I have been a wrestling fan for nearly 20 years. I am HARDcore fan of WWE. When it comes to the world of professional wrestling I know my stuff and if your a fan of wrestling and you want the inside scoop of wrestling inside news , I am your source for everything wrestling.
I garuntee anybody who is anybody has heard of this slogan once or twice in their life. That slogan is, If YOU fall down pick yourself up... For me that wasn`t just a saying for around the house, that was a way of life. As a child I never could get my feet right with my balance, everytime I fall , my father would say `Anthony get yourself up.`I did that. Eventually my father got tired of seeing me fall all the time so he did the best thing. He took action and when I say action I don`t mean he took me to baseball games and we shared popcorn. I mean physical action. My father would be one who would train me, so that I would be in the best physical shape that I could ever be in. My father trained me like Rocky, and no that is not a pun it actually happened.
Training for me began at age 13-14. I was to eat eggs like people drink water. Every morning my father would say I would have to drink 3 eggs so that I could be bigger and stronger. I would have large portions of pasta, meat , rice and vegatables on a daily basis. But I`m a small guy and really didn`t put on weight for all that I was eating, So to regualate my weight, I was put on a protein shake and started going to the gym. Well alot of people don`t know how I got to the gym, I`ll tell you... His name is HULK HOGAN. The first time I saw him on TV it was Hogan vs the Warrior. I said to my dad I want to be just like him.
In this commerical you see here, that kid resembled me and what I thought I should look like.
Than as I got older, I started to get busy and had less and less time for the gym. So eventually it became a none existant priority. That all changed the moment I saw a video of John Cena working out.... Thus brought me back to my home away from home the gym. John Cena and I actually share a painful injury that we both suffered. A torn pectorol.
Coming back from an injury like that was not easy for me, mainly because I am very unique in the sense that my body differs from a regular adult. Because I have C.P. No save your pittu for the dogs... I don`t want it...For ,e it was difficult because my injury was very painful. I did ask for surgery, but doctors refused many times. Thinking that it would heal natrually. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER sitting around made the injury worse and it was hell on my mental state.
To get back to GOODLIFE I hired a trainer, to help me eat well, exercise properly and get results. My pectoral injury happened in the gym when I did the stupidest thing I could ever do which is lift 180 pounds. Now I did it, and I was so happy I called my father and said I did it dad just for you. I AM STRONG. But the downside to that is , because the weight itself was 180 I used my entire body to lift the weight. BAD IDEA, You know those WWE don;t try at home commericals , well yeah pretty much the same thing but with the workout.
With that being said, I have plenty of stress from time, to time. The gym itself is a great stress relief. However in the words of John Cena, I will Adapt and OVERCOME. Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]
2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."
My father is not a fan of wrestling from the least bit. He oftened asked me as a child growing up why would I look up to such wrestling superstars? Growing up my answer was always the same, "Dad I watch them because they make wrestling look cool and it looks exciting." Well to be quite honest with you, no fan can really know what wrestlers go through. Sure you see them on TV. They live the lives that are sometimes seem larger than life. But how do they come to be just that , a "wrestling superstar?"
A wrestler by the name of John Cena , who in my opinion meres features of the great character Rocky Ballboa. often preaches to the fans and fellow wrestling peers about respect and hard work.
One of wrestling biggest legends Hulk Hogan who presonified a hero to teach kids to work hard, eat their vitamins and say their prayers. So myself being the fan of wrestling that I am, I decided to investigate the stories behind the storylines and million - dollar wrestlers. Now I'm Canadian and being the wrestling fan I would often hear stories of the STU HART DUNGON, and son Owen recording the screams of wrestling peers working out with his father Stu.
Many people understand well about what sacrifice is. The reason I say a fan can't understand what a wrestler goes through behind the scenes , when the cameras ain't rolling and the lights aren't shinning bright. Its impossible for a fan to know what a wrestler goes through behind the scenes, because its only 2 hours a week that anybody would see them on TV. When you do see them on TV they make everything look so good.
No one sees the workouts, no one sees the training , the preperation that goes into making it all look good. They make it all look good for the fans because they love the business. Often hear about wrestlers putting their body and health at great risk even before they get into the big leagues of the WWE. They do it all to be accepted.
In Scripture it says the world was accepted by God after this Isaiah 53:5 (King James Version)
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we would be accepted in God's eyes.
I want to start this devotional off by saying "Physical fittness is a great thing, I think anybody who is anybody should have fittness in there lives."
