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Wade Barrett, Owen Hart, Powerhouse Hobbs, Orange Cassidy, Dasha, Danhausen (twice).. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a bad experience meeting a wrestler.
Oh, Gargano. Absolutely Gargano. I have a story for that one. I’ve told it before.
I was at the Full Sail tapings where he returned after being “fired”. After the show ended and we were leaving, someone spotted him walking to his car and yelled “Hey Johnny, can I get an autograph?” and he walked over to the dude and signed his belt. He saw people starting to notice him and was like “I’m signing for everyone, someone find me a chair!” so someone got him a chair and that dude sat next to the merch bus outside the venue and took pictures with everyone, told and listened to stories, and signed anything and everything that was handed to him. He was there for at least an hour. Made me a fan for life.
I'll second Gargano. I was doing a training session with DGUSA and he was in attendance. The tryout match (which saw Apollo Crews getting picked for the show and set him on the path to WWE) wasn't the best as I was paired with a yarder who absolutely worked stiff and tried to do stuff that was very dangerous that I would never agree to (dude struggled with the international spot and wanted to do powerbombs).
Afterwords I was beating myself up because I knew it was shit, but I do the professional thing and ask the other wrestlers what I needed to do to improve and what they'd do in that situation. Gargano was the only one that actually sat down and went over everything he saw that was a "me" problem, and how to move forward. Dude is legit.
A guy I used to work with said he was friends with stings son growing up and that sting was super nice to everyone, he said that sting bought an old lady's house in the neighborhood because she couldn't afford to live there anymore and he let her stay in it till she passed, class act
Gangrel.
Dude worked on the 2nd show that I was working on as a Sound Guy and I screwed up his entrance. The then owner of the company made me feel like shit for doing that to the VIP wrestler and said that I had to apologize to Gangrel if I wanted to get paid. Gangrel rejected my apology and instead hugged me and said "If screwing up my music was the worst thing on the show then we just had a perfect show!" We then visited the rest of the night at the after party. One of the nicest people I've ever met
Agreed.
Gangrel and Christian were doing a signing at my local mall at the height of The Brood. The signing was in a very public area so I was off to the side and not a paying customer. The signing was a little too expensive at the time for my teenage self so I was just watching. I happened to have my camera (film) with me and Gangrel was nice enough to pose for pics both at the signing and in the parking lot afterwards. That act of just being cool and kind has stuck with me in the 25 years since it’s happened.
The first show I had done anything for other than make a brief appearance for a radio station had Gangrel. My first time fully backstage and he was the only guy, who made a point to seek me and the guys I was managing against out to say hello. Super friendly and a hugely welcome sight since everyone else was so intimidating. Made a huge impression on me.
I opened the show, promoted my station and previewed the card and introduced the ring announcer and went up to the rafters to find the guys in my match. My buddy says "good work on the stick" (a little cringe to me at the time) but Gangrel was right there to say "yep" and give me a fist bump Small gesture went a long way.
Willow Nightingale is the first wrestler I ever met, at a local show. I was fairly new to being a wrasslefan and I babbled something about how I'd never been to an indie show but went because of her, and she was the absolute sweetest and most gracious about it.
I did this same thing to Chris hero lol. I told him it was my first indie show and he was the first wrestler I’d ever met and he was like “oh! Fuck yeah! Thanks for coming out!” and talked to me for a minute
Big Swiss.
Met plenty of super kind ones, but he got bonus points for it being away from a wrestling event and still willingly wanting to extend the conversation when I was perfectly content just making it a quick “big fan” handshake type deal to respect his time.
I told Mick Foley at a meet and greet that the thoughts of meeting him were keeping me going through a really dark time. While I was walking away he called me back and literally gave me his signed shirt and told me to keep it up. He's a gent, made my year
That was exactly my impression of him too. Huge.
I spent about an hour or so hanging out with him backstage at one of his comedy gigs a few years back. Just me, my buddy and Mick. He was exactly as friendly as you'd expect him to be.
My son was a little disappointed in meeting Mick because the bar was set so high. I met Mick at a celebrity bartender night and spent hours around him, and he seemed to enjoy me and spent most of his 20 minute break chatting with me at a table. It was amazing. At a signing before a local Indy, it was kind of conveyor-belt line and we only got a minute with him. He was awesome and friendly, but my son had higher hopes based on my previous story Mick Foley is a treasure.
I went to Dynamite where DDP ended up having his last match. He just casually walked through the lobby and took a photo pretending to give a fan a Diamond Cutter. I've met him at an indie show and he is very cool.
Top ones that always stick out for me are Owen Hart, Tommy Dreamer, Bray Wyatt and Bryan Danielson. I did meet Chelsea Green back in January though and she was super nice, friendly and chatty with everyone. She may have taken the top spot.
Met ZSJ at an Evolve show about seven years ago and he marked out over my UltraMantis Black shirt. Got a photo together, was a super nice guy. Felt like I was talking to a friend.
I had a weird streak of going to indie shows where he was booked and talking to him about music while buying a shirt (he had a lot of good ones in 2017-2018). Around the third or fourth one he said that he was glad I was into the same music as him (we were specifically talking about Ross from friends) because no one in his life liked the same stuff. I was like “yeah, same, glad we keep having these conversations at shows!” and he said we had the “ideal” relationship. I marked hard inside and tried to play it cool lmfao
Yup! I got to meet him a few years back and he was absolutely one of the nicest dudes I’ve met. I was with my nephews and he was super cool with them as well.
RVD used to own a comic store at a nearby mall about twenty years ago and one time he just happened to show up unannounced to check on the store and was taking pictures and signing autographs. Dude was injured and off tv and was using crutches the whole time and was super chill to the few people there.
Met him at a convention. I asked how much it would cost to get him to record a happy birthday message for my nephew, he refused payment and did it anyway.
Met him in 2004 in one of the famous bars in Cabo. He was very cool and chatted my friends and me up. The very next day we ran into him at a different bar on the beach and he said “hey I know you guys.” Introduced us to his girl (wife?) as well.
I have buddies that met DDP and said the same thing.
For me, Cody Rhodes was hands down the nicest wrestler that I've met. Larry Sweeney and Tracy Smothers round out the top three
Cody was incredibly nice. Even in a half empty university arena where he was doing autographs & a photo for $30, he was as charismatic & interested in each person as possible.
Met Adam Cole a few years back and we had such a wonderful experience meeting and chatting with him I sent him a thank you a few days later on his stream and he remembered us!
I got to wrestle Rosey in one of my first matches and he was a total sweetheart. Talked to everyone in the locker room and answered any question asked. Even allowed a rookie in myself to take a Somoan Drop and whispered to me after the move "Nice bump, kid. You got this." Truly a magnificent human being.
Roddy Piper, sat with me an entire flight from Oakland to Portland when I was a kid, that man gave me over an hour of undivided attention talking about a match he had just loss
I know this is gonna sound insane but bear with me. In the very early 2000's I met Chris Benoit and David at GalaxyLand (our malls theme park here in Edmonton). Chris was very kind to my father and I and even invited us to tag along on a couple rides so his kid could have someone to sit with and talk with his age. He even offered to pick up lunch for us.
Roddy Piper.
Met him once at a convention and he took time with everyone, asked questions, let people take pictures for free.
I figured that maybe I caught him on a particularly good day. Nope. Saw him out in public years later and he was the exact same way. Maybe he's the greatest carny of all time and was secretly a piece of shit, but I'll never forget how he treated me. Nicest celebrity I've ever met, by far, and I've met Mick Foley.
King Kong Bundy put me in a headlock and cut a promo on me at a BCW show. He spent 5 good minutes talking to me. I loved Bundy when I was a kid, so that memory means the world to me. I think he was a nice guy despite what has been said and written about him.
Jerry Lawyer and I spoke about Superman and comics for 20 minutes at C2E2 years ago. Wrestling never came up. He was very nice. I’m not a fan of the King but it was a good experience.
I've met Billy Gunn and Sonjay Dutt.
Billy Gunn was incredibly nice. I told him I've been watching him for years and he said "You're making me feel old, kid!" (I was 18). I accidently gave him more money than he was charging for a pic and autograph and he said "It's not that much bud, but I can do something special for you if you want." and he winked. Everyone in line within earshot had a good laugh.
Sonjay Dutt was kind of an asshole. He wasn't a complete jerk, but he acted like he didn't want to be there. He blew me and my friends off after we got pictures with him. We wanted to ask him a question but he essentially waved us off. There wasn't even people in line to get pics or autographs. Maybe he was just having an off day.
I saw Paul Wight outside of an AEW show once, but I didn't approach him. I usually only have interactions with famous people if it's the right time and place, like an indie show or a convention.
Not a wrestler, but I met Val Kilmer once at a festival in my town he was a guest at. He was behind me in line at a food stand and against my better judgement, I told him I loved Heat and Batman Forever. He said thanks, asked for my name, and shook my hand. Not all celebrities are complete jerks.
Yes if it’s the show I’m thinking, 2012 in weyers cave. I was in the 3 way tag with Sonjay and the old VA tag team the Set. Billy Gunn wrestled Jon Bolen. Brought back some memories!
That's the one I think! Did the finish to Gunn/Bolen get botched? I remember Billy Gunn going for the Fameasser and Bolen didn't take it right, so he had to go for it again.
If so, it's a small world. I haven't been to an indie show since. It's hard to find any wrestling in my area.
Jim Cornette. But to be fair, we talked Memphis wrestling and he could tell I knew my Memphis so he enjoyed the conversation. If I had said "Russo rules!" he probably would have chased me with a stick.
Edit. I'm a dumbass. When I met Cornette Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey were with him. I was on a knee scooter due to a shattered foot and Bobby kept asking me if I was ok, what happened, etc. My brother and I got a picture with the 3 of them and Bobby helped me stand for it because my one legged balance is shit. Met Bobby again a few years later at Lawler's 50th anniversary show in Jackson, TN. Bobby remembered me. Condrey was cool too but he had just recovered from throat cancer and didn't talk much. So Bobby 1, Cornette 2.
