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Why You Should Meet Your Wrestling Heroes...

Why You Should Meet Your Wrestling Heroes...

Posted: May 17th 2026 By: DMV Wrestling News

There’s a saying about celebrities that you will hear a lot in online discussions involving pro wrestling fans: never meet your heroes. This is based on bad experiences some people say they have had in the past. As prices for meet and greets, and everything else, skyrocket, it can be tempting not to want to fool with it.

Over the past three or four years, I’ve met plenty of active and retired pro wrestlers, from rising indie stars to hall of famers, and generally I’ve had great experiences, with some minor exceptions who I won’t name here.

A view that many people working in the business have is to just take the picture, since none of us are ever promised tomorrow. This is a view I have even as a fan when it comes to hall of famers and others who are no longer youthful, although it should apply to the young too, with all the premature deaths in pro wrestling over the years. My wife still regrets not going to an MCW show in 2015, long before
either of us had been to an indie show, that ended up being Roddy Piper’s last public appearance before his death the next week.

Recently, I met a WWE Hall of Famer who throws the idea of never meeting your heroes into the trash. Before the Game Changer Wrestling event in Joppa, Maryland, on May 1, I met Ricky Morton, best known as one half of the Rock N Roll Express. He was the primary reason I spent the money to go
to this show and took the night off from work. The passing of Dennis Condrey a few weeks ago helped cement my decision after I had been waffling on whether to go.

From the time he first saw me, he was as nice as anyone could be. After he autographed a picture for me and posed for a photo op, we talked about mutual friends and how I grew up watching him. He talked about coming to Greenville on Monday nights and also going to Fayetteville on the Crockett circuit. I told him what a big part of my childhood he was, and he beamed and told me how much that meant to him.

I stepped over to the bigger lineup of tables of GCW wrestlers and talked to Matt Tremont and 1 Called Manders, and they were both great to talk to as well. As I headed back around to go to my seat, I passed the Mortons’ table again and talked to Kerry, who was now there, as well as Ricky again. We talked about baseball, Tennessee, and the mountains in North Carolina before I started to head to my seat, and Ricky grabbed a Sharpie and signed my shirt for free.

Kerry’s match came up earlier in the show, and he is an amazing heel and was getting “Shut the F up” chants right away. Later in the show, when Ricky wrestled in a trios match, a “Rock and Roll” chant started for him when he was introduced. When he got into the match, he ended up getting the bad end of things and was in the corner selling the damage for a bit before finally getting the pin for his team to win.

After the show, I went over to see some friends near the dressing room entrance, and Ricky came out leaving the arena and was gracious and talked to me again. He also reminded me to come to Philly for NWA 78 in July.

I have met countless pro wrestlers over the past decade, most of them since I started this site in 2022. I haven’t had one truly bad experience, and I’ve had many great ones, even with people who have allegedly bad reputations for meeting fans. I am writing this as a counterpoint to people who say “never meet your heroes.” Sometimes you should meet them, take the picture, and tell them what they meant to you while you still can.

 

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Spotlight in History

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  • 2003 Tyler Bateman def. John O'Malley for the ACW Hardcore Title
  • 2008 Kevin Morgan became the OECW Heavyweight Champion
  • 2014 Spike became the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 2019 C. M. Burnham def. Antonio Vega for the ASP Inter-County Title
  • 2019 Murder Squirrel became the BPW 365 Champion
  • 2019 Karnage def. Murder Squirrel for the BPW 365 Title
  • 2024 Brandon Groom became the BPW Lion Heart Champion
  • 2025 Drake Gallows def. Billie the Kiid for the ASP Heavyweight Title
  • 2025 C. M. Burnham def. Brixton Barricade for the ASP All Time Title
  • 2025 Brixton Barricade def. C. M. Burnham for the ASP All Time Title

