Don’t Quit Your Day Job
For all the bright lights, merchandise, adoring fans, and working for millionaires, many people have believed that pro wrestlers are usually rich or, at least, well off enough to have a comfortable living outside of the ring. But as the years progressed and more wrestlers explained how truly difficult it was even during the height of pro wrestling’s popularity in the 1980s to maintain a respectable lifestyle (though a lot of those financial issues stemmed from personal decisions like drug abuse and failed marriages), it became obvious the career of a pro wrestler isn’t for those looking to make a lot of money. For every Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair there was an “Iron” Mike Sharpe or Snake Brown who would end up with their shoulders to the mat or screaming out, “I quit!” before getting a very minuscule payday.
So when the 1990s arrived and pro wrestling was no longer en vogue, the grapplers of the WWF and WCW decided that just being wrestlers wouldn’t support themselves or their families; opting to remain employed as what they were before lacing up the boots. Look no further for examples than professional garbage man Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. In vignettes promoting his eventual WWF debut, Duke promised to “take out the trash” in the WWF the only way he knew how: by tossing people into an actual trash truck like the garbage bins he handled on a daily basis – it didn’t turn out that way for Droese in reality. But “The Dumpster” wasn’t the only blue collar worker turned pro wrestler during the 1990s.
T.L. Hopper also got his hands dirty outside of the ring by being a plumber with no qualms about handling feces (or a candy bar posed as poop floating in the pool during a “SummerSlam” “beach” party). Having one of the best examples of someone going down the obvious career path their name would dictate, Issac Yankem performed oral procedures & general dentistry all the while training to be a seven-foot wrestling monster who continuously forgot to brush his own teeth. Irwin R. Schyster left the stuffy trappings of being an employee of the IRS. But the stuffiness of being an IRS agent didn’t leave I.R.S. as he dressed in a suit & tie while reminding everyone to pay their taxes. Part-time clowns too got in on the pro wrestling action during the 20th century’s final decade. In WCW you had a lumberjack (Big Josh), a fireman (Firebreaker Chip), and even Spider-Man!
Interestingly enough, even during pro wrestling’s better days during peaks of popularity there were those who tried to ensure they had a backup plan if the fantastic days of slapping people around, cinching in submission holds, and simply running around in what would be the equivalent of underwear. Simon Dean (formally “Nova” in ECW”) created a workout formula to sell known as the “Simon System” featuring protein powders, dumbbells, and general elastic objects. The Heartthrobs used their great looks to be gigolos for ladies wanting more from their wrestlers than the simple excitement of seeing them win or lose. Multi-time Tag Team champion D-Von Dudley embraced being a reverend to get some money on the side from the help of his deacon Dave Batista. Though it may seem like all things glitz & glamor in regards to succeeding in a business like pro wrestling, the smartest thing to do is stay grounded and don’t quit your day job until you make enough money that you don’t have to work from the back of a garbage truck, do magic shows on the weekends, or repo possessions even if those items are paid in full.
