Who is your wrestling hero and have you ever met him?

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Edit: Who is your favorite wrestler and have you ever met him? (to please Hawks' nitpickiness)

 

If so, where? And how did it go?

 

As for me, 17 years after I watched my first match of his (against Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1991) I finally met Bret "The Hitman" Hart last night in my hometown. It was a brief encounter with the Excellence of Execution because he was in a hurry to a wrestling awards ceremony, but I shook his hand, got a picture, and exchanged plesantries. It was just so surreal. I couldn't believe it happened. I guess you could say I was in a state of shock. My only regret is not being able to make some small talk with him as well his book not being out in the U.S. yet (I would've loved to have gotten it signed by him), but other than that, definitely one of the best moments in my life as a wrestling fan.

 

What about you?

 

Edit #2: Thanks for answering my questions, Hawk.

[Hawk 34 0]

If anyone considers a pro wrestler their hero, that's just sad. A better choice of a thread is "who is your favorite wrestling performer and have you met him?".

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

I have yet to meet Chris Hero.

[Jebus 0]

My fave was Owen Hart and I never got to meet him.

 

I did meet my 2nd fave though. Oddly enough, it's Bret Hart and it's pretty much the same story as the first post (handshake, picture, etc.) except his book did come out in Canada so I was able to get him to sign it.

 

Oh...and I met Chris Hero. Choke on that, mellowblissful

[Jingus 0]

Mick Foley. No.

 

Though I have met Chris Hero... but that was like six years ago and nobody knew who he was back then.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Oh...and I met Chris Hero. Choke on that, mellowblissful

 

I never go to any shows. I should. But I don't. Haven't been to one in over two years.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

I met Mick Foley under funny circumstances when I was 15. He wasn't my hero but he was one of my favorites. My dad and I were driving home from a SmackDown at Madison Square Garden, my first live wrestling show. This was during Foley's original run as commissioner. I believe it was the SD before the 6-man hell in a cell event. Anyway, we are stopped at a red light a few blocks from the Garden, when Foley pulls up in the lane to the right of us, waving at me like a crazy guy. We rolled down our windows and he asked us for directions. My dad did all the talking, because I guess you could say I was in awe of the guy, in combination of shock. He followed us until we got off at the George Washington Bridge back to NJ, and he continued on toward Long Island. He was wearing the same outfit as he did at the taping - a t-shirt and the trademark tattered flannel. He was also driving the same Volvo that he drove to the arena in on TV.

[Steviekick 0]

I met Mick Foley at a book signing last year. And I did meet Hero too. Nice enough dude.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I've met Mikey Whipwreck a few times, he was my favorite wrestler. Very nice guy, talkative, polite, all the stuff you want these guys to be

[luke-o 0]

Raven.

 

And no. But I would like to. But I'd rather meet him under an interview type situation just so we could bullshit about the buisness.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Mick Foley, and no. Though apparently my nephew did when my folks took him and my oldest niece to NH for a weekend, a camping trip I was meant to go on but didn't due to my schedule at my then-places of employment (a pizza shop I worked Friday and Saturday nights, and the local Bob's Store). Sucks, because I would've been all "GUFFAW" and would have at least thanked him for proving that even goofy bastards like us could actually make something of themselves doing something they loved.

[Jingus 0]

at Madison Square Garden,

he asked us for directions.

he continued on toward Long Island.

And here's the dark side of being Mick. He was driving from the Garden, the building where he'd first started going to see wrestling decades ago, and had worked at countless times, driving back to Long Island where he'd been born and raised, and he needed directions to remember how to get there. This is your brain on chairshots.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

I always thought it was a little bit off.

[Frankie Williams 0]

I met Mick Foley under funny circumstances when I was 15. He wasn't my hero but he was one of my favorites. My dad and I were driving home from a SmackDown at Madison Square Garden, my first live wrestling show. This was during Foley's original run as commissioner. I believe it was the SD before the 6-man hell in a cell event. Anyway, we are stopped at a red light a few blocks from the Garden, when Foley pulls up in the lane to the right of us, waving at me like a crazy guy. We rolled down our windows and he asked us for directions. My dad did all the talking, because I guess you could say I was in awe of the guy, in combination of shock. He followed us until we got off at the George Washington Bridge back to NJ, and he continued on toward Long Island. He was wearing the same outfit as he did at the taping - a t-shirt and the trademark tattered flannel. He was also driving the same Volvo that he drove to the arena in on TV.

