Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Make no mistake about it, pro wrestling does have a dark side to it. There are hundreds upon hundreds of stories about the dark and sometimes sinister side as chronicled in my ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. This piece is a direct opposite of that. With every bad story I have shared…there are also positive stories. Stories of wrestlers making it above and beyond the ring. Positive stories to inspire. Pro wrestlers aren’t all drug addicts, scam artists and carny sideshows. They all don’t die at an early age, or are broke and need to wrestle till they die. They don’t necessarily have to get into acting like The Rock or Batista. They don’t have to necessarily switch over to MMA like Brock Lesnar or CM Punk. Some of these stories are just about hard work, dreaming big and doing whatever it takes to succeed. We’ve already covered some stories as chronicled in part 1, part 2 , part 3 part 4 part 5 , part 6 , part 7 and part 8. With that said, let’s look at some positives…
Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho donated $10,000 to injured NFL player Damar Hamlin’s charity Chasing M’s children’s toy drive. Originally, Jericho donated 5 thousand to the charity, but after making a mistake misspelling Damar’s name…Jericho donated an additional 5 thousand dollars.
Liv Morgan
After Liv Morgan lost a wrestling match on Monday Night Raw, cameras caught a young female fan crying in the audience. Liv invited the young fan backstage where the young girl got to meet her hero and made the fan go home happy.
Titus O’Neil
Titus O’Neil donated $17,000 to a charity called Embracing Legacy which helps at risk youth through academic, artistic and sports programs.
Will Ospreay
New Japan star Will Ospreay donated a portion of his 2022 salary to the suicide prevention group called Samaritans based in the United Kingdom.
Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle’s wife Giovanna revealed that Kurt is heavily involved with the Make-A-Wish foundation since his retirement. She said that Kurt willingly donates or just gives away countless Olympic and pro wrestling heirlooms from his personal collection to make unfortunate children with illnesses happy.
Gunther
At 35 years of age, WWE star Gunther lost 60-65 pounds and transformed the flab into muscle.
Bobby Wilson
‘The Lovely One’ Bobby Wilson is a former pro wrestler turned furniture store owner based in Evansville, Indiana. Wilson holds wrestling shows at his store and the money raised for those shows buys school supplies for children in low income households. Bobby Wilson also donates a portion of his furniture sales to various charities in the Evansville area.
Powerhouse Hobbs
AEW star ‘Powerhouse’ Hobbs received a drawing of himself from a young fan. Hobbs reciprocated by giving the fan a custom made pair of overalls as a thank you for the drawing.
Dominik Mysterio
Dominik Mysterio and his sister Aalyah both offered to donate a kidney to longtime family friend Konnan, who is in need of a new one. Konnan did not accept their offer.
Stephanie McMahon
WWE star Carmella credited former WWE CEO Stephanie McMahon for reaching out to her several times after Carmella suffered a miscarriage. Carmella went into a very deep depression and said that Stephanie was there every step of the way to talk to her and lend an ear when needed.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
While wrestling for Pro Wrestling NOAH, Shinjiro Otani suffered a spinal injury during a match in April of 2022. The injury caused Otani to be paralyzed from the neck down. Rival promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling donated 3 million yen to Otani’s medical expenses.