Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring my friends who have met celebrities.
Today, I feature Troy Babbs, who I met years ago at a horror convention. Since then, I have seen him many times at other cons and he has even joined the Johngy's Beat crew for a few. It's always great seeing Troy, whether he's assisting me or just hanging out.
Until recently, I would have been envious of this picture. Troy met former WWF wrestler Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. Fortunately for me, I had the pleasure of meeting Droese at the Squared Circle Expo in May. I also reconnected with Troy, whom I hadn't seen since the pandemic.
Droese started wrestling in 1990 and wrestled with the WWF '94-'96. After leaving the WWF, he wrestled in smaller companies, but made a few return appearances with the WWE.
In the period when the WWF was full of job characters, Droese was saddled with a garbageman character, but he embraced it and had a nice run with the company. He didn't win any titles, but he was pretty popular for a while. He also was ranked No. 130 o the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1995.
At the Squared Circle Expo, Droese brought his trademark garbage can, which worked great in pictures. I wonder if he brings the can with him for his appearances or if he gets one in each city.
Although I finally got to meet Droese, thus losing my envy over this picture, it's still a great one. Troy still gets to say he met him first.
The Squared Circle Expo was loaded with great wrestlers of the past and present. The SCX 2022 is this Friday and Saturday, 4/15-16. Go to SquaredCircleX.com for more info and updates. Also follow here for my recurring coverage of the SCX.
Troy Babbs and Duke Droese in Fort Wayne, IN-October 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment