There are many unsung stars in the world of pro wrestling who dedicated their lives to the industry but never rose to the main event scene, enjoyed world title reigns in major promotions like WWE or WCW, or were honored post-career. During an interview on “What Do You Wanna Talk About? With Cody Rhodes,” Diamond Dallas Page identified one Attitude Era talent as one of these unsung stars.
“[Marc] Mero is one of the sweetest human beings on the planet,” he recalled, pointing out how in his post-retirement career, Mero has become a hailed motivational speaker who spends most of his time talking to teenagers about mental health. Page then recalled a viral clip of Mero during one of his events, where he spoke about his mother and resonated with dozens of teenagers. “And there’s freaking, all these 700/800 teenagers, and they’re crying… And he’s hitting ’em, right between the heart. That video would go on – that month he had 3000 requests for bookings.”
Historically, Mero was the first wrestler to get a guaranteed contract in WWE, breaking the tradition of wrestlers getting paid per appearance. Unfortunately for him, this got him a lot of heat, which Page still finds mind-boggling.
“A lot of guys were mad. But, to me, I would be like, ‘That means I could get guaranteed money,'” he explained.
Earlier this year, Mero recalled this period of his career, stating that on top of being disliked for being the first wrestler with a guaranteed contract, he ended up travelling everywhere with his then-wife, Sable, preventing him from spending time with the locker room on the road, further driving a wedge between him and them.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “What Do You Wanna Talk About? With Cody Rhodes,” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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