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 , part 8 and part 9. With that said, let’s look at some positives…
Santos Escobar
WWE star Santos Escobar surprised his parents by purchasing them a house in Florida. Escobar thanked pro wrestling aka Lucha Libre with allowing him the life and finances to be able to reward his parents with a brand new home.
Booker T
When Sherri Martel died of a drug overdose in 2007, her family did not have enough money to purchase a headstone for her cemetery plot. Booker T, who was once managed by Sherri and credits her for helping his career, paid for her headstone himself.
AJ Styles
At a random house show, AJ Styles spotted a small fan at ringside with a sign saying it was his birthday. Styles took the time to bring the fan into the ring and personally autograph his sign.
Natalya, Kofi Kingston and Cody Rhodes
Natalya, Kofi Kingston and Cody Rhodes took time out of their busy schedules while briefly staying in Saudi Arabia to visit sick children in a local hospital as a part of Make A Wish.
Tony Khan
AEW President Tony Khan went into his own pocket to pay for the knee surgery of wrestler Mark Davis. Davis was a free agent that was not affiliated with AEW o any other promotion at the time. Davis and his ‘Aussie Open’ tag team partner Kyle Fletcher would eventually sign a deal with All Elite Wrestling.
Michael Richard Blais
Michael Richard Blais is a Canadian independent wrestler, who started his career at the age of 13 back in 2003. For his 20th anniversary as a pro wrestler, Blais announced that he would wrestle for 8 straight hours with all the proceeds from his gauntlet match to benefit a children’s hospital in the Edmonton area. Initially, Blais set a goal of raising $1,600, but received close to $6,000 in donations.
All Japan, New Japan and NOAH
The three largest promotions in Japan…All Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and NOAH…have put aside all of their personal and professional differences to put together a “super card” called ‘All Together.’ This is the third time the wrestling organizations have worked together…first in 2011, then in 2012 and now again in 2023. All proceeds for the events have gone directly to Japan’s Red Cross.
Bayley
Bayley has been heavily involved with the non profit organization called ‘Family Giving Tree’ which is located in the San Jose, California area and provides underprivileged kids toys and school supplies.
Action Jackson
Independent wrestler ‘Action Jackson’ aka Jonathan Holt is also a motivational speaker, who goes to various elementary schools in the Arkansas area to talk about bullying and cyber bulling and the effects it has on the youth. Holt, who himself was bullied as a child, decided to become a pro wrestler after years of being bullied in school. Holt also wrestles for charity. He organized a wrestling event called ‘After the Storm,’ which raised funds for victims of a tornado that destroyed communities in the Little Rock, Arkansas area.
Elijah Burke
Former WWE, TNA and current NWA wrestler Elijah Burke founded the charity named “Love Alive” which helps the homeless and less fortunate in the Jacksonville, Florida areas. They often provide food, hygiene and school supplies.
Guiliana Angle
Guiliana Angle, the 11year old daughter of WWE hall of Famer Kurt Angle, saved his life after a jet ski accident. Kurt revealed he flipped his jet ski and was sinking under water, when his daughter…an Olympic caliber swimmer…swam to her father and pulled him 50 yards to safety.
Vinnie Vineyard
Vinnie Vineyard aka Funk Master V, is an independent wrestler in the Tennessee area. He also owns his own taxi company. In 2016, a huge brush fire broke out in Gatlinburg, Tennessee forcing many residents to evacuate. Vineyard drove his cab back and forth from the area affected by the fires giving residents free rides to safety. In total, Vineyard rescued 10 people from the fires and never charged them a single cent.
Billy Kidman
Former WCW and WWE star Billy Kidman first met 15 year old Xenia while WWE was on tour of Australia. Xenia was battling leukemia and got to meet the wrestler at a charity dinner. The two immediately hit it off and talked for hours. Xenia’s uncle then won tickets to the WWE show and took her as his guest. Kidman noticed her sitting in attendance and flashed her a smile and after the match, Kidman went into the stands to give her a hug. The two remained friends for years, having contact with one another off and on. When Xenia became cancer free, she reached out to Kidman who congratulated her and the two reunited when WWE returned to Australia in 2018.
Xenia credits her friendship with Billy Kidman as inspiration to fight harder in her cancer battle. She said that Kidman treated her like a friend and a normal kid…not just some tired and sick cancer patient. That meant the world to her and two remain friends with each other to this very day.