The Inspiring Story of Marc Mero | Happiest Person on the Planet
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
From triumph to tragedy – Marc Mero has seen it all
A good friend of my wife and I, invited us to church this past Sunday.
Our friend Amy saw Marc Mero speak at the school that she teaches at and was blown away by his story and wanted us to attend his next speaking engagement.
I almost did not attend because of some lower back issues I am currently going through. I just wanted to take my pain medication and stay in bed.
But I decided to go.
His story is fascinating.
I was very moved by what I heard.
There was a reason I was in church that Sunday and that Marc Mero was there to speak.
A lot of what he said resonated with me.
The man has been to the top of his profession, made millions of dollars, as a professional wrestler, and travelled the world.
Marc Mero continually reinvented himself
Marc excelled at sports all through his life.
He was a standout hockey player in his youth and went on to become the leagues most valuable player.
Marc hardly found a challenge that he could not overcome.
Marc Mero also went on to become boxing’s golden glove champion in the state of New York where he also won 4 state titles.
In his book “How to be the Happiest Person on the Planet” Marc writes how an accident and damage to his nose, from that accident, knocked him out of boxing for a year.
The year out of boxing became 2 years and then 4 and then 10.
Soon Marc was digging pools for a living and his career in boxing was over.
In his early 30′s Marc and some friends were watching professional wrestling on television. One of his friends said “I want to go see that” and Marc came back with “See that? I can do that!”
With his mind made up Marc set out to become a professional wrestler. He went to a wrestling school every weekend to learn and train.
Marc accomplished his goals and became a professional where he wrestled for 15 years under the names of Johnny B. Badd and “Wildman” Marc Mero with the WWF and the WCW.
Marc Mero had money, fame, cars, and houses.
But he also had made some poor choices.
Tragedy strikes the life of Marc Mero
When he suffered the accident that knocked him out of boxing Marc began to make some poor choices.
His life changed once he did not have the structure of training and he began to hang out with the wrong people.
He began to make bad choices that involved alcohol and drugs.
These addictions carried over into his professional wrestling career.
Marc also dealt with various tragedies with deaths in his family, divorce, and loss of many of his best friends in and out of the wrestling profession.
In his book Marc talks about the deaths of his younger sister, younger brother, mother, and father.
His mother and brother passed away within 2 weeks of each other.
On stage at Sunnyside church this past Sunday, Marc had a poster board that had the names of over 30 people. He called it his “Death List.” These were friends and family that were no longer here.
He also said he should have been on it.
The Rise of Marc Mero
Marc writes about how he almost committed suicide on one Christmas Day at the height of his worst time.
He was alone. His family was gone. His wife was gone. His fame and fortune were all gone.
He explains how he was going to do it. He went and got his handgun, got into his shower and leaned up against the wall.
He held the gun up to his forehead and was going to slide down the wall of the shower and once he hit the floor he was going to pull the trigger.
Marc explained he saw his life flash before him.
He saw the people in his life and the places he had been.
He then had a vision of hell.
The vision was so disturbing that Marc could not pull the trigger.
He then got on his knees in the shower and prayed to God.
His life has never been the same since.
He quit all his addictions, adopted forgiveness, and changed his life.
Marc Mero now dedicates his life to helping others through Christ.
He speaks at churches and schools telling his story and offering hope.
His message to children struggling with bullying, self esteem issues, and drugs and alcohol issues is nothing short of inspiring.
Marc founded the Champions of Choices organization that is dedicated to spreading his message of hope and making good choices.
Now Marc Mero is the self proclaimed “Happiest Person on the Planet.”
He truly is an inspiration to me and thousands of others.
I am so glad I decided to go to church this past Sunday.