 

This is so funny because back in 2001 I was sitting in the passenger seat of my then girlfriends car driving to Brooklyn on the belt parkway. All of a sudden this beat up BMW pulls up next to us in the center lane, and Mick Foley is driving. I happen to have Foley is Good with me so I roll down the window and get his attention. He then rolls down HIS window and asks me to enjoy the book and gave me his thumbs up.

 

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Mick Foley, and yes. At a book signing. He was also at an amusement park at the same time as me once but I didn't see him.

[RepoMan 0]

It was Chris Benoit, and I never got to meet him. I wounder what he would have been like.

[Vampiro69 0]

It was Chris Benoit, and I never got to meet him. I wounder what he would have been like.

 

Back in the spring of 1999 I met Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko at a hotel bar they were staying at after a WCW Saturday Night taping. Benoit was my favorite wrestler and I was so glad to have met him. He was joking with Dean and Charles Robinson while I got his autograph.

 

Now I can't believe that I got to meet and shake hands with a double murderer.

[The Buzz 0]

My favorites were always Sting and the Ultimate Warrior, never got a chance to meet either. Although it's probably a good thing I never met Warrior.

[bob_barron 0]

I never met the Bulldog, but I've met Regal a few times. He was hilarious at an autograph signing I went to, we were both cracking each other up.

 

I also met Benoit, back in 2001. I went up to him and held up the 4 fingers and told him I was 4 Horsemen for life. He went: Yeaaa that's the way to be. He then shook my hand, and I wished him luck in his title match at King of the Ring.

 

Then he killed his son with his finishing move. That was unfortunate.

[Boxer 0]

It was Chris Benoit, and I never got to meet him. I wounder what he would have been like.

 

Back in the spring of 1999 I met Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko at a hotel bar they were staying at after a WCW Saturday Night taping. Benoit was my favorite wrestler and I was so glad to have met him. He was joking with Dean and Charles Robinson while I got his autograph.

 

Now I can't believe that I got to meet and shake hands with a double murderer.

 

He walked by me during 2002's WWF Axcess. This was during his injury rehab period, he actually is shorter than you think. But he was built though for a guy his size.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I've had different favorites throughout my time as a fan.

 

When I was little I loved JYD. Never met him.

 

ThenI loved Warrior. Never met him.

 

Then it was Steve Austin. Never met him.

 

Then it was RVD. Never met him.

 

Then it was AJ Styles...who I did meet at a TNA fan fest.

 

I don't know who my favorite wrestler is now. Probably some short list of Styles, Sabin and Shelley and Christian. I would have met all of them at that fanfest.

[6foot9 0]

I met Mick Foley at a autograph signing he did at the Arlington Convention Center during a sports card show back in like 2000. I had arrived late and he had just gone back to the back to get some food, and they had to call him back out because there was about a dozen people that had came late and had preordered autograph tickets. I was nearly speechless when I got up to the front of the line and could only muster a "Thanks for all you've done."

[SamoaRowe 0]

The only wrestlers I've really met are Sara Del Rey, Daizee Haze, Butcher Vachon... and I think that's it. I wouldn't call any of them my "hero" but Del Rey is really cool.

[Noah 0]

Lotsa Foley stories. Mines no different really. Got to meet him at a signing at a Western Amusement Park here in Hell (Phx). This was October of 2000, when he had his head shaved/short hair. Got to shake his hand, get his autograph and a picture. I told him how much I appreciated all he's done for the business, to which he responded "Well thank you very much young man" (I was 18). Great times.

[haws bah gawd 0]

My favorite wrestler is probably RVD. Never met him, though I did see him and his "driver", pull out of the Bi-Lo Center parking lot in Greenville, SC back in 2004. He heard some kids yell his name, and had his driver stop, and block traffic so he could sign some stuff for the kids. Awesome guy.