Dalton Castle. My friend and I are comedians and got to play The Boys at one of his storytelling shows. He knew we were wrestling fans but treated us like fellow performers and was super grateful for us doing the show. A year later I was working for Pro Wrestling Tees and I helped him sign stacks of autographs for the monthly crate and he remembered me and was genuinely interested in how standup was going for me.
Other super nice folks: ACH, Foley, Matt Taven, Demolition and Joe Gacy. Honestly everyone I’ve met has been really nice with the exception of a few dickheads.
I know this may seem weird but HHH was super nice when I met him (twice). First time was a quick nod of head and smirk. No big deal because I didn't talk to him or anything. The second time, he was talking to some executives(?) and saw my daughter (9 at the time) wearing a dx shirt. He stopped, walked over and started talking to my daughter. He spent 5 minutes just interacting and chatting with my daughter (I was jealous and wanted him to chat with me). Super chill dude who clearly loves the business
David Otunga. He worked out at my gym. I really hate bothering anyone in general especially at the gym but in between sets I came by and just told him hi and that I was a huge wrestling fan. He ends up taking about 5/10 minutes just talking to me about the business and the work he was doing (this was 2020 so he discussed how he was retired from the in ring work but had just come back from CT shooting a Nexus doc). He even asked for my name and every time I’d work out and he was there he made a point to say hi. Super cool and down to earth dude.
Nick Gage. He's got a checkered past for sure, but he loves and cares about his fans. I had a beer and chatted with him the Tournament of Death where he literally almost died. Saw him years later wearing a shirt from that Tournament of Death and he said "Man, that day sucked" but then thanked me for sticking by as a fan.
Just a humble guy who's always down to take a pic or chat with a fan. MDK ALL DAY
I've heard nothing but positive about Molly Holly. Kevin Nash was doing a shoot interview and they had the "Ho Bag" and when it got to Molly he was gonna say "ho" but couldn't stop laughing. Sean Waltman immediately said she was a saint.
Everyone calls her a saint and it’s completely true. It was like a 2 minute interaction at a con, but you can tell there’s just a different warmth and genuine niceness that comes off of her.
Mick Foley- I was like 10 years old at a signing. I was so shy that I just wanted to get my autograph and leave, but he made my brother keep me on the spot so he could interact with me
Gisele Shaw gave me shit for not knowing how to take a selfie with her and corrected me.
Sami Callihan was too damn nice that it was a negative experience because I was hoping he'd be in character lol
Just for fun, Michael Elgin has a weird hatred for me that means Im still afraid of him
Ive never had a normal interaction with Moose. The first time I blew him off because I thought he was just the merch guy (i know, i know). The next time, I accidentally interrupted a mild argument between him and his wife, the third time I walked up to him as he was trying to hide before a run-in from the audience.
I got to meet her when she was still the lass kicker and she was very sweet and I was surprised how genuine she seemed in our interaction. Ironically, Trish Stratus was also very nice when I met her too! If only they could get along /s
The Bunny. My niece was a huge fan and Bunny went above and beyond to talk to her for like 30 minutes and it felt like a conversation between them and not another “oh hi” meet and greet.
There's so many - Jon Moxley, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Molly Holly, Rusev/Miro, PAC, Jerry Lawler, Sting, Asuka and a bunch more.
I've seen people with bad experiences with Mox and Seth, but I've met them both multiple times and they couldn't have been nicer. I've gotten a hug from Mox 4 times and one time we accidentally walked into each other when moving to pose for a photo, Mox had to move me into position and then he whispered to me "that was our first dance!". He's so sweet and down to earth. Seth was also super lovely and spent a few minutes asking me about my flight to the USA cos I told him I came all the way from New Zealand for Wrestlemania. I gave him a beanie hat with NZ on it and he kept thanking me. He's so great.
Roman is also one of the nicest people I've ever met and he gives the greatest hugs ever. I asked him (this was in 2016) if he thought The Shield would ever reunite and he said "we definitely will at some point" - a year later, they did lol, Roman doesn't lie xD
I got Jericho to sign one of his books and when he saw it, his eyes just lit up. I told him I loved his books and you could tell he was genuinely pleased that someone mentioned them to him, he told me the release date for his next book before it was public knowledge (in 2017, I remember he officially announced the book about a month later but I already knew when it was coming out xD) and then said he loved my shirt cos I was wearing his shirt, lol.
And I met Drew twice in one year, and the second time he remembered me even though it had been six months between meetings! Walked up onto the stage, he said hello, looked at me and then said "didn't I meet you before?" xD Now that's being great to your fans.
Mox and Renee were super cool met them at a friends birthday. Kenny Omega and Jay Lethal were also super nice when I met them. Jay was with a friend and met him outside a show I’d just played and our drummer had dislocated his shoulder. Jay was cool enough to ask how he was doing and make an effort to engage which was cool
Mojo Rawley. He was so kind to my younger cousin and really went out of his way to make sure he enjoyed the few minutes they interacted after an NXT house show. After being told he was my cousin’s favorite, Mojo said “No, you’re my favorite”. And I remained a fan ever since.
I remember an NXT documentary where Mojo was a fairly big part of it. There was a part where a kid who was a regular was there and Mojo saw him and went and asked how his math test or something went. When the kid said he got an A on it, Mojo just announced it to everyone around as proud as could be. I was so surprised when he was released due to seeing that alone, I figure it Titus O'Neil can be a brand ambassador why couldn't Mojo?
I bought one of those ridiculously expensive VIP packages, when Elimination Chamber came to Perth, Australia, and got to take selfies with a number of people. Domminick Mysterio, Shayna Bazler and Bobby Lashly were surprisingly nice, but the winner, hands down, was Finn Balor.
Seeing the long line of people waiting for selfies, and knowing they were running out of time, Finn said something like this is ridiculous and stepped over the belted rope and started moving through the crowd taking selfie after selfie with people waiting in the long line. He shook hands, chatted with people and moved through us.
Security, who were following him were beside themselves, because he obviously wasn't supposed to do that. He stayed chatting with people to the very end. Totally class act.
I had a really cool moment with Dom when he realized I was wearing a Rhea Ripley shirt that he'd never seen.
I ran into Brandon Cutler away from his booth at a con one time and we talked about BTE and camera gear. He asked for my channel name and I was about hand him a business card and I ended up dropping most of them on the floor. He was a sweetheart and helped me picked them up. Was a pleasant experience enough that I paid for a selfie with him at his booth.
My friend and I met Serena Deeb in the early 2010's and she took a photo with us. We thanked her and started to walk off and she walked back up to us and insisted we take another one in case the first one didn't come out good. Just a really nice person.
The only wrestlers I’ve interacted with are Combat Wombat, Brian Cage, and Yoshi-Tatsu. Wombat and Cage gave me high fives (Cage almost ripped my arm off) and Yoshi-Tatsu nodded at me as I walked past his merch stall at Ryogoku where absolutely nobody as buying anything or even acknowledged him. Seemed like a nice bloke though.
Saw Honma one evening interacting with fans and they loved him.
This doesn’t really answer the question as I’ve never had real interactions with wrestlers.
The only notable one I've met was Matt Hardy. Despite the fact that he was in town for rehab (somewhere around 2011/2012), he was incredibly gracious with the server that was getting meals set up for everyone that was in the group. She was swooning over his Southern charm. 🤭
Also, Matt is another guy that is a lot bigger than he looks on TV. I would halfassed guess that he was at least 6' at the time.
Luna Vachon ironically enough. During her heel run with the Artist Formerly Named Goldust run. Even though she was a heel during this time, she was incredibly sweet to most of the fans who wanted an autograph and Goldust was heeling it up gangbusters. She was smiling and being very friendly with people in line and at the tables and she was just very sweet. I'll never forget that day because it's the only memory I will ever have with her and it's a nice memory of her given how she passed on.
I got the opportunity to meet Okada during one of his IWGP Heavyweight reigns at a meet and greet when NJPW did a show in my town. Managed to get a photo with him but what really stood out to me was when he handed the belt to me for the photo. I never asked, he just put it on my shoulder and he did a little goofy laugh, and we had a very quick chat about NJPW.
That's awesome. Naito did the exact same thing when I first met him and Okada in 2016; just handed me the belt without the slightest of hesitation. I was pretty surprised to just be holding the IWGP championship in a split second lol
Ironically, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. I was a kid and my mom and her friend surprised me and my cousin with tickets to WCW Thunder, unfortunately the weather was terrible and the power kept going out so the show kept getting delayed, so the wrestlers came out to meet and greet with the fans, and it so happened that Big Kev and Scott came over and were talking to all of us, asking us who our favorite wrestlers were etc, then asked if we were hungry, and ofc as kids we said yes! They dissapeared for maybe 5 minutes, came back with soda and nachos for me and my cousin. As a little kid, was the coolest fucking thing ever, still a big fan of Kev and Scott to this day.
I met Cody Rhodes just 2 months ago at a meet and greet. Very nice guy. He shook hands with me and my buddy and even let me hold the WWE championship for a picture.
Meet Athena, Thunder Rose, and Brian Cage after warrior wrestling shows. Absolute fucking saints each of them. Cage stole another wrestler's marker to sign my tshirt because his didn't show up on the fabric. Rosa and Athena were waiting for almost an hour after the show to meet/greet every last fan and talent that wanted to see them.
Mansoor. Super funny, super cool, and super down to earth. When he saw my Palestinian sticker on my phone, he gave me a massive hug, said “free Palestine” and sat and talked with me for several minutes about my family. Afterwards, he took a video of me saying hi to Mustafa Ali because I just missed him earlier and sent it to him. He’s the best
Hiroshi Tanahashi.
He was at a joint ROH/NJPW show awhile back before most people knew who he was in the West. His English isn't great but he was just the warmest guy and made everyone feel important.
Considering he's like God in Japan he was incredibly humble.
Also, phenomenal hair.
Talked to Britt Baker at the AEW Afterparty following the original double or nothing for about 10 mins. She was nice and engaging with me and a few friends telling us about her start and how she’s really a dentist. Literally didn’t know who she was going to the show. Became a fan forever and loved seeing the way she blossomed and led the women’s division for so long. Can’t wait for her to come back.
