Missouri Wrestling Revival

Throughout the years I have made so many friends in and out of the ring. Some of them have come and gone, while others I keep close contact with throughout the year. Each weekend I meet another person that loves wrestling and has a heart of gold for others, just like my old friends. One wrestler that I have known for many years now is Heath Hatton. The Southern Illinois fan favorite has always been a pleasure to work with as I took photos, promos and just have small talk during the events. Hatton in the past has been in many main events, won titles and even wrestled on a WWE PPV. At the end of the day he has always been the same person I first met, a wonderful smile, who loved wrestling, his family and went the extra mile for his fans.

I was heading to Metro Pro Wrestling this weekend when I read his Facebook post about a special day that he had meeting a young man named Dalton that was in the hospital and wanted to meet a wrestler. I asked Heath if I could share it with the MWR family, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Brian Kelley – MWR Editor

From Wrestler Heath Hatton

I got asked if I would drive over to Evansville today and meet a life long wrestling fan who is in a fight for his life. Without hesitation I said yes. Today I met Dalton, a 10 year old who has adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) which is a terminal genetic condition that attacks the brain.

His dream was to meet a WWE superstar but it doesn’t seem like that is a possibility now. (WWE is sending him a package though!) He still wanted to meet a wrestler so I got asked to come. We sat and talked about my time at WWE, his favorite wrestlers, my favorite wrestlers, Stride wrestling, Star Wars, baseball and I got to break the news to him the Cubs won the World Series.. (he likes the cardinals)..it was an amazing visit.

I’m not a WWE super star or a wrestling legend. I’m not what you would consider a hero but today I met an actual star, today I got to meet a real life hero. My daughter is the same age as Dalton. This hit me so close to home and I’ve cried for the last 20 minutes trying figure out what to say. I’m not quite sure there are any right words To say but I still want to try to tell his story and I really want to say, Thank you to Dalton’, Dalton’s family and the company granted for making this happen. I am forever blessed To have met him and to have experienced this.

When I look back on my wrestling career, meeting kids like Dalton will be the only stuff I hope to remember.

Photo Credit Susan Washburn