Professional wrestlers - The unlikely heroes

Chris Masters

Professional wrestling fans are accustomed to seeing their favourites slugging it out inside the ring. We all know how they are short tempered, and solve their problems inside the squared circle. After all, that is what professional wrestling is all about – two or more people who have a problem with each other solve it inside the ring. We have seen them yell, abuse and put each other through immense pain, and even though it is scripted, and is done for the entertainment and the enjoyment of the fans, these guys are legit tough. Who’d put their bodies and careers on the line every day of the week? Professional wrestlers are known to be the toughest athletes. We buy into Steve Austin’s redneck character because there is at least a little truth to it. Characters are an extension of the true personality of the performers, and hence, we know that who they are inside the ring, bears at least a little resemblance to their true nature.

Knowing that, how many of us can see these guys making kids happy? Not most of us can imagine a guy like the Undertaker or Kane reaching out to their younger fans, and make them smile. After all, these are the guys who’re shown on TV hurting each other. The Undertaker was involved in numerous buried alive matches, along with inferno and casket matches! So who’d expect the ‘Lord of Darkness’ to shake hands and speak with the little kids? And in that sense, these guys are the unlikeliest heroes, and that has happened on more than one occasion.

The recent news about Christopher Mordetzky a.k.a Chris Masters saving his mother’s life has brought out another such example. Chris worked for WWE as well as TNA’s ‘Ring Ka King’, and was once involved in a high profile storyline where he’d choke people out with his Full Nelson hold, which was called ‘The Master Lock’. The fact that he risked his life to save his mother’s gives another instance of how professional wrestlers are most of the times the unlikeliest of heroes. Professional wrestlers are known to be tough and unforgiving inside the ring, but the reality is completely different. WWE performers grant wishes to kids through the ‘Make A Wish’ foundation, as well as serve as inspirational figures for the youngsters, supporting the Anti-Bullying campaign through ‘Be A Star’.

This article is mainly intended to show a couple of superstars who risked their lives while trying to save other people. Professional wrestlers are performers who act tough in front of camera, but away from it, are the most humane people we can come across. People like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk go out of their way while giving back to their fans (I had written about both of them in my previous articles), and guys like John Cena, Sheamus and co. grant wishes to the kids, and keep their status as an inspiration to them. There were two other people who had risked their well being while trying to protect the innocent, and most of the ordinary fans wouldn’t even remember them!

Perry Saturn was one of the more technically sound performers in the ring when he was active. He performed for ECW and WCW, and jumped ships to the WWF along with Eddie, Chris and Dean as a part of the Radicalz. Very few fans remember who Perry was, as after coming to the WWF, he wasn’t given fair chances to make his name in the organization, although few would remember him because of the Rock’s comments about Saturn’s lazy eye.

The truth of the matter is, Saturn is one of the most courageous people in the industry. In ’04, he was driving along with his girlfriend, when he overheard a scuffle going on behind a vehicle. What he thought was a spat soon turned out to be a life threatening situation, when he saw two men holding a woman down while trying to rape her. Without thinking for a second, he jumped in and freed the women, and during the struggle, he felt a sharp pain in his neck, but thought it was only a cut. It was only later that he realized that he had been shot 3 times in his neck. What followed was painful surgery and physical therapy. Luckily, he came out of it alive.

Another such brave heart was Shawn Daivari, whom the fans remember as a side kick of the likes of Mohammad Hassan, Kurt Angle and the Great Khali. Shawn performed for WWE as well as TNA, and was relatively less known as a performer. Shawn told WWE.com about how he saved a train full of people in the later part of 2012, when a maniac tried to hurt people and threatened to kill everyone. Shawn tried to wait for the cops to show up, but when they didn’t and the situation worsened, he took the matters into his own hands and jumped on the man, choking him out. Not only did he risk his life to bring down a lunatic, but in the process saved the lives of many passengers who were aboard the train.

This proves that professional wrestlers, on more than one occasion, turn out to be true heroes. As professional wrestling fans, we can take pride in the fact that not only are these guys give superhuman performances on camera, but are the unlikeliest heroes off the lens as well.