Its no secret to find out how I was raised, I was rasised more like a machine than anything else by my father. Who was constantly pushing me and eventually drove me into anger rather than desire. Thats what we are sitting here talking about "my desire." As I stated in earlier devotionals I grew and fell in love with the art of wrestling entertainment. I was the biggest supporters of Superstars like The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Triple H & Steve Austin. There was only one problem I wasn't them, I didnt have the desire my father had for me. I think my fathers reality for my fittness was blurd just a bit. He used make me sit and watch Rocky Ballboa workout, I used to have to watch them religiously.
He said Anthony, one day that could be you. I knew it was never going to be, I was 14 years old and sitting at 80lbs. Somewhere along the line my father got it in his head to train me, even when I didn't want to be or asked to be. Even though it was tough to do, I did it. When I turned 18 I said I've had enough, You have trained me for 6 years and you got me nowhere. All this did was get my father angry. I came to the conclusion that he had a point to what he was trying to do for me and I had a point to what I was saying. When I became the age of 22,my family would always comment on my size, "I was never big enough, 'I needed more more muscle, strength." Whatever happened it always came back to the same old story, why can't you be the size of your brothers. So in a bold act I put my foot down aganist my father. I went on a physical fittness test for three months comparing my father's workouts for me, and actually joining a fittness centre, Goodlife Fittness. My father wanted nothing to do with this test but he said "I will show you that your wrong."
At 23, I began to really get involved in fittness and I loved it, I felt awesome , I was in the best of my life. I even blew away my trainers with progress. To explain to you how overly dedicated I was about this fittness thing. Most days when I wasn't in school you could find me in the gym working out for the next four hours. Now I went that long because I had to work harder to get physically stronger, because I was at a disadvantage as you are well aware of because of my C.P. I contined to workout and I wanted more and more results, so I went to an old friend and asked if there was anything I do or anything I could take to improve and show my results better. He sugguested a few things, but the most important thing he told me was "This is a marathon not a sprint, keep working hard and your results will come." Martin G.
I was faced with this oppertunity yesterday to enhance my look by taking not only supplments but steroids. I had been thinking about for three weeks. I brought this to my friend Krista she said " Jesus is your anti drug." No word of a lie I had been repeating this one bible verse, "Your body is a temple I just kept repeating it thinking ok so what do I do? Well I can say this thank goodness for John Cena. Why do I say that? I picked up on something he said while watching RAW last week. "Adapt and overcome." John Cena see this proves I can learn more from the WWE than just the old Hulk Hogan saying "Say your prayers and eat your vitamins."
Wrestling superstar The Rock once a had T-shirt that he wore a few years back and it said I think it said "LIVE FAST, GO HARD, BE STRONG." The end result being in my case anyway, that I'm going to have to work extra hard at anything I do in life, if I really wanted it. Sure on one side I would like better and faster results but how will I really know if its the steroids and other supplments or as a result of my hard work? I'm going to take advice from all three WWE superstars. I'm going to pray and ask for Jesus to guide me through workouts, I will adapt and overcome, and I will be strong."
With that in closing I would like to leave you with this scripture.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (New International Version)
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Do you ever get the days where you get a sudden epiffany? How clear do they seem to you? In my own little world that I'm in I would call those ideas revelations.
The day was May 26, 1985, the time was 1:30 pm. At Victoria Hospital in London Ontario. My parents had just recieved terrible news concerning me.
The doctor said words that would shake anybody to their knees, but not parents. Doctor: It seems like your baby boy has suffered serve damage to the left side of his brain.
In fact my parents (father especially) used this news as movitaion, all the doctors that we all saw, said one thing. This boy will never lead a nornmal life. He will never walk so don't even try... This news infuriated my dad to accept the diagnosis.
Years passed and I became aware of my differences, I hated , I never could be the quote on quote normal child that I wanted to be. I never was the strongest, the tallest, I had to wear smaller clothes than usual for my age, because I could never grow. So I grew up with plenty of hatered for the world and my differences...
I was determined to lead a "normal life" So I began to watch wrestling to escape the pain of living with terrible burden. Infact there was a time that I was acting like the wrestlers I saw on TV.
Thats right could you imagine me having all the wrestling weights , which were blue and working out to the Hulk Hogan excercise cassette tapes. I did everything I could to catch up with rest of the world.
At the age of 14, I came face to face with the reality of death in the loss of my grandmother, before that I just thought everyone just lived forever.
