Almost a year ago, I ran into Dean Ambrose at an airport. It was somewhat late at night and he was waiting at the baggage claim carousel and I was just coming down the stairs after a long, turbulent flight. It actually took me a few minutes to recognize that, yes, it was indeed Dean Ambrose and not my travel-induced exhaustion playing tricks on me. Sidling up to the next carousel over, I contemplated my next move. I retrieved my phone from my backpack and quietly went up to him, getting his attention.
In our five to ten minutes of interaction, he was very kind despite probably being just as fatigued as I was. We chatted, took a selfie, and he signed my Shield snapback. He grabbed his bag and gave me a quick side hug before leaving and I returned to my own baggage claim carousel, hugging my newly autographed hat to my chest.
I opened with that story to talk about a truly genuine chance encounter that I had with one of my favorite wrestlers. I didn’t know that Dean would be at this particular airport on this night; I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I gave him the clear option to disregard me but he consented to the interaction. That’s the difference between being a fan and being a stalker.
Recently Dean appeared on Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins’ podcast and talked about people stalking him in airports. He’s not the first wrestler to speak up about this either. The guy who’d been waiting for him told him that there’s a “whole system” in place to track wrestlers’ flight and hotel plans. That is beyond creepy.
Wrestlers do not owe their personal time and plans to us as fans. While many of them are nice enough to take a picture or sign an autograph while out and about, they are by no means obligated to. And in no way is it acceptable to purposefully stalk someone in an airport. I think one of the more pressing issues, other than the obvious invasion of privacy, is that some of these people truly believe that they are entitled to a wrestler’s time because they buy tickets or merchandise. They go on to say someone is rude or mean when they blown off. Often the people doing the stalking are also asking the wrestler to sign multiple things, probably looking to sell the items later. How impersonal!
The fact there’s a system in place to help people find wrestlers’ accommodations is appalling. I’m sure none of us would like to go out and find a horde of people waiting for us. And being in the public eye does not invalidate someone’s right to privacy.
Running into our favorite wrestlers in public is great, but we also have to respect their time and privacy. I’ve met several wrestlers outside of events and all of them have been friendly enough to at least acknowledge me; most have stopped for a picture or autograph. We as fans need to understand respect wrestlers’ privacy, whether it’s their personal time and space or their bodily autonomy in regards to their pictures and videos.
It only takes a few bad apples to spoil the entire bunch so let’s ensure that this stalker behavior will not be tolerated by the wrestling community.
-Wynter
