When I was younger I wanted to be a wrestler and even had some time in a few local training facilities but it never went anywhere and I joined the Marines instead.

My father was involved in wrestling back in the 70's down here in Arkansas and was even invested in a few of them. He had seriously bad luck with investing, always cashing out before the big payoff occurred - though he did miss a few duds that way too so maybe he was 50/50. Lol.

I still watch wrestling, attend all kinds of wrestling events when they come near me (I like to support it all when possible). You never know when that guy getting his face bounced off a pile of dirt in a dirt floor arena might be main eventing Wrestlemania.

I say that because I watched AJ Styles in that exact situation before he went onto WWE. Sadly, it was not that long ago (2014) when this happened - it was an NWA Fourth of July Super Show or something (available on DVD). He was a champ holding an IWGP (Cruiserweight I think) title at the time.

Long before that I watched him at a local televised event with TNA Wrestling (the night Hulk Hogan quit the show) - in both shows you can see me in the background - I am the only guy smart enough to wear a dayglow shirt. Lol.

I remember watching Big Show in WCW when he was not as seasoned as he became later in the WWE. The screw ups he committed would have been meme worthy if it was a thing back then. Still much respect for him and everyone else willing to get in that ring and put their bodies through that stuff.

Do you remember a guy that wrestled under the name "Test" in WWE? Andrew Martin was a cousin of mine. Only met him a couple times at family reunions before he went off on the road that took him to wrestling (he was a body guard for some musicians at the time I met him).

I run a PR company and have worked with a handful of wrestlers and wrestling companies over the years. I have been fortunate enough to help bring in talent (breaking the ice, putting together meetings, etc) for indie shows locally as well. Great times. I just wish I had more time to do more of that but since Arkansas is not a hot spot for it, there is simply not enough work in that area for me to focus on it as much as I would like.