By: Chuck Miller
Hey, Scammers!, Pro Wrestling

The catfished fan and the sucker-punched wrestler.

The interactions between pro wrestling fans and pro wrestlers is equal parts close and distant. When wrestlers compete in an arena, fans are encouraged to cheer or boo, to bring signs and take photos. What they’re not encouraged to do, however, is jump the guardrails and try to attack a wrestler, or to interfere in a match. Such actions are extremely dangerous to everyone involved.

In fact, it’s one of the reasons why wrestling shows in New York have guidelines about how close fans may sit to the ring, as well as the use of various guardrails or other barriers.

However, this doesn’t always mean that something bad can happen.

Example – last Monday night.

During a pro wrestling match in Brooklyn, WWE wrestlers Seth Rollins and Finn Balor battled. Rollins hit Balor with a move that essentially knocked Balor loopy, and Balor was slow to get up. Meanwhile, Rollins slow-walked his way back to the entranceway, when a fan jumped the rails, charged down the ramp, and sucker-punched Rollins.

Of course there’s video. Check out the dude in the red pants as he attacks Rollins.

Once that happened, all bets were off. You put your hands on a pro wrestler, suddenly you’re going to feel real punches and kicks and chokeholds that aren’t considered “restholds.” And you’re not fighting off one wrestler, you’re also fighting two referees (and maybe even the wrestler’s opponent) who will waste no time beating your sorry ass into a bloody pulp. Then you get hauled down to the police station, and most likely spend the night in jail.

Here’s a better angle of the confrontation.

So what would cause this clown to try to size up with one of the top stars in World Wrestling Entertainment? Did he fancy himself a worthy competitor? Was he strengthened with a couple of cans of liquid courage? Was it one of those “hold my beer” moments that began with a double-dog dare among his friends?

Well, maybe I’ll let him explain it. By the way, his name is Elisah Spencer. And the “Colby Lopez” he refers to is the real name of WWE wrestler Seth Rollins. I know it can get confusing.

Um … well, it just got more confusing.

See, apparently according to the fan, “what Colby did” was apparently scam him out of money.

Well, Colby didn’t scam him out of a single cent.

And neither did Seth Rollins.

But apparently a “Seth Rollins” did scam this guy. Totally catfished him into send money, claiming that the real Seth Rollins had been thrown out of the house and had no money, and needed some money sent to him. And of course, only a fan would do that.

That’s some serious Nigerian Prince shit there.

Here’s the thing. Let’s use some logic here. Seth Rollins is one of the top stars in WWE. He earns a decent salary, both in terms of his in-ring career, along with merchandise tie-ins and a pro wrestling school he operates in his spare time. And he’s married to WWE superstar and champion Becky Lynch, so I doubt that either one of them are pinching pennies and clipping coupons at this point in their lives.

And even if money were tight, why would “Seth Rollins” need to ask for money from fans? And why would a man who is very verbose and eloquent on the microphone, type messages to fans as if he had just picked up English as a second language?

Trust me, there’s more red flags in this than in a Russian parade.

So it’s very possible that Spencer actually believed that someone from the world of pro wrestling wanted to reach out and be his friend, and in being his friend, wanted money. And money that would be sent in untraceable ways, such as gift cards or Green Dot cars.

And next thing you know, Spencer is so jumbled through all this, he goes to a WWE event and tries to exact revenge against the person he thinks wronged him. While Seth Rollins has absolutely no idea what’s going on.

And sadly, these scammers look for victims, and they don’t care about those victims’ mental capabilities or financial situations, so long as those scammers can siphon off every single cent from their victims.

This is why I limit my pro wrestling fandom interaction to following only three pro wrestlers – Orange Cassidy, Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay. That’s it. And I’ve confirmed that all three Twitter feeds are from them, or at least represented by their management. But because I follow those wrestlers, I keep getting spammed by fake Twitter accounts who claim to be those wrestlers, wanting to follow me. Yeah, wrote a blog post about that.

But here’s the other thing. There’s now some sentiment among wrestling fans that Seth Rollins should forgive Mr. Spencer. That he might not have been in his right mind when he jumped the rail. That he was confused. Let bygones be bygones. Forgive and forget.

To that I say, I’m sorry, but dude had it coming to him.

See, in this situation, you have to look at it from the pro wrestler’s point of view. Why is someone jumping the rail? Why are they approaching in the middle of a wrestling match? It’s not someone that’s part of the script, it’s not a member of another wrestling faction or anything like that. So who is this person?

And that’s when it gets scary. Is this person someone who just wants a selfie? Is this someone who believes in a storyline so wholeheartedly that they need to take on the “Monday Night Messiah” one on one? Or worse, is this someone who might have a weapon at the ready? A knife? A gun?

In this situation, a person has only seconds to react. This is not a drill. This is not a false alarm. The minute that person jumped the rail and ventured into the professional wrestling scene, he gets what he gets.

Exhibit A.

So Elisah Spencer, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you got scammed, and I’m sorry that you were manipulated and catfished.

But attacking a pro wrestler who you mistakenly believed catfished you is the worst choice you could have made that night.

And somewhere in a computer boiler room somewhere in a far-off land, someone is smiling like a Cheshire cat. Because he knows he manipulated someone to the point where they not only gave up all their money … they also blamed someone else for the theft.

And at that moment, that criminal is now looking for someone else for his next money theft.

Ugh.