For those who do not know, I grew up watching professional wrestling. In fact, most of the heroes in my life have come from the ring, and it is something that captured my imagination as a little kid and has stuck with me throughout my entire life. Believe it or not, I wanted to be a pro wrestler when I was younger, and I was pretty adamant that I was going to become one. Long story short, I did not end up as a pro wrestler as I am not tall enough and I lack the athleticism to be one. It's just as well, getting to be a fan is great and en emotional ride when you can allow yourself to just sit and enjoy it. Over the last two years, I have gotten lucky enough to meet some of my favorite wrestlers from the 80s, 90s, and a few more recent stars
Christy Hemme (to the far left) and Skye Blue (to the far right) are two female competitors that have and currently, Hemme and Blue respectively, work in the world of wrestling and two that I admittedly have crushes on. The top picture in the center is Arn Anderson, one of the best from the 80s to the mid 90s when it comes to being an in ring worker and someone who can deliver a good interview. He is arguably one of the finest tag team workers in the history of the sport. The bottom center is Lex Lugar, someone who my mom (also in the picture) always had a crush on. So when a convention in March came about and I heard Lugar was going to be there, I bought a ticket for her and I to get a picture with.
This next picture was one that was a little hard to do, I haven't talked about it much, but my little brother passed away in November of 2023, and the lady pictured above is Lita (Amy Dumas) and she was his favorite female wrestler. I never told her that the reason I got this picture was to honor him, but I do hope that he was looking down and watching the pictures being taken. It was something that was definitely bitter sweet for me.
To the right is one of my favorite workers and arguably someone who is always in the top 5 of most fans list of best ever workers, and that man is Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. He is actually one of the first major wrestlers from the 80s I ever got to meet. I was nervous at first, but once we started talking about his matches, neither one of us could stop and his agent had to remind him that there were other people in his line. Very classy individual.
I have mixed the photos together, but I was lucky enough to have been able to attend a wrestling event with my friend David back in November of 2022 and then a convention earlier this year (March of 2024). They really frowned upon taking photos of the wrestlers without paying for them...but we got what we could anyway.
During the convention in March, the main reason I went was to get to see my all time favorite wrestler, Sting. I grew up watching him and I am not ashamed to admit that at the end of his final match early this year (2024), I shed a couple man tears. I was too nervous to speak to him, other than tell him "It was an honor to meet him", something that I truly meant. My mom got to shake his hand and thank him for being a part of her son's life. For a few seconds, I wasn't a 35 year old man, I was back to be 7 year old Tyler, standing next to one of my heroes. I would have loved to have been able to talk to him longer, but there was a long ass line waiting to meet this man.
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