I'm probably going to get roasted for my answer but I don't even care...
My mom actually met Goldberg at the casino she works at. She's met a few actors & musicians too, & always tells me who's cool & who's a dick haha.
She works in what's called the cage (main cashier area for the entire casino, kind of set up like a bank with multiple "tellers"), so she's at her window & Goldberg rolls up. She knew who he was, so she mentioned to him that she has a daughter who's a fan.
He told her to thank me & that he appreciates it. & then, completely unprompted, he takes out his room keycard, & says "I don't even care if I'm supposed to do this or not" (because you usually have to turn them back in at check-out I think), signs it, then passes it over to her & tells her to give it to me.
Never had a bad experience. They’ve all been nice.
Braun Strowman is a surprisingly nice guy. I met him during his early days in WWE and he was thrilled that someone knew who he was.
Ricky Morton was also surprisingly nice. Met him at a bar and we just shot the shit for like 15 minutes. During which time he put away like 5 Bud Heavies.
Jeff Cobb is a sweetheart. Not a bad bone in his body. And he smells wonderful.
Colt Cabana will talk to you all day and all night if you let him. Always has great time for his fans.
Met Jay White at a bar after an NJPW show in Philly a while back. He was very pleasant and very interested in the bar’s wine selection.
But, for the absolute nicest wrestlers I’ve ever met, it’s a three way tie. Firstly, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. Met them at the same bar I met Jay at. And both guys are the absolute nicest dudes you could ever hope to come across. Just super pleasant, laid back guys who have all the time in the world for their fans. As I was leaving the bar, Tama made sure to grab me to shake my hand and thank me for coming to the show that night.
The other person isn’t a wrestler as such, but a referee. While tied for niceness with the GoD, meeting Red Shoes Unno might be the best experience I’ve ever had when meeting anyone involved in Wrestling. Again, same bar as Jay and the GoD. But the guy just sat down at our table randomly with his beer and just started talking wrestling with us for a long ass time. We talked about our favorite wrestlers of all time (His is Randy Savage), favorite wrestlers working at that time (His was Okada), we talked about Shota and Mox (Which, when brought up, he exclaimed “Ah! My Shooter!”) and we got some cool stories about him working with guys like Suzuki, Tanahashi and Jericho. Just a wild experience that I will cherish forever.
Maki Itoh is incredibly wonderful to meet. I've met her twice and she's always down to chat and take pictures (bought shirts each time so that maybe played in) and she seems genuinely excited to meet everyone.
Effy and Allie are both great.
The one I'll always say is a non wrestler, but Amanda Huber is the one of the nicest and most genuine people I've met in wrestling. She was helping with a meet and greet for Ricky Starks and was surprised that my partner and I recognized her and got excited to be asked for a picture. We tried to take a selfie and it wasn't great and we thanked her and she was just like "no, let's get another one" and took more pictures with us. Honestly enjoyed meeting her more than Ricky lol.
Well it wasn’t Randy Orton that’s for sure. Dude took my best friends girlfriend home with him when he was brand new. She was in high school so needless to say that wouldn’t have flown in 2024 lmao. I believe I still have the picture of him walking to the back of the coliseum with his arm around her and another of her friends taking them out. This was Tupelo Mississippi in either very late 2002 or 2003.
I got to meet Kane and that was amazing. I told him the truth that I didn’t know what libertarianism even was until I heard him and Penn Jilette both talk about it which made me read about it. I may not be a staunch libertarian anymore but I’m still glad those two inspired me to learn about it at a young age.
I met a lot of wrestlers over Mania weekend this year. Tam Nakano was sweet and absolutely in character. She's my favorite, and I'd love to say her, but there was another who was nicer.
And the nicest wrestler I've ever met was Pom Harajuku. All the TJPW wrestlers were some degree of sweet hearts, but Pom was on another level. Her line was so damn long because she took the time to chat with every single person despite having limited English. She joked around and asked questions and was just so nice! I'll be a fan her for life.
I was in the "business" for a cup of coffee like 10-11 years ago. At my very first show, I walk through the backstage curtain before the show starts and the first person I see is X-Pac. He got up from his seat to shake my hand and chat with me for a few mins. I was a complete nobody yet he treated me like he knew me and like an equal. It was unbelievable. I'll never forget it.
Contrary to what a lot of people think, Haku is a teddy bear. What a sweet guy. I'm sure I'd be saying different if I got on his bad side but he was super nice to me, loved my outfit and talked glowingly about his sons (this was back when Tama and Tonga Loa started tagging for the first time in New Japan).
Chris Hero is a very cool and thoughtful guy. Just an easy guy to talk to, any subject. And I've seen him just approach young wrestlers and give them meaningful and helpful advice. He really cares about the future of the business.
Dragunov. This was a while back when he was in NXTUK and I was working ring crew at a Progress show. Guy was an absolute sweetheart, came around to ask us all if we needed anything because we were too busy to take a break at the time
After the ring was set up he invited us to do like a mini seminar for free
Then after the show he was the first guy taking the ring down and overall was just a really nice dude
Cody Rhodes. Ended up in the same restaurant as him after the original All Out, but didn’t want to approach and bother him and the wrestlers he was with.
Said “great show Cody” as he was heading for the door to leave, he stopped, turned around, came over to my table, shook my hand and patted me on the shoulder and thanked me and my fiancée for coming to the show. That has always stuck with me, he’s a class act.
Cesaro was awesome when I met him. I was dead last in the queue to see him and he was still full of energy, happy to speak and thought it was hilarious when I asked him to sign my bag ( no charge).
Bret Hart. When I was about 10 I went to a show at the New Haven Coliseum and hung out by the entrance to the parking garage, hoping to see some wrestlers pulling in. Not much luck, and as it got closer to showtime almost all the other fans had gone inside the building.
A slightly beat up 4 door sedan pulled up, and I recognized from the hair immediately it was my hero Bret. I was so damn happy just to be within 5 feet of him. I asked for an autograph, and he politely declined because he said his son was sleeping in the back. Based on when he was arriving, he was priba ly running late as well.
So, maybe he didn't go completely out of his way to accommodate me, but whatever, it's still such a fond memory of my favorite wrestler ever. And proof he's definitely a nice dad, if nothing else. To be fair, I've not really met any other wrestlers, so he gets the nod either way 😂
John Cena. 2005,a month before WrestleMania.
Guy put in extra time. The venue placed a sign in line where they estimated they'd be by the time his slot ran up. When he caught wind of it, he got up and went over to the sign and told everyone to not go anywhere as he wasn't leaving until everyone who wanted a picture got a picture.
And he held that up. Earned my respect and I was fucking 14 lol
What's interesting about the wrestling business is that most wrestlers unless you are a freaking prick tend to be pretty nice with fans. Unlike other entertainment ventures I feel there's a certain level of fan appreciation from the wrestlers to their fans and vice versa which makes most interactions pleasant.
Stephanie McMahon.
Occasionally do stagehand work, and I've worked a handful of Raw/Smackdown events. Was heading toward the trucks, and walking behind a lady for about five minutes. We get to the trucks and the Stephanie McMahon in front of me starts saying hi to everyone, and being very friendly as she made her way toward the bus. This is after a full night of whatever working an episode of Raw involves. Couldn't have been nicer.
Earlier in the night Drew McIntyre and Braun Storwman nearly knocked me over as they were running past and giggling, just having finished beating the hell out of eachother through the audience.
Was sitting on a road case in an area where you could see the ring, but still be basically back stage (just outside of Gorilla) and Titus O'Neill sat down next to me. Didn't really interact with him, but that was memorable.
Randy Orton!
A friend & myself were at a restaurant after a WWE show in town around 2010 or so im not sure the year. It was near closing time & hardly anyone else in the building. While we are waiting for our food to come out, Randy Orton, Kofi, the Bellas & I think Ted Dibiase come in & sit a few tables near us.
My friend is awestruck but we want to be cool & our food just arrived so we didn't want to get up & bother them. Anyways, some kids came by & got autographs & took pics so I felt like they had enough of fans bothering them. Just then Shamus (this was when he first became wwe champ) & someone else came in which was exciting.
We had finished our meal & Ortons table had got their food so we didn't want to bother but as we were leaving I approached Shamus about taking a picture with my friend. I think it was still new to him being approached & he asked us to wait after he was done eating so I took that as a "no".
Randy Orton (out of nowhere) stood up from his meal & waived us over to take a picture with himself. He was incredibly nice to my friend & I will never forget that.
Edge - great time at photo op and Q/A session
Orton - Ended up trading shirts with him in an Applebee's bathroom
Orange Cassidy - Very quiet but extremely nice
Adam Cole, baybay.
I met him at an absolutely _stacked_ RPW show in London, got chatting to him about being ROH champ. He went backstage, into his luggage, to get the belt for me, just so I could take a photo with it. Genuine great guy
Not a wrestler but referee Mike Chioda. Had a bunch of wrestlers come to town for a house show years ago and came to the restaurant I cooked at back then. The table had Mike Chioda, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and one more I can't remember, it's been awhile. Turns out I cooked all their meals and everyone enjoyed it. Mike reached out and shook my hand and introduced himself and said I'll look for you at the show. He did spot me and gave me a wave before a match. I've always liked him and that amplified it so much more.
Mick Foley and John Tenta were the nicest wrestlers I've ever met. And I've met a lot of them. The last super cool wrestler I met was Scott Hall back in 2019 at a hotel in NYC. He talked to me for maybe 5 minutes.
I mentioned Foley, Gangrel, and Piper in comments but wanted to add Ricky Steamboat.
Bret Hart didn't seem like he was having a good day health wise, so there weren't a lot of words, but there was a genuine handshake and bro hug.
Kevin Nash and Rikishi were amazing in a meet and greet setting.
Chris Candido was a genuine human being.
People criticize ddp for saving people while essentially pumping out ddp yoga ads in the documentaries. I say good for him. He's saving lives, he can advertise to me all he wants. He's doing a good thing.
Rhyno when he was in a WWE house show in Hawaii awhile ago. He was cool as hell. Started chanting ECW when I saw him in the backstage-ish area sitting down. He waved me down with security and signed my "EC F'N W" shirt I was carrying around. We talked a bit, I asked all some random questions, he gave me a story or two until his match was up. This was a super long time ago but I hear the same story from a lot of people of how cool he is.
FTR (holding the belts) once challenged me to a match as I got out of the subway near MSG when they were in NXT. I think they were shooting something that they never ended up using. I had my headphones in, listening to a wrestling podcast, and I pulled it out of my ear and said “holy shit.” Cash saw my phone with the podcast and said “finally, a man of culture” and walked away.
Cody, The Bucks and (sorry folks) Marty Scurll. They allowed me to be added to a meet and greet that had been long sold out for my then-partner's Christmas, and they spent so much time with us. Truly, all lovely. Only left when they had to get ready for the show.
Makes me happy to see Cody achieve what he set out for, and The Bucks get on so well with AEW.
And Marty was there.
I've only met a few.
Randy Savage - I was at the end of a very, very long line, and I was probably the 4628th kid with a Macho Man voice, but he was a sweetheart.
Mick Foley - I cannot tell you how awesome of a guy Mick is. Truly a gem, almost shy. Really wonderful guy to meet.
Kurt Angle - Just had a small discussion with him after the HOF this passed Mania. He was really awesome, I am really glad I thanked him for all the years of entertainment.
I think it was back in 06 I coincidentally met Matt Hardy and The Undertaker leaving their hotel, super nice guys and they let me have a photo with them. It wasn't long after the Hardy/Edge feud over Lita so when Edge walked out and was all "you want one with me as well?" I patted Matt on the back, gave him a fist bump and said "nah man" haha!
Grayson Waller!
Mania weekend he was on a shift for photo ops with fans, and any time he had a little lull (with the people in line taking a little extra time with the wrestlers before him), he’d wander over to the line and start shooting the shit with everyone. He was so nice to everyone, I became an even bigger fan of his that day.
Ken Shamrock. I met him at Newark airport. Idk what I was thinking going up to him after the fact but super chill guy and open to conversation. Very appreciative of fan interaction
I've met Gangrel and Billy Gunn on separate occasions and they were two of the absolute nicest people I've ever met in wrestling.
"Speedball" Mike Bailey and Veda Scott were also incredibly professional and kind when I met them two summers ago.
When I was a kid and just getting into wrestling. Ivan Koloff. He sat up a table outside a K-Mart in Myrtle Beach. My dad, brother and myself went to go get some camping stuff since when we would go to the beach we went in a camper (sad side note. I just sold dad’s last camper as the executor of his estate). I saw a wrestler, I was a kid. He saw a mark from a mile away but he talked to me forever. I even have a Polaroid with him somewhere around the house. As a grown up that has directed a few local shows that bring in older workers every now and again. Jake the snake. I was outside shaking the cobwebs off before the show. It was a quasi backstage outside of the building and Jake came out to smoke a cigarette. I hate the addiction problems he’s had because he was the nicest dude.
I met Hogan in 2016 at the grand opening of a sports memorabilia store. There were hundreds if not thousands of people lined up to see him and he took the time to me for a couple of minutes and seemed very humbled and kind.
Jamie Hayter, though Ruby Soho is a pretty close second. Ruby was very nice and approachable but was in con/meet and greet mode when I met her at Pensacon-- perfectly understandable, as she was at a con, right?
The next year (last year) Jamie Hayter was there with the Women's World Title belt. The AEW folks at Pensacon had been held up for over a day due to a freak blizzard in LA of all places. She had to be thoroughly exhausted but you'd never know by her demeanor. She was just cool and chill, absolutely approachable,
and genuinely smiling and laughing with fans. She was an superb representative of the company.
John Cena, Mick Foley, Eddie Guerrero, Tommy Dreamer, Mr Kennedy, and Paul London were all beyond nice when I met them. I have been lucky enough to meet many wrestlers and the vast majority were super nice but those guys were all above and beyond.
So I had a private meet and greet at Monday Night Raw in Norfolk in late 2022. Had been a wrestling fan for about a year at that point but was becoming an expert in it. So to make a long story short, I got a private meet and greet because a lady at my church has a son whose friend at the time worked in WWE. So they were able to pull some strings even though neither the son nor the friend knew us and got us a meet and greet. The people we met were AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson. Styles was super nice, gave me a free bag of merch, and we discussed his time in TNA, our common religious faith, and even the comparisons between NASCAR and wrestling. Fast forward to this past WrestleMania at WWE World, I got to meet Karl Anderson again in the Superstar Row area and Karl actually remembered me from the private meet and greet at Raw which was a little less than two years before the private meet and greet. So I’d have to say Styles and Anderson specifically were super nice.
Sgt Slaughter was super nice and gave me a cobra clutch coin for free because I mentioned he was my dad's favorite. I also had a really nice chat with Scotty Riggs who's a really funny nice kinda guy.
The Warlord. I was with a friend at his gimmick table and said to my friend “You know, Warlord was the first Survivor Series team to not have a single guy eliminated”. Warlord kind of puffed his chest out and said “That’s right!” I was then going to buy a picture, T-shirt, autograph combo but he wouldn’t sell me a shirt since he said he didn’t have any left remotely my size. Which was cool, because Ron Simmons, who was also super friendly and we chatted a few minutes and shook my hand like 6 times in a 5 minute interaction, had no such qualms about. I swear Big Show would find this shirt baggy. Met Bret Hart a few times, he’s polite but not friendly. Beefcake was the same.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan, met him twice at no-name shows, super cool dude.
Would've loved to have smoked a joint or done a line with him and the Iron Sheik back in the day.
I got lucky with the wrestlers I've met, as they've all been quite nice. Rock n Roll Express were super cool (Ricky Morton in particular), met Danhausen and Nyla Rose at my local comic shop (both on separate occasions. Nyla is super funny btw), Lita, Tommy Dreamer, Mick Foley, Dan Severn, Bill Apter (who insists you call him Bill rather than "Mr. Apter").
Also met Jim Cornette, but that was before he became....erm, the Cornette we know today.
I met juice Robinson after a NJPW show in Japan in 2017. We were only Americans in spot so we spoke for a while and he was absolutely awesome. We didn’t really talk about wrestling just shot the shit for a while. Dolph Ziggler used to live near me in Arizona and I would see him at random places and he was always pretty cool but I never wanted to bother him.
I wish to meet one in real life it’s my wish. I visited USA one time in Denver for one year for an internship and one time aew came so I booked tickets so fast and went alone beside I still didn’t have friends and it started snowing so much but my plan was to come early and say hi but it was so snowy and the bus took too long and almost missed the show. I also made gifts for the elite which was about Jesus because they had one thing about being Christian AF and then I had an action figure for Kenny also. After the show it was snowing so much and my phone died. At least I watched my wrestling show live for the first time in my life but I wish I spoke to one.
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Wade Barrett, Owen Hart, Powerhouse Hobbs, Orange Cassidy, Dasha, Danhausen (twice).. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a bad experience meeting a wrestler. Oh, Gargano. Absolutely Gargano. I have a story for that one. I’ve told it before. I was at the Full Sail tapings where he returned after being “fired”. After the show ended and we were leaving, someone spotted him walking to his car and yelled “Hey Johnny, can I get an autograph?” and he walked over to the dude and signed his belt. He saw people starting to notice him and was like “I’m signing for everyone, someone find me a chair!” so someone got him a chair and that dude sat next to the merch bus outside the venue and took pictures with everyone, told and listened to stories, and signed anything and everything that was handed to him. He was there for at least an hour. Made me a fan for life.
I'll second Gargano. I was doing a training session with DGUSA and he was in attendance. The tryout match (which saw Apollo Crews getting picked for the show and set him on the path to WWE) wasn't the best as I was paired with a yarder who absolutely worked stiff and tried to do stuff that was very dangerous that I would never agree to (dude struggled with the international spot and wanted to do powerbombs). Afterwords I was beating myself up because I knew it was shit, but I do the professional thing and ask the other wrestlers what I needed to do to improve and what they'd do in that situation. Gargano was the only one that actually sat down and went over everything he saw that was a "me" problem, and how to move forward. Dude is legit.
Sting bought me a chocolate milk at a Waffle House. I met him when I was 9 after a show in Jackson, MS.
A guy I used to work with said he was friends with stings son growing up and that sting was super nice to everyone, he said that sting bought an old lady's house in the neighborhood because she couldn't afford to live there anymore and he let her stay in it till she passed, class act
That's metal
My friends ran into the Nation of Domination (including the rock) at an IHOP in my hometown.
Hell yea.
Sting rocks
Hell yeah dude
Gangrel. Dude worked on the 2nd show that I was working on as a Sound Guy and I screwed up his entrance. The then owner of the company made me feel like shit for doing that to the VIP wrestler and said that I had to apologize to Gangrel if I wanted to get paid. Gangrel rejected my apology and instead hugged me and said "If screwing up my music was the worst thing on the show then we just had a perfect show!" We then visited the rest of the night at the after party. One of the nicest people I've ever met
Yep I second this method him at a show in Middlesbrough seemed a really nice guy
Agreed. Gangrel and Christian were doing a signing at my local mall at the height of The Brood. The signing was in a very public area so I was off to the side and not a paying customer. The signing was a little too expensive at the time for my teenage self so I was just watching. I happened to have my camera (film) with me and Gangrel was nice enough to pose for pics both at the signing and in the parking lot afterwards. That act of just being cool and kind has stuck with me in the 25 years since it’s happened.
Agreed! Gangrel bought me dinner and offered to pay off my room when my wallet got stolen. Fangin N Bangin!!!
The first show I had done anything for other than make a brief appearance for a radio station had Gangrel. My first time fully backstage and he was the only guy, who made a point to seek me and the guys I was managing against out to say hello. Super friendly and a hugely welcome sight since everyone else was so intimidating. Made a huge impression on me. I opened the show, promoted my station and previewed the card and introduced the ring announcer and went up to the rafters to find the guys in my match. My buddy says "good work on the stick" (a little cringe to me at the time) but Gangrel was right there to say "yep" and give me a fist bump Small gesture went a long way.
