Ever met, talked to, or known any wrestlers?

[IcemanSK]

Ever had a chance encounter (airport, etc) or gotten to know a pro wrestler? What were they like?

I got the chance to spend a great deal of time with a guy from my hometown called "Puppet the psyco dwarf." He was, as you may guess, a dwarf who does hardcore matches all over the country! He even wrestled Tom Arnold from "Best Damn Sports" on TNA wrestling.

He was completely unlike his character. He was very bright, & very kind. I'd ask him about other wrestlers. If he liked them, he'd tell me great stories about them. If he didn't like them, he'd politely change the subject.

 

[terryl965]

Houdini was a wrestler back in the eighties he was my mechanic as well.

 

[kaizasosei]

If you meet a good wrestler....wrestle with them.

it can be a very educational experience. diffenent ma or sports will have slightly different goals, different mindsets.- as to what is good or bad-

i mean, i can still strike hard from guard or pull some cheap moves to escape. i can also escape from guard when the person on me collects or releases energy to strike. but in wrestling, there is no striking allowed whatsoever and points are taken away when pinned in guard.

there are a number of great wrestling moves that should be learned. also, the very technical strategies of wrestlers and the act of driving must be completely understood to achieve any sort of security against such moves.

once hooked in, the wrestler, when he drives, will take down anyone.
so dont let him hook in, dont let him do anything for that matter-so when he drives you better not be hooked in and better sprawl good and then finish quickly. however, he can also hook in and restart when you think it's over.

when i wrestled with this friend of mine, i managed to choke him out right away two times, i believe. it was a surprise for him because i guess he thought the naked choke and clothsliner were a bit cheap. also i kept escaping everything.- after a short while i thought id ease up to display my sense of security and also give him a sporting chance- i began to show that in the attempt to grab my leg i could have kneed to the head, elbow or even full frontal strike.- it was when i was horsing around like that when he managed to hook long enough to drive me down- which is not a big deal for me because im very comfortable on the floor usually, but it was hellish,let me tell you- he even made be tap out once with a choke around the waist- (i ate way too much pasta before the spontaneous duel)
also, i was taking it easy and only used real strength when in disadvantageous positions-otherwise, i moved slowly(which is a sign that i am secure,or at least mentally sound)

we had some more rematches where i managed to take him down with fullbody kotegaeshi- also with the move crane nodds it's head i managed to fix- also fixed to floor once or twice and actually let go of at least two chances because it felt it was too unfair at the time.

but he also managed to pin me one more time- on the floor with a clever move of also hooking my legs with his legs to really pin me.

i think, it boils down to strategy.



j

 

[tshadowchaser]

Sorry if I blotch any of the spelling on these gentlemen’s names


way back in history when wrestling was put on in the town hall in front of all of maybe 100 people I would go and talk with whoever was on the card.

Later in life living in N.C. I had the opportunity to talk with the likes of Flair, WaaHoo McDaniles, Black Jack Mulligan, and others.

Talked with Animal for a few minutes in Calif once. And least I forget Rick Stinner when he was trying to figure out how to get into an arena once

 

[tko4u]

My wife met the undertaker at a telethon thingy, he was actually pretty nice, but he was still HUGELY tall

 

[qwksilver61]

Yes Killer kowalski stepped on my foot whilst lifting my 4'10" mother out of the crowd...I also met Haystack Calhoun..saw the Kennedie's & the Hollywood blonds......60's stuff....

 

[Drac]

Met quite a few..Waldo Von Eric, Kurt Von Hess, Johnny Valentine. I was a kid with a fake ID that got into the bar they were at through one of their mometary girlfriends.Donny Fargo ( The Fabulous Fargo Brothers) spent the night at my parents house., its a good story..

 

[tko4u]

I wouldnt mind hearing that story

 

[sfs982000]

I've had the pleasure of bumping into and talking to a few wrestlers over the years, mostly with mixed reaction.
Shane Douglas used to work out at the same YMCA I did and came across as being pretty arogant, but did take the time out to spot me on the bench a couple of times. Virgil was another one I would bump into alot and again he was very rude and arrogant. I talked to Ken Patera shortly after I left active duty about signing up for his wrestling school here in MN. He was a lot of fun to talk to and had some very interesting stories that he shared. His school wasn't opened very long before it closed. Most of them have been very pleasant to talk to in my experience.

 

[bluekey88]

I think I told this story here before...BUT, the Ultimate Warrior hit on my wife back when we were dating and she worked at a local convenience store. She totally turned him down. I WIN!!



Peace,
Erik

 

[crushing]

I met and worked out with Dan "The Beast" Severn at his training facility in Coldwater Michigan. I can honestly say that I tapped out The Beast. In fairness to Mr. Severn, I have a feeling that he was getting bored of me attempting a submission and wanted to move the class along.

Anyway, he was down to Earth and really cool in person.

 

[celtic_crippler]

Many...even Puppet.

I grew up just below Charlotte, NC... rasslin' fans know that was a hot-bed as the Crocket family lived there and pretty much ran the NWA until Turner bought them out and changed it to WCW.

It wasn't uncommon to walk through South Park mall and see any one of many NWA stars back in the day.

Being a mark, I go to indie shows and events where rasslers are so I've had plenty of opportunities there.

Jimmy Valiant and the Iron Shiek once mistook me for a promoter... that was funny... I have a pic from that and will have to post it later (don't have access to it at the moment.)

I ran into and had a few beers with Balls Mahony at a bar once...

I ran into Robert Gibson (Rock & Roll Express) once when I was picking up a friend to take them to lunch. He was picking up a load of iron (he's a truck driver now) and I was like..."Hey...I know you!" lol He was really cool.

New Jack gave me a nightstick he had just used in a match one evening after an indie show...I still have it, blood stains and all LOL. He's.... interesting. LOL

Vincent, the former body guard of Ted Dibiase and of NWO fame gave me a chop across my back once at DragonCon...he said I had a good "chop back". LOL

I've also met Ric Flair, Nikita Koloff, Ivan Koloff, Gail Kim, Raven, Dusty Rhodes, Sabu, Johnny Grunge, Tommy Dreamer, Homocide, and Spike Dudley to name a few more...

Can you tell that I like rasslin?

 

[celtic_crippler]

...thought I had posted it here before...

Anyway, here it is.

 

[blackxpress]

I met Jake "The Snake" Roberts at at Atlanta airport once. Delta Air Lines had lost our luggage (his and mine) and we were in the baggage claim office together. Nice guy from what I could tell.

 

[Guardian]

Yes, my Dad use to take me to Wrestling all the time in Milwaukee Wisconsin, it was the AWA American Wrestling Association with Verne Gagne and the Crusher and Dick the Bruiser and Nick Bockwinkle and those folks.

I personally met the Crusher and Dick the Bruiser several times and they were terrific guys, nice as anyone you would ever come across. Back then, you could meet a lot of the wrestlers, it's not like today, they were approachable and loved to meet the public.

 

[TKDHomeSchooler]

I met most of the Von Erich family as a kid, they were members of First Baptist Church of Dallas where I was a member.