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 and part 2. With that said, let’s look at some positives…
Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho has donated over $35,000 to various Go Fund Me accounts and other charitable causes for injured independent wrestlers including 2,500 dollars to the family of a slain 66 year old Uber driver.
Nikki Cross
Nikki Cross has a Bachelors degree in History and is currently obtaining a Masters degree. She is also a licensed personal trainer and gym instructor.
Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan’s shirts are made of organic and recycled materials. For every shirt he sells, he made an agreement to have a tree planted via his partnership with American Forests organization.
DC Drake
A former ECW original…DC Drake retired from pro wrestling and received a Masters degree in psychological counseling. He became a certified drug addictions counselor and ran a non profit group for drug addicts living with HIV.
John Cena
John Cena donated 40,000 dollars to the family of fellow pro wrestler Shad Gaspard who tragically lost his life saving his son from drowning.
Tony Khan
AEW owner Tony Khan signed the 8 year old son of deceased wrestler Brodie Lee to a legitimate AEW contract. He and his family will receive money as if he was a member of the roster. When Brodie Lee Jr becomes of age, he will then be used more actively with the promotion.
Titus O’Neil
Titus O’Neil founded the The Bullard Family Foundation which is a charity that helps various causes including feeding the homeless, taking care of the elderly and establishing programs for the youth. He also donated over 127,000 dollars to various local charities in the Tampa, Florida area.
Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn founded the group “Sami for Syria” which helps raise money to create mobile clinics in the war torn country of Syria. The home country of his parents.
Kazuchika Okada
New Japan’s Kazuchika Okada donated 5 million yen ($45,000 American) to frontline workers combating Covid -19 in Japan. He also founded a group called ‘The Rainmaker Foundation’ that helps children battling cancer.
Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle and his wife Giovanna adopted a 15 year old boy from Bulgaria. The reason why they adopted the teenager was because they read how children above the age of 10 almost never get considered for adoption. They wanted to give an older kid a shot at a good life.
Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon paid for Harley Race to be flown from Georgia to his home in Missouri in his final days after insurance refused to do so. McMahon picked up the tab on Race’s last medical bills before his death.
Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe grew out his hair only to cut it and donate it to Children With Hair Loss, a non-profit organization that provides human hair replacements at no cost to children and young adults facing medically-related hair loss.
Finn Balor
Finn Balor has been very active in the fight against homelessness in Ireland. He has volunteered both time and money to several organizations in his native country.
John ‘Dropkick’ Murphy
A wrestler named ‘Dropkick’ John Murphy turned a farmhouse he owned into a facility for the treatment of alcoholics. It was established during a time when alcoholism wasn’t considered a serious issue globally. He renamed the place the Bellows Farm Sanatorium. The facility was open from the 1940’s until the early 1970’s.
Acey Romero
Impact Wrestling’s Acey Romero tipped the scales at 475 pounds. In just four short months, Romero lost over 100 pounds through diet and exercise.
Susie Spirit
Lauri S. Thompson formerly known as wrestler ‘Susie Spirit’ on the 1980’s Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling (GLOW) turned in her tights for a law degree. She is now an attorney and a law professor at the University of Las Vegas Nevada.
Psicosis
Luchador Psicosis saved a man’s life in 2019. After a car crashed in a ditch and was submerged in water, the wrestler removed an injured passenger and saved him from drowning.