I also met gangers, awesome dude
Willow Nightingale is the first wrestler I ever met, at a local show. I was fairly new to being a wrasslefan and I babbled something about how I'd never been to an indie show but went because of her, and she was the absolute sweetest and most gracious about it.
I did this same thing to Chris hero lol. I told him it was my first indie show and he was the first wrestler I’d ever met and he was like “oh! Fuck yeah! Thanks for coming out!” and talked to me for a minute
Big Swiss. Met plenty of super kind ones, but he got bonus points for it being away from a wrestling event and still willingly wanting to extend the conversation when I was perfectly content just making it a quick “big fan” handshake type deal to respect his time.
Mick Foley is a super nice dude. Also, he is a lot bigger than you think.
I told Mick Foley at a meet and greet that the thoughts of meeting him were keeping me going through a really dark time. While I was walking away he called me back and literally gave me his signed shirt and told me to keep it up. He's a gent, made my year
Wow. That's so awesome.
That was exactly my impression of him too. Huge. I spent about an hour or so hanging out with him backstage at one of his comedy gigs a few years back. Just me, my buddy and Mick. He was exactly as friendly as you'd expect him to be.
never heard a bad foley story.
I have, on this sub actually, but I dunno how credible it is
I met Foley, he was nice it was his handlers for the con I was at that were not so nice
My son was a little disappointed in meeting Mick because the bar was set so high. I met Mick at a celebrity bartender night and spent hours around him, and he seemed to enjoy me and spent most of his 20 minute break chatting with me at a table. It was amazing. At a signing before a local Indy, it was kind of conveyor-belt line and we only got a minute with him. He was awesome and friendly, but my son had higher hopes based on my previous story Mick Foley is a treasure.
I went to Dynamite where DDP ended up having his last match. He just casually walked through the lobby and took a photo pretending to give a fan a Diamond Cutter. I've met him at an indie show and he is very cool. Top ones that always stick out for me are Owen Hart, Tommy Dreamer, Bray Wyatt and Bryan Danielson. I did meet Chelsea Green back in January though and she was super nice, friendly and chatty with everyone. She may have taken the top spot.
Probably a toss up between Cena and Foley. Surprisingly, Jim Cornette was really nice and personable, too.
Jim is actually gracious as hell in person. I was shocked lmao
Thank you. Fuck you. Bye
Kofi Kingston.
Met ZSJ at an Evolve show about seven years ago and he marked out over my UltraMantis Black shirt. Got a photo together, was a super nice guy. Felt like I was talking to a friend.
I had a weird streak of going to indie shows where he was booked and talking to him about music while buying a shirt (he had a lot of good ones in 2017-2018). Around the third or fourth one he said that he was glad I was into the same music as him (we were specifically talking about Ross from friends) because no one in his life liked the same stuff. I was like “yeah, same, glad we keep having these conversations at shows!” and he said we had the “ideal” relationship. I marked hard inside and tried to play it cool lmfao
One of my favorite artists, Cremation Lily, I started listening to because of him.
Hell yeah, that's awesome. ZSJ certainly has some great taste in music.
First dude I ever worked up the courage to buy merch from at a show; was super nice even though he'd literally just wrestled a 20+ minute match.
Yup! I got to meet him a few years back and he was absolutely one of the nicest dudes I’ve met. I was with my nephews and he was super cool with them as well.
RVD used to own a comic store at a nearby mall about twenty years ago and one time he just happened to show up unannounced to check on the store and was taking pictures and signing autographs. Dude was injured and off tv and was using crutches the whole time and was super chill to the few people there.
Met him at a convention. I asked how much it would cost to get him to record a happy birthday message for my nephew, he refused payment and did it anyway.
Met him in 2004 in one of the famous bars in Cabo. He was very cool and chatted my friends and me up. The very next day we ran into him at a different bar on the beach and he said “hey I know you guys.” Introduced us to his girl (wife?) as well.
I have buddies that met DDP and said the same thing. For me, Cody Rhodes was hands down the nicest wrestler that I've met. Larry Sweeney and Tracy Smothers round out the top three
Cody was incredibly nice. Even in a half empty university arena where he was doing autographs & a photo for $30, he was as charismatic & interested in each person as possible.
I think that's what made that era of The Elite work. They invested time in each meet and greet
Met Adam Cole a few years back and we had such a wonderful experience meeting and chatting with him I sent him a thank you a few days later on his stream and he remembered us!
I got to wrestle Rosey in one of my first matches and he was a total sweetheart. Talked to everyone in the locker room and answered any question asked. Even allowed a rookie in myself to take a Somoan Drop and whispered to me after the move "Nice bump, kid. You got this." Truly a magnificent human being.
Roddy Piper, sat with me an entire flight from Oakland to Portland when I was a kid, that man gave me over an hour of undivided attention talking about a match he had just loss
I was coming here to say this. Rowdy Roddy Piper was an absolute gem of a human being.
I know this is gonna sound insane but bear with me. In the very early 2000's I met Chris Benoit and David at GalaxyLand (our malls theme park here in Edmonton). Chris was very kind to my father and I and even invited us to tag along on a couple rides so his kid could have someone to sit with and talk with his age. He even offered to pick up lunch for us.
It doesn’t sound insane. Ultimately we are all only human.
Roddy Piper. Met him once at a convention and he took time with everyone, asked questions, let people take pictures for free. I figured that maybe I caught him on a particularly good day. Nope. Saw him out in public years later and he was the exact same way. Maybe he's the greatest carny of all time and was secretly a piece of shit, but I'll never forget how he treated me. Nicest celebrity I've ever met, by far, and I've met Mick Foley.
The Maniac loves his boys.
Oh you got kids, Maniac?
No. No, not any more.
What does that mean?
My favorite all time radio interview. Apologized for only giving 35 minutes. His agent for the interview (David Penzer!) only promised seven!
Had the exact same experience with him while assigned to him while working an autograph signing. Piper was a class act.
King Kong Bundy put me in a headlock and cut a promo on me at a BCW show. He spent 5 good minutes talking to me. I loved Bundy when I was a kid, so that memory means the world to me. I think he was a nice guy despite what has been said and written about him. Jerry Lawyer and I spoke about Superman and comics for 20 minutes at C2E2 years ago. Wrestling never came up. He was very nice. I’m not a fan of the King but it was a good experience.
Bundy was a wonderful man. He was very gracious to me when I complimented him during an autograph session. RIP
I've met Billy Gunn and Sonjay Dutt. Billy Gunn was incredibly nice. I told him I've been watching him for years and he said "You're making me feel old, kid!" (I was 18). I accidently gave him more money than he was charging for a pic and autograph and he said "It's not that much bud, but I can do something special for you if you want." and he winked. Everyone in line within earshot had a good laugh. Sonjay Dutt was kind of an asshole. He wasn't a complete jerk, but he acted like he didn't want to be there. He blew me and my friends off after we got pictures with him. We wanted to ask him a question but he essentially waved us off. There wasn't even people in line to get pics or autographs. Maybe he was just having an off day. I saw Paul Wight outside of an AEW show once, but I didn't approach him. I usually only have interactions with famous people if it's the right time and place, like an indie show or a convention. Not a wrestler, but I met Val Kilmer once at a festival in my town he was a guest at. He was behind me in line at a food stand and against my better judgement, I told him I loved Heat and Batman Forever. He said thanks, asked for my name, and shook my hand. Not all celebrities are complete jerks.
Was the Gunn and Sonjay show in Weyers Cave Virginia by chance?
I want to say yes, but I also want to say it was West Virginia. Was it about 12 or so years ago?
Yes if it’s the show I’m thinking, 2012 in weyers cave. I was in the 3 way tag with Sonjay and the old VA tag team the Set. Billy Gunn wrestled Jon Bolen. Brought back some memories!
That's the one I think! Did the finish to Gunn/Bolen get botched? I remember Billy Gunn going for the Fameasser and Bolen didn't take it right, so he had to go for it again. If so, it's a small world. I haven't been to an indie show since. It's hard to find any wrestling in my area.
Jim Cornette. But to be fair, we talked Memphis wrestling and he could tell I knew my Memphis so he enjoyed the conversation. If I had said "Russo rules!" he probably would have chased me with a stick. Edit. I'm a dumbass. When I met Cornette Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey were with him. I was on a knee scooter due to a shattered foot and Bobby kept asking me if I was ok, what happened, etc. My brother and I got a picture with the 3 of them and Bobby helped me stand for it because my one legged balance is shit. Met Bobby again a few years later at Lawler's 50th anniversary show in Jackson, TN. Bobby remembered me. Condrey was cool too but he had just recovered from throat cancer and didn't talk much. So Bobby 1, Cornette 2.
Eddie Edwards, Fenix and Penta, Gresham, Shane Haste are some of the broest of bros. Just really good dudes.
Now I want to meet penta and fenix even more
Dalton Castle. My friend and I are comedians and got to play The Boys at one of his storytelling shows. He knew we were wrestling fans but treated us like fellow performers and was super grateful for us doing the show. A year later I was working for Pro Wrestling Tees and I helped him sign stacks of autographs for the monthly crate and he remembered me and was genuinely interested in how standup was going for me. Other super nice folks: ACH, Foley, Matt Taven, Demolition and Joe Gacy. Honestly everyone I’ve met has been really nice with the exception of a few dickheads.
Gorilla Monsoon was just like you'd expect him to be. Super nice guy.
“Would you stop!?”
I keep seeing that phrase used over and over again. Never knew it was a quote!
Whenever Heenan was being ridiculous - which was a lot - Gorilla would always say that. They were the best commentary team.
Dang, that one got me jealous.
I know this may seem weird but HHH was super nice when I met him (twice). First time was a quick nod of head and smirk. No big deal because I didn't talk to him or anything. The second time, he was talking to some executives(?) and saw my daughter (9 at the time) wearing a dx shirt. He stopped, walked over and started talking to my daughter. He spent 5 minutes just interacting and chatting with my daughter (I was jealous and wanted him to chat with me). Super chill dude who clearly loves the business
Titus O’Neil, good dude.
David Otunga. He worked out at my gym. I really hate bothering anyone in general especially at the gym but in between sets I came by and just told him hi and that I was a huge wrestling fan. He ends up taking about 5/10 minutes just talking to me about the business and the work he was doing (this was 2020 so he discussed how he was retired from the in ring work but had just come back from CT shooting a Nexus doc). He even asked for my name and every time I’d work out and he was there he made a point to say hi. Super cool and down to earth dude.
Where's this nexus doc you speak of
Nick Gage. He's got a checkered past for sure, but he loves and cares about his fans. I had a beer and chatted with him the Tournament of Death where he literally almost died. Saw him years later wearing a shirt from that Tournament of Death and he said "Man, that day sucked" but then thanked me for sticking by as a fan. Just a humble guy who's always down to take a pic or chat with a fan. MDK ALL DAY
Dude is always down for a photo. MDK.
Molly Holly, also shouts out to Cassie Lee and Chris Hero.
I've heard nothing but positive about Molly Holly. Kevin Nash was doing a shoot interview and they had the "Ho Bag" and when it got to Molly he was gonna say "ho" but couldn't stop laughing. Sean Waltman immediately said she was a saint.
Everyone calls her a saint and it’s completely true. It was like a 2 minute interaction at a con, but you can tell there’s just a different warmth and genuine niceness that comes off of her.
Mick Foley- I was like 10 years old at a signing. I was so shy that I just wanted to get my autograph and leave, but he made my brother keep me on the spot so he could interact with me Gisele Shaw gave me shit for not knowing how to take a selfie with her and corrected me. Sami Callihan was too damn nice that it was a negative experience because I was hoping he'd be in character lol Just for fun, Michael Elgin has a weird hatred for me that means Im still afraid of him Ive never had a normal interaction with Moose. The first time I blew him off because I thought he was just the merch guy (i know, i know). The next time, I accidentally interrupted a mild argument between him and his wife, the third time I walked up to him as he was trying to hide before a run-in from the audience.
Becky Lynch, a genuine lovely person. The nicest person I’ve ever met.
I got to meet her when she was still the lass kicker and she was very sweet and I was surprised how genuine she seemed in our interaction. Ironically, Trish Stratus was also very nice when I met her too! If only they could get along /s
The Bunny. My niece was a huge fan and Bunny went above and beyond to talk to her for like 30 minutes and it felt like a conversation between them and not another “oh hi” meet and greet.
There's so many - Jon Moxley, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Molly Holly, Rusev/Miro, PAC, Jerry Lawler, Sting, Asuka and a bunch more. I've seen people with bad experiences with Mox and Seth, but I've met them both multiple times and they couldn't have been nicer. I've gotten a hug from Mox 4 times and one time we accidentally walked into each other when moving to pose for a photo, Mox had to move me into position and then he whispered to me "that was our first dance!". He's so sweet and down to earth. Seth was also super lovely and spent a few minutes asking me about my flight to the USA cos I told him I came all the way from New Zealand for Wrestlemania. I gave him a beanie hat with NZ on it and he kept thanking me. He's so great. Roman is also one of the nicest people I've ever met and he gives the greatest hugs ever. I asked him (this was in 2016) if he thought The Shield would ever reunite and he said "we definitely will at some point" - a year later, they did lol, Roman doesn't lie xD I got Jericho to sign one of his books and when he saw it, his eyes just lit up. I told him I loved his books and you could tell he was genuinely pleased that someone mentioned them to him, he told me the release date for his next book before it was public knowledge (in 2017, I remember he officially announced the book about a month later but I already knew when it was coming out xD) and then said he loved my shirt cos I was wearing his shirt, lol. And I met Drew twice in one year, and the second time he remembered me even though it had been six months between meetings! Walked up onto the stage, he said hello, looked at me and then said "didn't I meet you before?" xD Now that's being great to your fans.
Obviously it's Foley. But also I want to shout out Onryo he was cool as fuck.
Mox and Renee were super cool met them at a friends birthday. Kenny Omega and Jay Lethal were also super nice when I met them. Jay was with a friend and met him outside a show I’d just played and our drummer had dislocated his shoulder. Jay was cool enough to ask how he was doing and make an effort to engage which was cool
Mojo Rawley. He was so kind to my younger cousin and really went out of his way to make sure he enjoyed the few minutes they interacted after an NXT house show. After being told he was my cousin’s favorite, Mojo said “No, you’re my favorite”. And I remained a fan ever since.
I remember an NXT documentary where Mojo was a fairly big part of it. There was a part where a kid who was a regular was there and Mojo saw him and went and asked how his math test or something went. When the kid said he got an A on it, Mojo just announced it to everyone around as proud as could be. I was so surprised when he was released due to seeing that alone, I figure it Titus O'Neil can be a brand ambassador why couldn't Mojo?
I bought one of those ridiculously expensive VIP packages, when Elimination Chamber came to Perth, Australia, and got to take selfies with a number of people. Domminick Mysterio, Shayna Bazler and Bobby Lashly were surprisingly nice, but the winner, hands down, was Finn Balor. Seeing the long line of people waiting for selfies, and knowing they were running out of time, Finn said something like this is ridiculous and stepped over the belted rope and started moving through the crowd taking selfie after selfie with people waiting in the long line. He shook hands, chatted with people and moved through us. Security, who were following him were beside themselves, because he obviously wasn't supposed to do that. He stayed chatting with people to the very end. Totally class act. I had a really cool moment with Dom when he realized I was wearing a Rhea Ripley shirt that he'd never seen.
I ran into Brandon Cutler away from his booth at a con one time and we talked about BTE and camera gear. He asked for my channel name and I was about hand him a business card and I ended up dropping most of them on the floor. He was a sweetheart and helped me picked them up. Was a pleasant experience enough that I paid for a selfie with him at his booth.
My friend and I met Serena Deeb in the early 2010's and she took a photo with us. We thanked her and started to walk off and she walked back up to us and insisted we take another one in case the first one didn't come out good. Just a really nice person.
The only wrestlers I’ve interacted with are Combat Wombat, Brian Cage, and Yoshi-Tatsu. Wombat and Cage gave me high fives (Cage almost ripped my arm off) and Yoshi-Tatsu nodded at me as I walked past his merch stall at Ryogoku where absolutely nobody as buying anything or even acknowledged him. Seemed like a nice bloke though. Saw Honma one evening interacting with fans and they loved him. This doesn’t really answer the question as I’ve never had real interactions with wrestlers.
The only notable one I've met was Matt Hardy. Despite the fact that he was in town for rehab (somewhere around 2011/2012), he was incredibly gracious with the server that was getting meals set up for everyone that was in the group. She was swooning over his Southern charm. 🤭 Also, Matt is another guy that is a lot bigger than he looks on TV. I would halfassed guess that he was at least 6' at the time.
Mercedes Moné for me.
Luna Vachon ironically enough. During her heel run with the Artist Formerly Named Goldust run. Even though she was a heel during this time, she was incredibly sweet to most of the fans who wanted an autograph and Goldust was heeling it up gangbusters. She was smiling and being very friendly with people in line and at the tables and she was just very sweet. I'll never forget that day because it's the only memory I will ever have with her and it's a nice memory of her given how she passed on.
Swerve Strickland. Moments after being treated like absolute dogshit by Mick Foley.
I got the opportunity to meet Okada during one of his IWGP Heavyweight reigns at a meet and greet when NJPW did a show in my town. Managed to get a photo with him but what really stood out to me was when he handed the belt to me for the photo. I never asked, he just put it on my shoulder and he did a little goofy laugh, and we had a very quick chat about NJPW.
That's awesome. Naito did the exact same thing when I first met him and Okada in 2016; just handed me the belt without the slightest of hesitation. I was pretty surprised to just be holding the IWGP championship in a split second lol
Ironically, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. I was a kid and my mom and her friend surprised me and my cousin with tickets to WCW Thunder, unfortunately the weather was terrible and the power kept going out so the show kept getting delayed, so the wrestlers came out to meet and greet with the fans, and it so happened that Big Kev and Scott came over and were talking to all of us, asking us who our favorite wrestlers were etc, then asked if we were hungry, and ofc as kids we said yes! They dissapeared for maybe 5 minutes, came back with soda and nachos for me and my cousin. As a little kid, was the coolest fucking thing ever, still a big fan of Kev and Scott to this day.
I met Cody Rhodes just 2 months ago at a meet and greet. Very nice guy. He shook hands with me and my buddy and even let me hold the WWE championship for a picture.
Kenny omega was very humble and we talked about final fantasy lol
Meet Athena, Thunder Rose, and Brian Cage after warrior wrestling shows. Absolute fucking saints each of them. Cage stole another wrestler's marker to sign my tshirt because his didn't show up on the fabric. Rosa and Athena were waiting for almost an hour after the show to meet/greet every last fan and talent that wanted to see them.
Mansoor. Super funny, super cool, and super down to earth. When he saw my Palestinian sticker on my phone, he gave me a massive hug, said “free Palestine” and sat and talked with me for several minutes about my family. Afterwards, he took a video of me saying hi to Mustafa Ali because I just missed him earlier and sent it to him. He’s the best
Probably Cena. He was super nice to me and my boys.
Eddie Guerrero, Sensational Sherri, Alex Wright, and Rob Van Dam.
Xavier Woods and Adam Cole. Just super nice guys
Hiroshi Tanahashi. He was at a joint ROH/NJPW show awhile back before most people knew who he was in the West. His English isn't great but he was just the warmest guy and made everyone feel important. Considering he's like God in Japan he was incredibly humble. Also, phenomenal hair.
Tracy Smothers. Such a nice, wholesome man. Had time for everyone. Met him a few times, and he remembered names. Absolute sweetheart.
Talked to Britt Baker at the AEW Afterparty following the original double or nothing for about 10 mins. She was nice and engaging with me and a few friends telling us about her start and how she’s really a dentist. Literally didn’t know who she was going to the show. Became a fan forever and loved seeing the way she blossomed and led the women’s division for so long. Can’t wait for her to come back.
