.

You don't have to take his advice.

But don't tell him he's not allowed to give it.

Because sometimes the guy halfway up the ladder sees something the guy standing on the roof has forgotten.

And sometimes...

the guy you're looking down on is the guy holding the fucking ladder steady.

It isn't all Levi being pissed off this week.

Levi is fired up about XICW bringing back PROVING GROUNDS for SEASON 9!

For a show that's always been about giving wrestlers an opportunity to prove themselves, develop, learn and earn their way up that ladder, the timing couldn't be more perfect considering this week's topic.

While some people are busy looking down from the top, Proving Grounds is about giving the next generation a place to start climbing.

Levi talks about why he's excited to see Proving Grounds return, what a platform like this means for developing talent, and why opportunities to learn and grow are so damn important to independent wrestling.

AND THEN THERE'S SOME DAMN GOOD NEWS...