Nicest person in wrestling

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Reading this story about Kamala got me thinking: Who seems like the nicest person in wrestling, past or present?

 

Obviously, as the recent Bill Cosby stories and all the crap going on in the NFL demonstrate, we don't truly know any celebrity or athlete, but we can at least take our best guess.

 

Kamala has always seemed like a super nice dude. Since a lot of talk about wrestlers away from the ring seems to center on the scumbags, I'm wondering if anyone gets a "nice guy" vibe from other wrestlers that I get from the Ugandan Giant.

[Hollinger.]

Jerry Lynn and Stevie Richards are at the top of my list for dudes I've hung out with. World class gentlemen.

[JerryvonKramer]

Bill Apter

[Eduardo]

I've had some friends that have worked at arenas, and interacted with all types of athletes and celebrities. I always remember one cool story. Backstage at a house show, some of the agents were around a table of monitors watching what was going on in the ring. A friend of mind, who was on break from working backstage was trying to catch a peak of the monitors from a distance. Ricky Steamboat noticed my buddy, went over to find a chair, and invited him to sit down next to him to watch the match that was going on. I thought that was a really neat gesture from Steamboat.

[WingedEagle]

I had the opportunity recently to spend a few minutes with Dusty Rhodes. Couldn't have been more gracious with his time, polite to my wife or happy to tell us a couple old stories. He also seemed genuinely happy to have someone appreciate what he did for us years back. It was something I'll never forget.

[BigBadMick]

Daniel Bryan seems like a really good dude. Can't think of anything negative I've heard about him over the years.

[tofu_chipmunk]

I've always heard the best things about Bobby Eaton.

[Wahoos Leg]

Bobby Eaton is just a nice guy through and through

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Back in the late 90s, Nick Bockwinkel threw out the first pitch at a semi-pro baseball game I was at. I could tell not many people recognized him, so he seemed to appreciate it when I approached him to shake his hand and talk wrestling for a few minutes.

[The Chief]

Barbarian

Ivan Koloff

Tommy Dreamer

[JerryvonKramer]

When we interviewed Ivan, moments before Pete and Kelly came on the line, it was just me and him. Maybe he could tell I was a bit nervous or something but he cut a promo on me in his Russian accent to put things at ease, we both laughed. A little surreal, but it broke the ice and we talked a bit before the others came on the call. Just seemed like a really nice guy.

[goc]

Bobby Eaton is the one guy I've always heard people say good things about. There is also the famous story of Bill Dundee finding out his daughter was dating a wrestler and flipping out until he realized it was Bobby.

[PhilTLL]

I don't have a lot of stories, but a friend of mine in the production biz got to run sound for a bunch of WWE interviews at a TV taping here a few years ago. He said Edge and Show were two of the nicest guys there, and I told him that matches with their reputation, or at least what I always imagined.

[BigBadMick]

Nigel McGuinness probably deserves a mention too - He was in Belfast last year screening his documentary. Came across as really decent in the q and a afterwards.

[concrete1992]

Biff Busick is an awesome dude. Genuinely good dude that I've chatted with a few times. Really deserves all the success.

[Dooley]

Never heard an unkind word about Tito Santana.

[Word Hoard]

Lance Russell seems like he'd be the best grandfather ever.

[El-P]

John Tenta and Big Bubba were from all acounts really good dudes. One of the oddest and cutest pro-wrestling friendship story to me is Terri Runnels telling how Traylor was her "best girlfriend" on the road.

[Blehschmidt]

I will second Barbarian. A league I used to ring announce for always brought him in and he never failed to come up and shake my hand and ask me how I was, and then ask me how my family (who he has never met) were doing. Just a super nice man all around.

 

I've never met him personally, but all of the guys I talk too at the shows say that Bobby Eaton may be the single nicest human being on the planet.

 

While he is a bit scatter brained at times, The Maestro is a super cool dude. Always asks how your doing and goes out of his way to make you laugh.

 

Jim Duggan was a very nice man when I met him, had a smile for everyone in the huge line of people that were there to meet him, especially the children. Constantly letting out a HOOOOOOOO much to the delight of everyone in attendance.

 

Other guys who I've had experiences with that I would say rank them above the others guy's I've met: Tommy Dreamer, Brian Lee, Johnny Gargano, and Nikita Koloff

 

Also a special shout out to Chance Prophet. While he is not a huge name, and I actually knew him before he got in the business, he is legit one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life, in or out of the wrestling business.

[offspring515]

I'll second the Hacksaw Duggan vote. He came in to do a show for a small indy I do camera work/commentary for. Super nice guy. He even offered to do some short promos for our cable access show. Very approachable and the wrestlers who worked with him were praising his work afterward.

 

A guy who has a poor reputation and I thought would be a dick, who turned out to be super nice was Carlito. Very laid back and friendly. Maybe I caught him on a good day.

[Eduardo]

Never heard an unkind word about Tito Santana.

 

One time I asked one of Santana's acquaintance's if I could talk to Santana at some point. I wasn't really expecting any actual reply or if I did get one, wasn't expecting anything soon. Literally one day after I asked, I get a call from a New Jersey area-code, and it's Santana himself. I wish everyday people I know where that good at returning phone calls.

[PhilTLL]

A guy who has a poor reputation and I thought would be a dick, who turned out to be super nice was Carlito. Very laid back and friendly. Maybe I caught him on a good day.

Speculating from afar, it always seemed to me that Carlito was very wary of and fed up with the business, and maybe more "normal" than most guys outside that context. But maybe he got there after years of being a dick.

[Strummer]

Always heard John Studd was just a great guy. Incredibly nice. In fact Bobby Heenan said he was almost too nice to be in the wrestling business

[Sidebottom]

Godfather invited me to his strip club in Vegas via Twitter, so he get's my vote.

[ohtani's jacket]

 

 

Never heard an unkind word about Tito Santana.

One time I asked one of Santana's acquaintance's if I could talk to Santana at some point. I wasn't really expecting any actual reply or if I did get one, wasn't expecting anything soon. Literally one day after I asked, I get a call from a New Jersey area-code, and it's Santana himself. I wish everyday people I know where that good at returning phone calls.

You can't leave the story there! What does one talk about when Tito Santana calls them up?