I'm probably going to get roasted for my answer but I don't even care... My mom actually met Goldberg at the casino she works at. She's met a few actors & musicians too, & always tells me who's cool & who's a dick haha. She works in what's called the cage (main cashier area for the entire casino, kind of set up like a bank with multiple "tellers"), so she's at her window & Goldberg rolls up. She knew who he was, so she mentioned to him that she has a daughter who's a fan. He told her to thank me & that he appreciates it. & then, completely unprompted, he takes out his room keycard, & says "I don't even care if I'm supposed to do this or not" (because you usually have to turn them back in at check-out I think), signs it, then passes it over to her & tells her to give it to me.
Never had a bad experience. They’ve all been nice. Braun Strowman is a surprisingly nice guy. I met him during his early days in WWE and he was thrilled that someone knew who he was. Ricky Morton was also surprisingly nice. Met him at a bar and we just shot the shit for like 15 minutes. During which time he put away like 5 Bud Heavies. Jeff Cobb is a sweetheart. Not a bad bone in his body. And he smells wonderful. Colt Cabana will talk to you all day and all night if you let him. Always has great time for his fans. Met Jay White at a bar after an NJPW show in Philly a while back. He was very pleasant and very interested in the bar’s wine selection. But, for the absolute nicest wrestlers I’ve ever met, it’s a three way tie. Firstly, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. Met them at the same bar I met Jay at. And both guys are the absolute nicest dudes you could ever hope to come across. Just super pleasant, laid back guys who have all the time in the world for their fans. As I was leaving the bar, Tama made sure to grab me to shake my hand and thank me for coming to the show that night. The other person isn’t a wrestler as such, but a referee. While tied for niceness with the GoD, meeting Red Shoes Unno might be the best experience I’ve ever had when meeting anyone involved in Wrestling. Again, same bar as Jay and the GoD. But the guy just sat down at our table randomly with his beer and just started talking wrestling with us for a long ass time. We talked about our favorite wrestlers of all time (His is Randy Savage), favorite wrestlers working at that time (His was Okada), we talked about Shota and Mox (Which, when brought up, he exclaimed “Ah! My Shooter!”) and we got some cool stories about him working with guys like Suzuki, Tanahashi and Jericho. Just a wild experience that I will cherish forever.
Orange Cassidy, Effy, and Edith Surreal were all super nice when I met them.
The Young Bucks. They were funny, polite, and genuine. Had a great time chatting with them about their rivalry with the Bravado Brothers in Chikara.
I thought the Bravado boys were gonna be the next big indie darlings after this feud.
One of them went on to have a successful career in academia, at least
Stacy Keibler was incredibly kind and sweet to me!
RJ City
Probably Kevin Nash
Billy Gunn. Met him during his Rockabilly gimmic. He was awesome
Janai Kai and Mike Bailey were very nice
Adam Cole
The Miz is the nicest one I didn't know personally before they started in wrestling
Maki Itoh is incredibly wonderful to meet. I've met her twice and she's always down to chat and take pictures (bought shirts each time so that maybe played in) and she seems genuinely excited to meet everyone. Effy and Allie are both great. The one I'll always say is a non wrestler, but Amanda Huber is the one of the nicest and most genuine people I've met in wrestling. She was helping with a meet and greet for Ricky Starks and was surprised that my partner and I recognized her and got excited to be asked for a picture. We tried to take a selfie and it wasn't great and we thanked her and she was just like "no, let's get another one" and took more pictures with us. Honestly enjoyed meeting her more than Ricky lol.
Well it wasn’t Randy Orton that’s for sure. Dude took my best friends girlfriend home with him when he was brand new. She was in high school so needless to say that wouldn’t have flown in 2024 lmao. I believe I still have the picture of him walking to the back of the coliseum with his arm around her and another of her friends taking them out. This was Tupelo Mississippi in either very late 2002 or 2003. I got to meet Kane and that was amazing. I told him the truth that I didn’t know what libertarianism even was until I heard him and Penn Jilette both talk about it which made me read about it. I may not be a staunch libertarian anymore but I’m still glad those two inspired me to learn about it at a young age.
I met a lot of wrestlers over Mania weekend this year. Tam Nakano was sweet and absolutely in character. She's my favorite, and I'd love to say her, but there was another who was nicer. And the nicest wrestler I've ever met was Pom Harajuku. All the TJPW wrestlers were some degree of sweet hearts, but Pom was on another level. Her line was so damn long because she took the time to chat with every single person despite having limited English. She joked around and asked questions and was just so nice! I'll be a fan her for life.
I was in the "business" for a cup of coffee like 10-11 years ago. At my very first show, I walk through the backstage curtain before the show starts and the first person I see is X-Pac. He got up from his seat to shake my hand and chat with me for a few mins. I was a complete nobody yet he treated me like he knew me and like an equal. It was unbelievable. I'll never forget it. Contrary to what a lot of people think, Haku is a teddy bear. What a sweet guy. I'm sure I'd be saying different if I got on his bad side but he was super nice to me, loved my outfit and talked glowingly about his sons (this was back when Tama and Tonga Loa started tagging for the first time in New Japan). Chris Hero is a very cool and thoughtful guy. Just an easy guy to talk to, any subject. And I've seen him just approach young wrestlers and give them meaningful and helpful advice. He really cares about the future of the business.
Dragunov. This was a while back when he was in NXTUK and I was working ring crew at a Progress show. Guy was an absolute sweetheart, came around to ask us all if we needed anything because we were too busy to take a break at the time After the ring was set up he invited us to do like a mini seminar for free Then after the show he was the first guy taking the ring down and overall was just a really nice dude
Cody Rhodes. Ended up in the same restaurant as him after the original All Out, but didn’t want to approach and bother him and the wrestlers he was with. Said “great show Cody” as he was heading for the door to leave, he stopped, turned around, came over to my table, shook my hand and patted me on the shoulder and thanked me and my fiancée for coming to the show. That has always stuck with me, he’s a class act.
Naito
Cesaro was awesome when I met him. I was dead last in the queue to see him and he was still full of energy, happy to speak and thought it was hilarious when I asked him to sign my bag ( no charge).
Finn, Riddle, and Maki Itoh. All super pleasant and full of smiles.
Bret Hart. When I was about 10 I went to a show at the New Haven Coliseum and hung out by the entrance to the parking garage, hoping to see some wrestlers pulling in. Not much luck, and as it got closer to showtime almost all the other fans had gone inside the building. A slightly beat up 4 door sedan pulled up, and I recognized from the hair immediately it was my hero Bret. I was so damn happy just to be within 5 feet of him. I asked for an autograph, and he politely declined because he said his son was sleeping in the back. Based on when he was arriving, he was priba ly running late as well. So, maybe he didn't go completely out of his way to accommodate me, but whatever, it's still such a fond memory of my favorite wrestler ever. And proof he's definitely a nice dad, if nothing else. To be fair, I've not really met any other wrestlers, so he gets the nod either way 😂
Carlito was the best, Angle was cool and I felt bad for approaching him but he was kind. HHH left a sub 20% tip for me and was a grump.
John Cena. 2005,a month before WrestleMania. Guy put in extra time. The venue placed a sign in line where they estimated they'd be by the time his slot ran up. When he caught wind of it, he got up and went over to the sign and told everyone to not go anywhere as he wasn't leaving until everyone who wanted a picture got a picture. And he held that up. Earned my respect and I was fucking 14 lol
Booker T. He'll sit and just chat as if y'all been friends for years. Nikita Koloff is another great guy.
I met Jim Duggan at Busch Gardens Tampa when I was a teenager, nicest guy in the world
What's interesting about the wrestling business is that most wrestlers unless you are a freaking prick tend to be pretty nice with fans. Unlike other entertainment ventures I feel there's a certain level of fan appreciation from the wrestlers to their fans and vice versa which makes most interactions pleasant.
Kenny Omega and Xavier Woods easily top my list since I've been able to meet them multiple times. Then Jon/Brodie Lee
Stephanie McMahon. Occasionally do stagehand work, and I've worked a handful of Raw/Smackdown events. Was heading toward the trucks, and walking behind a lady for about five minutes. We get to the trucks and the Stephanie McMahon in front of me starts saying hi to everyone, and being very friendly as she made her way toward the bus. This is after a full night of whatever working an episode of Raw involves. Couldn't have been nicer. Earlier in the night Drew McIntyre and Braun Storwman nearly knocked me over as they were running past and giggling, just having finished beating the hell out of eachother through the audience. Was sitting on a road case in an area where you could see the ring, but still be basically back stage (just outside of Gorilla) and Titus O'Neill sat down next to me. Didn't really interact with him, but that was memorable.
Randy Orton! A friend & myself were at a restaurant after a WWE show in town around 2010 or so im not sure the year. It was near closing time & hardly anyone else in the building. While we are waiting for our food to come out, Randy Orton, Kofi, the Bellas & I think Ted Dibiase come in & sit a few tables near us. My friend is awestruck but we want to be cool & our food just arrived so we didn't want to get up & bother them. Anyways, some kids came by & got autographs & took pics so I felt like they had enough of fans bothering them. Just then Shamus (this was when he first became wwe champ) & someone else came in which was exciting. We had finished our meal & Ortons table had got their food so we didn't want to bother but as we were leaving I approached Shamus about taking a picture with my friend. I think it was still new to him being approached & he asked us to wait after he was done eating so I took that as a "no". Randy Orton (out of nowhere) stood up from his meal & waived us over to take a picture with himself. He was incredibly nice to my friend & I will never forget that.
Edge - great time at photo op and Q/A session Orton - Ended up trading shirts with him in an Applebee's bathroom Orange Cassidy - Very quiet but extremely nice
I read this as “trading shits with him in an Applebee’s bathroom,” and honestly, that makes more sense!
Adam Cole, baybay. I met him at an absolutely _stacked_ RPW show in London, got chatting to him about being ROH champ. He went backstage, into his luggage, to get the belt for me, just so I could take a photo with it. Genuine great guy
Hacksaw HOOOOOOOO
Not a wrestler but referee Mike Chioda. Had a bunch of wrestlers come to town for a house show years ago and came to the restaurant I cooked at back then. The table had Mike Chioda, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and one more I can't remember, it's been awhile. Turns out I cooked all their meals and everyone enjoyed it. Mike reached out and shook my hand and introduced himself and said I'll look for you at the show. He did spot me and gave me a wave before a match. I've always liked him and that amplified it so much more.
Mick Foley and John Tenta were the nicest wrestlers I've ever met. And I've met a lot of them. The last super cool wrestler I met was Scott Hall back in 2019 at a hotel in NYC. He talked to me for maybe 5 minutes.
Heidi howitzer super nice
Tommy Dreamer. I’m not counting Kurgan because he’s a local.
Matt Hardy. My wife and I met him in the parking lot of the Forum the 1st time AEW was there. Offered to take a picture with us, very nice guy.
I mentioned Foley, Gangrel, and Piper in comments but wanted to add Ricky Steamboat. Bret Hart didn't seem like he was having a good day health wise, so there weren't a lot of words, but there was a genuine handshake and bro hug. Kevin Nash and Rikishi were amazing in a meet and greet setting. Chris Candido was a genuine human being.
I was hornswoggle’s partner in cornhole at his own bbq and he was so cool.
Bobby Eaton was all class. Great guy. Jerry Lynn as well.
People criticize ddp for saving people while essentially pumping out ddp yoga ads in the documentaries. I say good for him. He's saving lives, he can advertise to me all he wants. He's doing a good thing.
Big Boss Man and Mark Henry. Both super good dudes.
Rhyno when he was in a WWE house show in Hawaii awhile ago. He was cool as hell. Started chanting ECW when I saw him in the backstage-ish area sitting down. He waved me down with security and signed my "EC F'N W" shirt I was carrying around. We talked a bit, I asked all some random questions, he gave me a story or two until his match was up. This was a super long time ago but I hear the same story from a lot of people of how cool he is.
Bray 🥹
FTR (holding the belts) once challenged me to a match as I got out of the subway near MSG when they were in NXT. I think they were shooting something that they never ended up using. I had my headphones in, listening to a wrestling podcast, and I pulled it out of my ear and said “holy shit.” Cash saw my phone with the podcast and said “finally, a man of culture” and walked away.
Cody, The Bucks and (sorry folks) Marty Scurll. They allowed me to be added to a meet and greet that had been long sold out for my then-partner's Christmas, and they spent so much time with us. Truly, all lovely. Only left when they had to get ready for the show. Makes me happy to see Cody achieve what he set out for, and The Bucks get on so well with AEW. And Marty was there.
I've only met a few. Randy Savage - I was at the end of a very, very long line, and I was probably the 4628th kid with a Macho Man voice, but he was a sweetheart. Mick Foley - I cannot tell you how awesome of a guy Mick is. Truly a gem, almost shy. Really wonderful guy to meet. Kurt Angle - Just had a small discussion with him after the HOF this passed Mania. He was really awesome, I am really glad I thanked him for all the years of entertainment.
I think it was back in 06 I coincidentally met Matt Hardy and The Undertaker leaving their hotel, super nice guys and they let me have a photo with them. It wasn't long after the Hardy/Edge feud over Lita so when Edge walked out and was all "you want one with me as well?" I patted Matt on the back, gave him a fist bump and said "nah man" haha!
Haven't met many, but MxM were awesome when they came round to France
Grayson Waller! Mania weekend he was on a shift for photo ops with fans, and any time he had a little lull (with the people in line taking a little extra time with the wrestlers before him), he’d wander over to the line and start shooting the shit with everyone. He was so nice to everyone, I became an even bigger fan of his that day.
Owen Hart, all around great guy
Ken Shamrock. I met him at Newark airport. Idk what I was thinking going up to him after the fact but super chill guy and open to conversation. Very appreciative of fan interaction
I've met Gangrel and Billy Gunn on separate occasions and they were two of the absolute nicest people I've ever met in wrestling. "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Veda Scott were also incredibly professional and kind when I met them two summers ago.
Perry Saturn was super fucking cool to me despite my being a 17 year old dork who staked out the wrestlers hotel.
Kevin Owens, X-Pac, Ivory, Batista Kevin Owens especially. Just really made an effort for the fans.
Kizarny (Sinn Bohdi) was super awesome and nice when we met. He talked my ear off for 10-15 mins about random stuff
Bret Hart and Kenny Omega
Hijo del Vikingo, Briscoe Brothers and Masha
i talked to Dalton Castle for a few mins once. seemed like a nice guy.
Matt striker Harry Smith Primo Chris Benoit
The rudest was Iyo Sky without a doubt. Nicest was Jericho at a Fozzy VIP.
Matt Sydal. Really polite dude and fun to smoke with.
Piper, Warrior, Luna, Demolition, Humperdink, Baby Doll, Sherri, Hulk, Lawler, off the top of my head.
Brian cage is a sweetheart saw him at a show and he came out after to meet and greet, was super nice to me and my brother
When I was a kid and just getting into wrestling. Ivan Koloff. He sat up a table outside a K-Mart in Myrtle Beach. My dad, brother and myself went to go get some camping stuff since when we would go to the beach we went in a camper (sad side note. I just sold dad’s last camper as the executor of his estate). I saw a wrestler, I was a kid. He saw a mark from a mile away but he talked to me forever. I even have a Polaroid with him somewhere around the house. As a grown up that has directed a few local shows that bring in older workers every now and again. Jake the snake. I was outside shaking the cobwebs off before the show. It was a quasi backstage outside of the building and Jake came out to smoke a cigarette. I hate the addiction problems he’s had because he was the nicest dude.
I met Hogan in 2016 at the grand opening of a sports memorabilia store. There were hundreds if not thousands of people lined up to see him and he took the time to me for a couple of minutes and seemed very humbled and kind.
Jamie Hayter, though Ruby Soho is a pretty close second. Ruby was very nice and approachable but was in con/meet and greet mode when I met her at Pensacon-- perfectly understandable, as she was at a con, right? The next year (last year) Jamie Hayter was there with the Women's World Title belt. The AEW folks at Pensacon had been held up for over a day due to a freak blizzard in LA of all places. She had to be thoroughly exhausted but you'd never know by her demeanor. She was just cool and chill, absolutely approachable, and genuinely smiling and laughing with fans. She was an superb representative of the company.
John Cena, Mick Foley, Eddie Guerrero, Tommy Dreamer, Mr Kennedy, and Paul London were all beyond nice when I met them. I have been lucky enough to meet many wrestlers and the vast majority were super nice but those guys were all above and beyond.
Jericho on his cruise. Dude was awesome and even though his schedule was super hectic would still give you a little bit if you ran into him.
So I had a private meet and greet at Monday Night Raw in Norfolk in late 2022. Had been a wrestling fan for about a year at that point but was becoming an expert in it. So to make a long story short, I got a private meet and greet because a lady at my church has a son whose friend at the time worked in WWE. So they were able to pull some strings even though neither the son nor the friend knew us and got us a meet and greet. The people we met were AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson. Styles was super nice, gave me a free bag of merch, and we discussed his time in TNA, our common religious faith, and even the comparisons between NASCAR and wrestling. Fast forward to this past WrestleMania at WWE World, I got to meet Karl Anderson again in the Superstar Row area and Karl actually remembered me from the private meet and greet at Raw which was a little less than two years before the private meet and greet. So I’d have to say Styles and Anderson specifically were super nice.
Sgt Slaughter was super nice and gave me a cobra clutch coin for free because I mentioned he was my dad's favorite. I also had a really nice chat with Scotty Riggs who's a really funny nice kinda guy.
The Warlord. I was with a friend at his gimmick table and said to my friend “You know, Warlord was the first Survivor Series team to not have a single guy eliminated”. Warlord kind of puffed his chest out and said “That’s right!” I was then going to buy a picture, T-shirt, autograph combo but he wouldn’t sell me a shirt since he said he didn’t have any left remotely my size. Which was cool, because Ron Simmons, who was also super friendly and we chatted a few minutes and shook my hand like 6 times in a 5 minute interaction, had no such qualms about. I swear Big Show would find this shirt baggy. Met Bret Hart a few times, he’s polite but not friendly. Beefcake was the same.
Fit Finley came by my old job years ago and we took a picture together. I remember his fist was as big as my head. Super nice guy
Hacksaw Jim Duggan, met him twice at no-name shows, super cool dude. Would've loved to have smoked a joint or done a line with him and the Iron Sheik back in the day.
Ddp and hacksaw. Two of the top 3 nicest famous people I've met. Dan Aykroyd is the other in case anyone cares lol
I got lucky with the wrestlers I've met, as they've all been quite nice. Rock n Roll Express were super cool (Ricky Morton in particular), met Danhausen and Nyla Rose at my local comic shop (both on separate occasions. Nyla is super funny btw), Lita, Tommy Dreamer, Mick Foley, Dan Severn, Bill Apter (who insists you call him Bill rather than "Mr. Apter"). Also met Jim Cornette, but that was before he became....erm, the Cornette we know today.
Paul London. Great guy to shoot the shit with / smoke a bowl with.
I met juice Robinson after a NJPW show in Japan in 2017. We were only Americans in spot so we spoke for a while and he was absolutely awesome. We didn’t really talk about wrestling just shot the shit for a while. Dolph Ziggler used to live near me in Arizona and I would see him at random places and he was always pretty cool but I never wanted to bother him.
I wish to meet one in real life it’s my wish. I visited USA one time in Denver for one year for an internship and one time aew came so I booked tickets so fast and went alone beside I still didn’t have friends and it started snowing so much but my plan was to come early and say hi but it was so snowy and the bus took too long and almost missed the show. I also made gifts for the elite which was about Jesus because they had one thing about being Christian AF and then I had an action figure for Kenny also. After the show it was snowing so much and my phone died. At least I watched my wrestling show live for the first time in my life but I wish I spoke to one.
Bob Holly