1d • General Discussions
I Almost Quit Wrestling Because of a Gas Station
True story.
It was 2001. I had just wrestled a show about 3 hours from home. I gave everything I had in that ring. Left it all out there. The crowd was into it. The boys in the back said I did good work.
Then I got my payoff.
Twenty bucks.
I hadn't eaten all day. I was running on fumes. Literally. My gas tank was almost empty and I still had a 3 hour drive home.
I pulled into a gas station somewhere in the middle of nowhere Ohio and I had to make a choice. Do I eat or do I put gas in the car.
I couldn't do both.
I put the gas in. Drove home hungry. Got home after midnight. My wife Terrie was already asleep. I sat in the driveway for a minute and thought about quitting.
Not because I didn't love wrestling. I loved it more than anything. But love doesn't pay bills. Love doesn't fill your gas tank. Love doesn't put food on the table for your family.
A year later I walked away. My body was breaking down. We were broke. We had a family to raise. I chose survival.
But here's the thing nobody tells you.
It didn't have to be that way.
I wasn't broke because I was a bad wrestler. I was broke because nobody taught me the business side. Nobody taught me how to build a brand. Nobody taught me how to create income outside of match payoffs. Nobody taught me that I was a business and not just a performer.
I had to learn all of that on my own. Years later. The hard way. Through trial and error and a whole lot of expensive mistakes.
When I came back to wrestling in 2015 and started New Ohio Wrestling, I promised myself I would never let another wrestler go through what I went through without at least knowing there was a better way.
I spent years figuring this out the hard way. Now I'm putting it all in one place. More soon.
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I Almost Quit Wrestling Because of a Gas Station
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