 

Stevie Ray of Harlem Heat is the most kind and humble wrestler I have met. After going to a Nitro/Thunder taping in Fall 2000, me and some friends were sitting next to the announce table and asked him for his autograph follwing the Thunder taping. He seemed incredibly gracious like "oh my God, someone wants MY autograph?!". He may have sucked ass in the ring, but he left a good impression on us.

 

Bumped into Mr. Kennedy and Rey Mysterio in a Waffle House outside of Columbia, SC in 2006. I descreetly approached Kennedy, told him I was a fan, and asked if I could take a picture with him, which he was more than happy to do. Rey spent the majority of their time there talking on his cell phone, so I didn't bother him.

[RepoMan 0]

Oddly enough, WWE referee Charles Robinson was one of the nicest, most engaging guys I've ever met from the biz. He had a great time chatting with fans outside HSBC Arena in Buffalo before Raw in 2003.

[Guest Smues]

Chris Benoit, no, but I did slap him on the back as he was walking out to the ring to defend his title at a houseshow.

 

Foley, yes, he was signing autographs at a car and boat show in Spokane. It was a week or two before Wrestlemania XVI, and I really don't know what the fuck he was doing there. They must have paid him a fuckload of money.

[King Kamala 0]

I guess this is turning into a "which wrestlers have you met?" thread and I'm always glad to participate in these types of things.

 

My first one was Tatanka in June '94 at an autograph signing at a late Home Vision Video (sort of the precursor to Blockbuster here in Maine). It was shortly before he turned heel. It was an autograph signing so there wasn't much conversation and I was only six so I wouldn't have remember what was said even if there had been.

 

I didn't meet another wrestler again until December '99 when I met Tony Atlas at a Toys For Tots drive at a used car dealership of all places. Really nice guy but he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal. At one point, he started rapping about his then recent appearance on MTV True Life. He gave us free tickets to an indy show he was wrestling at with Brutus Beefcake, The Bushwhackers, a Doink, and Public Enemy but my parents wouldn't let me go because it was a school night. Damn them! Tony lives around here so I see him every once in a while out and about. He's headlining an indy show against Pierre Carl Oullette at a bar about an hour away. I should go. The former Saba Simba Vs the former Jean Pierre Laffitte is a match I can't possibly miss.

 

Next I met Rico and D'Von Dudley outside of a house show in July '02. Both really classy guys who took time to sign autographs for the throngs of fans despite the fact that they were both heels at the time (Though has that really mattered for the past ten years or so?). D'Von seemed like a good humored fellow.

 

Then I met Scotty 2 Hotty in late '02/early '03 at an autograph signing at a grocery store (Yeesh, they have autograph signings at the oddest places here). He seemed very tired and looked like it was the last place on Earth that he'd want to be. Can't blame him. This was during one of his neck injuries.

 

Geez- this post is the definition of TL;DR.

 

I also met the future Kenny Dykstra (then a 16 year old newcomer named Ken Phoenix) at numerous indy shows. Somewhere laying around the house is a picture of myself and my younger brother with the babyfaces of EWA (including Dykstra). Palmer Cannon (then the dominant babyface of the EWA- Brian Black)'s wife worked with my dad and I met him a couple times before and after his brief,inauspicious WWE run.

[DMann2003 0]

I think this thread only proves that Foley is one of the nicest guys in wrestling, bar none. I mean I'm sure the guy's had his bad days where he could've been curt or maybe pissy.

 

And yeah I've met Foley three times. The first time was shortly after KOTR 98, at a house show. A bunch of fans were waiting for wrestlers to come in, and usually security would smack away the fans trying to get up to the wrestlers, but Foley was accomidating. It was very short cause he had a crowd around, but he signed my RAW magazine (the one with Foley on the cover from the King of Deathmatch tournament). 2nd time I didn't really interact but it was again before a show, this time a Sunday Night Heat taping in 99. Foley was coming in the back way and a group of fans were cheering his name. He motioned for them to come over and he spent five minutes chatting and signing autos. 3rd time was a book signing for Tietem Brown.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I met RVD but he isn't my hero. I guess my wrestling hero would either be the Undertaker or Shawn Michaels.