Week of Sun 07-26 to Sat: 08-01

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  • 07-26 2020 Thorne the Hunter def. Dexter Hardaway for the ASP 5-Star Title
  • 07-26 2024 Will Chambers def. Colton Kinnamon for the UWO Dojo Division Title
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  • 07-26 2026 Bang Bang Bennett def. Vincent Cross for the RDW Na'Cho Momma's Hardcore Title
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  • 07-27 2003 John O'Malley def. Tyler Bateman for the ACW Hardcore Title
  • 07-27 2003 Tyler Bateman def. John O'Malley for the ACW Hardcore Title
  • 07-27 2008 Kevin Morgan became the OECW Heavyweight Champion
  • 07-27 2014 Spike became the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 07-27 2019 C. M. Burnham def. Antonio Vega for the ASP Inter-County Title
  • 07-27 2019 Murder Squirrel became the BPW 365 Champion
  • 07-27 2019 Karnage def. Murder Squirrel for the BPW 365 Title
  • 07-27 2024 Brandon Groom became the BPW Lion Heart Champion
  • 07-27 2025 Drake Gallows def. Billie the Kiid for the ASP Heavyweight Title
  • 07-27 2025 C. M. Burnham def. Brixton Barricade for the ASP All Time Title
  • 07-27 2025 Brixton Barricade def. C. M. Burnham for the ASP All Time Title
  • 07-28 2002 Terry Montana def. Shadow of Death for the OCW Oklahoma Hardcore Title
  • 07-28 2007 Shane Sanchez def. Kareem Sadat for the SWCW Hardcore Title
  • 07-28 2007 Montego Seeka def. Eric Rose for the UWF06 Light Heavyweight Title
  • 07-28 2007 D Money def. Al Farat for the UWF06 Heavyweight Title
  • 07-28 2017 Dean Lambert def. Father Padge for the MSWA Oklahoma Title
  • 07-28 2017 Gemini [2nd] def. Korvin Sage for the MSWA Mid-South Cruiserweight Title
  • 07-28 2017 Phoebe def. Killista for the MSWA Ladies Title
  • 07-28 2017 C. J. Ward def. Prince Mahalli for the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title
  • 07-28 2024 Brandon Barricade def. Brixton Barricade for the ASP All Time Title
  • 07-28 2024 Brixton Barricade def. Brandon Barricade for the ASP All Time Title
  • 07-28 2024 C. M. Burnham def. Brixton Barricade for the ASP All Time Title
  • 07-28 2024 Brixton Barricade def. C. M. Burnham for the ASP All Time Title
  • 07-29 1974 Arman Hussein def. Bull Ramos for the TSW North American Title
  • 07-29 1978 Ernie Ladd became the TSW North American Champion
  • 07-29 1979 Bruiser Brody def. Mark Lewin for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 07-29 1985 Brian Adias def. Gino Hernandez for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 07-29 2000 Northern Threat (Luc Lapointe & Jean Paul) became the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Champions
  • 07-29 2003 Payton Scott & Ty Magnus became the ACW Tag Team Champions
  • 07-29 2003 Angel Williams & Brandon Bishop def. Payton Scott & Ty Magnus for the ACW Tag Team Titles
  • 07-29 2005 Chiquita Suzuki def. Leather for the SRPW Womens Title
  • 07-29 2005 Anthony Jackson became the TPW Oklahoma Heavyweight Champion
  • 07-29 2005 Romero Contreras became the TPW Heavyweight Champion
  • 07-29 2017 Erica def. Robyn Reid for the IZW Womens Title
  • 07-29 2017 Legion (Rob Cabella & Shawn Shields) def. Team Dean Machine (Christopher Dean & Jerry Dean) for the BPPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
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  • 07-30 2016 The Initiative (Clint Cassidy & Abel) def. Jon Cross for the UWE Tag Team Titles
  • 07-30 2022 N'Zane def. Tego for the EPW Internet Television Title
  • 07-31 1959 Mickey Sharpe & The Black Panther def. Frankie Kovacs & Jerry Miller for the TSW Louisiana Tag Team Titles
  • 07-31 1964 Karl Kox def. Bull Curry for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 07-31 1987 Tony Atlas def. Abdullah the Butcher for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 07-31 1999 The Millenium Warriors (Red Eagle & Thunderwolf) def. The Casualties of War (AWOL & Shrapnel) for the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
  • 07-31 2008 High Society (Al Farat & Thomas Trump) became the 3DW Dual Kombat Champion
  • 07-31 2011 3rd Rail became the MSWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion
  • 07-31 2015 Brock Landers became the MSWA Mid-South Cruiserweight Champion
  • 07-31 2021 Rob Cabella became the WAH Spotlight Champion
  • 07-31 2021 Brawler Morrison became the WAH Living Hope Champion
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  • 08-01 1979 Angelo Mosca def. Bob Sweetan for the TSW Brass Knucks Title
  • 08-01 1980 Kerry Von Erich & Sweet Brown Sugar def. Stan Stasiak & Tim Brooks for the WCCW Texas Tag Team Titles
  • 08-01 1980 El Halcon def. Gino Hernandez for the WCCW American Heavyweight Title
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07-27
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