After my granmothers death, I was pretty depressed and wanted to search for a reason why that had happen. Thats where Kristin came in.
At the time I didn't know her but we had a friend in common so I sent her a random message. She was actually pretty nice about everything. She introduced me to music that I now can't live without hearing music from Kutless, Casting Crowns, Rebecca St. James, Chris Tomlin and many others.
From the word of God she sugguested that I join a website called TDDM which stands for Teen Daily Devotional Ministry. She was like my counsoler to me she was so kind. From that site I met my dear friend Silvie. She had such a passion for Jesus it resembled in the way she spoke to me. She is a person who assuming overwhelming happiness.
In Addition I made numerous friends from the sites ministry site. As time went though, I got pulled away , my friedns thought I was just a bit off my rocker. It became too hard to be a Christian.
So I faded fast as a clump of sand stives through your fingers I was barely gripping the concepts being taught to me. I would be at home, where it would resemble a battlefield more than an actual family.
Years later I asked to leave home and asked to live with other family members. The arguements at home at this point got very intese and very bloody. It usually ended with me crawling on the floor, or in a ball covering up.
It turned out the most of the family I lived refused to look at the situation from my point of view. I just wanted all of their viewpoints and opinions out of the era of the time of 50's .
As a child I would be watching wrestling and then they would go to a shoot interview featuring The Undertaker and or The Ultimate Warrior. When this happened I would leap in the air and hide behind the living room couches and plug my ears.
Reguardless of that fact I would never be short on things to say , I would stand a mere 3"5 and weigh 50-60 pounds at 14. Yes you heard me right I really did weigh that much.
Which is why I loved wrestling so much , because I could focus on entertainment and for a few moments maybe a hour or two I could just enjoy life without having to be involved in fight with my parents or worry about my eatting disorder.
I still say that The Ultimate Warrior was just a bit crazy for me. But on the other hand The Undertaker did make me cry when I saw him at a random event at the CNE. He appeared out of nowhere walking to the ring, everything went dark and I was freaked... I honestly thought he was the boogyman. (the actual one.)
You can judge for yourself as I will post some videos of the two.
Anyway as time passed the fear of The giant of a man known as the Undertaker passed
Days before I left for college, I forgave my mother and father for how they abused me. They laughed and I went off to college.
I started at Conestoga in Kitchener under journalism, I did this because I loved to write. I got out of Journalism because I saw this news thing invovling THE WWE and CNN. I decided from that point on that even though I was a good journalism student, I wanted no part of that business.
I wasn't into ruining people reps. I had too much respect for wrestling superstars , heck I grew up watching them from a very young age. Most people childhood hereos would be Batman, Superman, Heman, Spiderman , members of the Fantasic 4. I had my heroes, They were Hulk Hogan, Brett Hart, Sting and even Rocky Bollea himself. Frankly wrestlers known as The Ultimate Warrir and The Undertaker scared the living daylights out of me.
As I mentioned before it got extremely hard for me to be a Christian. I let it go really I went to college and enjoyed much of the party scene. It was a way for me to be cool, but one night I overstepped my bounds amd I would say, I was all partied out.
I was invovled in a drinking contest, and without a word I drank a mickie of rum and coke in under a minute. (No word of a lie) I ended up on the floor, I was picked up by friends and after throwing up numerous times, I somehow crawled on my stomach using every ounce of my shaking cold body to reach a phone. To call 911.
I did and I was treated for alcohol poisoning. That was the scariest night of my life, much scarier than the Undertaker. I know the people that carried my limp body to my room was quite scared, I was quickly freezing and my body temperature was dropping fast.
I was taken in the emerge by Grand River and was treated for alcohol posioning. I forgot to mention I also had 2 yes 2 thermal blankets on me to keep me warm and for my body temperature to regulate.
After that night I had begged my parents that I needed to move from this place that I was living in which was the local residence. It was too much for me. This caused my parents to have distress, mainly because at the res there was secruity, Reguardless of how my parents felt, I was presistant that I needed to move away.
When I moved I moved in a perfect area with a church a six minute walk from my house. Oh and it also a grocery store in the same area with a Dairy Queen and Tim Hortons in the same distance from eachother.
I went began to attend church and I enjoyed it infact that it was one of the places where I would feel like I was home. I could really find peace in Christ and Church. Along with the music I enjoyed it immensely. I got introduced to a rapper KJ52 (a Chtistian rapper, who became like my mentor. I became so involved with Christian music that I appllied for radio with dreams of going to work at Faith FM. I didn't get in but I was still hungry for God.
Reguardless of that , I still had my passion for music and got so invvolved it was like I had a plan for mysel without really consulting God on it... Now it is evidant that I LOVE TO TALK. I love God and I wanted to make a huge impact and give him praise for everything that I went through, and through it alll, I was very happy that Christ still called to me.
As I said I was into rap music, and that would have to be because of wresttler/rapper John Cena who wrote some killer lyrics. I still listen to some of Cena to remind myself of where I have been and what it took me to get here. Even I need some reminding now and than. I now have grown so much in Christ, seeking and making friends. I can say that Krista and Amanda as sisters and friends and now my sisters in Christ have a very big impact, because they constantly speak to me and proudly testify about Jesus.
I would attribute people like Kristin , Melanie, KJ52, Casting Crowns, Kutless, my brother Angelo, Nathan Innes, Frank Struth, Silvie Jones, Reva Weeks, John Cena, Sting, the Hulkster, Taker, as being pilars to myself needing Christ.
Why would I consider them my piiars that lead me to faith, well its simple really I seeked foundation. My dad who is a brick layer, once said to me ,it is hard for a house to stand if they have no foundation.
What I believe I must do now is preach the gospel and become a pastor , use the gift of my speech to make disciples. Mathew 28:19 Therefore go to them baptizing them in the name of the father , son and the holy ghost.
In a way if I was a tree and Jesus was the gardener people like John Cena , Jesus, Kristin , Silvie, Reva, Nathan, Taker KJ52, Frank Struth Casting Crowns, Sting and Hulk Hogan are my vines and I am the branch - *used as a metafor. John 15:1,2,3
I attritube all the praises to Jesus for alloing to come to him and feel not alone with the spirit of Jesus that lives within me, feel more alive than ever.
" The Undertaker" once said "Sometimes its hell trying to get to heaven." I think that is nicely put and thats the story of how I came from bottom of the pit to pastor. Frank asked me a while ago if that desire of becoming a pastor still exist. I can say this. IT DOES, IT DOES....
Here is the difference between John Cena and KJ52 The Contrast is cool which why I love rap music, I don't listen rap for the beats but for the message being sung.....
John Cena - Right Now
The contrast between Undertaker and Warior - who is more scary?
The Undertaker
The Ultimate Warrior
When talking and making a devotional which discusses wrestling I would remise if I didn't include this video.....
Warning _______________________________________________________________________________ Some of the content in this post is very open. Some viewers may not like what they read, this is a message to the people the world who know me well and mostly this is a broken teary eyed confession to God. A word to the unbelievers if you doubt the higher power of God. I urge all of you to examine my story. I hope that it speaks to you ro begin a relationship with God, if you haven't already started. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Have you ever heard of the expression "what doesn't KILL you makes you stronger? If you want to know my big secret here it is. I'm a Christian.
Not one of those Christians that just goes to church on Sundays and than does what he wants for the rest of the week. No sir, that life isn't for me.
I lived that life and still professed I was a Christian. But during the week I would be like everyone else in the world, hitting on girls, drinking, never doing homework and most of all.
I didn't know anything about the Bible. As I was going along in life as we so often do I was spending time with my fair share of girls, thinking ok "Anthony your in college now, your going have a chance to sleep with all these girls."
Well to explain to you the REASON I crawled and cried for Christ Jesus can be described in one word. "patterns." I grew up like any other kid loving family with some issues but were hidden from everybody else.
Level ONE of my Patterns ---------------------------
I was born and died only to be revived by hospital staff. When I was incohearant on the brink of death the doctors told my parents that I had suffered servere damage to my brain, due to the lack of oxygen that I recieved.
I was born the with my twin brother Angelo who I am older to by 3 minutes. He hates it when I mention that, but hey I'm not going to argue with facts because sometimes thats just the way things go.
The so called damage to btain left me with a disabilluty which the health care professionals would call Cerebral Palsy.
I don't my parents were fully ready for the responsibillity that came with me. It was hard on them from the get go. My mother and father were simple factory workers in the area Stratford Ontario.
Alot of sacrifices were made on my parents behalf so that I could have a subpar life even with the difficulties of my disabillity. My father did everything he could to help me. To say that I had a normal childhood would be an overstatement. I spent most of child visiting doctors , specialists and going in and out of hospitals.
It first started out with 1 surgery than 2, then 6 , 9 and finally 11. Yes that is correct you heard me right I did say 11 surgies.
Pattern 2 ------------
Even though my parents did everything they could for me, Life at home was difficult. I was a very bitter child, suffering from an eating disorder. Just how bad was this eating disorder. I can admit now I never liked it much at home, I spent numerous days at my Gtandmothers house.
I can honestly say this, the very reason I managed to survive my childhood was becaause of the time I spent with my grandmother. There I was the happiest because my grandparents didn't look at me as a disappointment, but it was the complete opposite.
They spent a little more than there remaining years spending time with me. Come to think of it, I can't imagine what there phone bill must have been like. I must have called there six times a day. I was 11 years old when my grandmother took me to my first church services. I couldn't really understand what it actually meant to go ton church.
At the age of 14 I lost my grandma, it was extremely hard on me, she became like a mother to me. I was shaken to the very foundation of my bones.
I was tramatized. That was my first experience with death. That night I was devastated , I cried out to the Lord for understanding/ "Lord if you are real why didn this happen.
Pattern 3 ------------- In the recent events of the loss of my grandmother, I tried to do everything I could do to change my life for the better. Because I wanted to see her one day. My friends thought I was a bit crazy.
I would take the bible everywhere I went. But as time went on being a "Christian," got too hard. I again became like everyone else. I wanted to do because I just wanted to fit in and hide my pain. I thought if I could be like everyone else then I will be accepted by society.
In a search for my family one day, I came across a girl who shaLL just be named for purposes of safety she shall be named K.
She became a fast friend I never did find my family until one year later. As it ended up we became distant through the years, but she taught me a very lesson in kindness. Despite the events of today she has to this day has taught to be kind.
At 22, I entered my first year of college at Conesoga studying journalism, I enjoyed the party lifestyle I made some good friends. After a while with the stress of my program weighing down upon me.
I became a huge partier to escape the stress. One night I was in drinking contest and I egotistical thinking that I win it all. So I drank a mickie of rum and coke in a bottle.
I nearly died of alcohol posioning that night. May body temperature quickly dropped. I would throw up numerous times and need assistance from the local hospital. The ambulance had put 2 thermol blankets on me to keep body temperature up.
Pattern 4 --------------- In an effort to get my feet grounded, I searched for an outside way to escape. I wanted to come back to live the good life. I wanted to come back to God. So I asked God to forgive me of my sins, and asked to help me find a connection with him again. I prayed and prayed. There were many nights where I felt alone. There was many nights where I felt disconnected to God.
I made a big move to a house which I love. I got away from the party scene and began to pray even harder. I still felt disconnected to God to a point I mean I had my fair share of sins , and I felt as though even though I may try to renew my life. God would never accept me.
Than I had a discussion with some members of my church and they stressed the importance of reading the bible to be strong in your walk with God. On March, 1 I made a choice to fully commit to the Lord. Much like a now or never sanerio. I'm glad I choose the now.... First when I came to Christ when I was 14, I did that whole God thing, I even got into the music.
But after a while the music became sappy, I needed music with an upbeat tempo. To be more specific I became interested in intense rap, like music from John Cena. It was orignally pretty easy to get into music from Cena. Because he was a wrestler from the WWE. If anybody knows me well enough they know that I LOVE wrestling. I mean come on as a small child I used to work out to Hulk Hogan cassettes.
I loved the rap by John Cena, it had an edge to that I was pleased with. But I still wanted that Christian value so I searched on YouTube for more Christian music. I searched for Rap that was Christian. I heard of artists like T-bone, Toby Mac and DC Talk. I came across an artist that I never heard of before. KJ52. Now his songs were pretty stellar. He had such an impact on me , he became my music mentor.
I tuned into to his Monday devotionals and searched for more music. He had such an impact on me that I would read the bible everyday. I liked KJ52 devotionals so much that I became more involved with my church by joining small study groups, disciplships and more. On March 1 , 2009 I was baptized and had a very powerful testimony.
The point being I have faced some of the darkest days and if I had to do I'd do it all over again , because I know before you get strength in the Lord you have to become weak. We all can have hope in Jesus Christ.
Bless the patterns of my life, for through the darkness I saw the light and was never left alone in the dark. But now I shine with the light of life. It first started with 1 Christian friend in `99 then it became 2 in 2000, than 3 in 2001, than 6 in 2002, than 8 in 2007, than a multitude of a family of Christians in 2009.
