The Wrestling Widow

The Big Day

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

My wife Lisa and I recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, and while she is a much more private person than I am, I did feel the need to publicly thank her for all her support of my obsession with wrestling. We started dating more than 20 years ago, and at that point I was a die hard wrestling fan, but I somehow was able to mask it enough to not scare her away. You see, my wife dislikes wrestling, a lot. I would say she hates it, but I don't really think she does, but she's not a fan of it either.

Despite disliking wrestling, Lisa has attended three WWE shows with me. Back when were in college I was hard pressed to find any fellow fans, so she (likely as a form of pity) went to the shows with me. The first was a WWF house show that featured Razor Ramon and "Macho Man" Randy Savage in the main event. Our next show came nearly 3 years later and I talked her in to going to a show in our hometown of St. Louis. I thought it was just another house show, but it turns out it was a Raw/Superstars/Coliseum Home Video taping. The main event that night was Diesel vs. Yokozuna in a cage. Sid had no showed the event. I remember once I figured out this was a taping I didn't have the heart to tell her it was going to be a long night. At one point she asked when it was going to be over. Bless her for not leaving me there that night. Our final show together came in 1996, another house show that featured Goldust and Sid in the main event. She was bored out of her mind, but she went with me because it was important to me.

The Heenan Family

Through the years she put up with me watching Raw and Nitro, Thunder and SmackDown! She even gave me her blessing (and money) to go to Wrestlemania 22. After that trip, I figured I'd never experience Wrestlemania again, but she encouraged me to make it an annual "Bromance" with Chad. She understands how much fun it is for me and how those three days help recharge my batteries.  While she's not exactly stoked about the costumes, she still understands and only ridicules us for a short period of time.

In addition to supporting the Wrestlemania trips, she's also supported my decision to create this blog and YouTube channel. It's gone from a hobby to almost a fulltime job, coming up with different things to discuss on a nearly daily basis. Last year I got involved with AAPW, which literally takes me away for an entire day with the set up, show, and tear down. She's never once complained about it or my involvement now with From the Rafters Radio. Each Thursday night the cohosts all come over and we have dinner before heading to the studio.

AAPW Main Event

She and my kids were all in attendance for my match in January against Mike Masters. Lisa was sure I'd get whipped, but when I prevailed I looked in the crowd and saw her smiling face and knew she was truly happy. Despite not being a fan, I know that night she was, and not just during my match, as she commented on some of the other competitors that night.

One final story, on our wedding day, I didn't ask for much. But I did insist the band play 2001: A Space Odyssey when we entered the reception. Once we made it through the double doors, I let out a big Woooo! that would have made Ric Flair himself proud. And underneath my tuxedo shirt I was wearing my vintage Iron Sheik and Nikola Volkoff tshirt. I have owned the shirt since 1987 and actually still have it. I truly am a wrestling geek.

So Lisa, if you actually read all this, I love you and thank you for all your support in my wrestling endeavors.  And I'm sorry that now two out of our three children are following in my footsteps, including our little girl.