Within the over-the-top world of professional wrestling, the amount of eclectic characters that you find in front of the curtain is almost equal to the unique personalities that you will find behind the scenes. It might sound cliche, but it takes an outside-the-box individual to pursue the sports entertainment industry, as there are no guarantees, risks of injury, and sometimes an infamous political shark tank.
The other side of the coin of that rather bleak outlook on some of the harsher realities of the business is that the unique genre of the ring can bring together and bond performers from every background, race, gender, and orientation.
For an industry that originated from the carnival circuit over a century ago, the misfits toys are under the same banner, as the common ground of the canvas far surpasses any superficial differences that they might have.
Ironically, it’s some of the most devious villains, the heels that generate the loudest jeers from the audience, that are often those that are the most cordial away from the squared circle.
One such example is John Gleason, who is known as Some Guy Named John, at 880 Wrestling, an upstart league that launched in the years after the pandemic with a mission statement of an open door policy for anyone that truly wanted to test themselves in the pursuit of pro wrestling. The pompous John persona is just about everything the real-life Gleason tries not to be.
“They aren’t remotely similar. I base a lot of my wrestling persona on customers I interacted with working with Whole Foods Market in my twenties back in Philly. I also lived in a very affluent yuppie”neighborhood during my time in Ann Arbor. The virtue signaling was beyond belief. People would do nice things or support great causes but there was this two faced nature to it,” Gleason explained.
In a stark contrast that is only possible within the realm of sports entertainment, Some Guy Named John riles up the audiences on 880’s Thursday Night Fight cards, or the typical Saturday independent events on the weekends, encouraging every obscenity and as much foul language from the fans as he can in the name of the performance, while the actual Gleason spends the majority of the week as a civilian as a bank manager, and a dad to his three young children.
Yes, the guy that cracked his opponent in the head with a championship belt when the ref’s back was turned, and pulled the tights to steal a victory, is the same professional that gladly helps senior citizens open up savings accounts for their grandchildren, and takes his own kids to the park.
Gleason cites pushing the youngsters on the swing as easier than taking suplexes on the mat. Still, as diametrically opposed as the two lifestyles might be, it necessities a delicate balancing act for grappler that trades dress shoes and a suit for boots and a singlet when the time calls for it.
“I attend at least one practice and one show a week. Anything beyond that, it’s a barter system. It motivates me to maximize my time. When I’m at home, I’m taking my kids to playgrounds and on adventures in the city or I’m doing every conceivable chore and meal prepping to make my wife’s week easier. I make it my mission to take on most of the cooking, cleaning and repairs at home. It’s exhausting, but it’s fulfilling. I’m genuinely happier because I wrestle and it allows me to maximize the time with my family,” Gleason said.
It was actually that same family dynamic that prompted Gleason to pursue his own path in the sport in the first place. Originally from Philadelphia, a hotbed for independent wrestling for years, Gleason had a cup of coffee at the Combat Zone Wrestling training academy in his early-20s. Coming from a very humble background where money was sometimes tight in his family during his childhood, Gleason put the spectacle of potential professional wrestling fame on the back burner to focus on higher education and a real-life career.
More than a decade later after he relocated to Pittsburgh, a city with its own extensive history of the sport, when John was married with a family, the rat race of working in hotel management at the time became a drain on him. The late-night and early morning shifts made it tough for him to find the balance that he has now.
What about professional wrestling? He had been in the squared circle before and knew he felt at home between the ring ropes so what did he have to lose? Every youngster in elementary school is told they can chase their dream, was it too late for this 30-something to chase his?
“I was working a very unfulfilling job as a general manager of a crummy little hotel, and I wanted to show my kids that it’s never too late to chase a dream,” Gleason remarked.
Not only did he find his passion for pro wrestling in Pittsburgh, he also found the door opened for him to become the performer that he hoped to be. Gleason didn’t want to look back as he sat on his couch in his 50s with regret that he never took the chance so he found himself in the town of New Kensington, the original location of 880 Wrestling as the name is an homage to the town’s area code, to learn the sport from the ground up.
“I got really in to Enjoy Wrestling, and attending those shows as a fan reignited a love of Pro Wrestling that had been waning going into the pandemic. I started training with MV Young and T2T Pittsburgh after learning about it thru Enjoy Wrestling. They all seemed like genuinely nice people and encouraged me to do a drop-in. I was hooked immediately and appreciated there being so many different instructors with their own styles. When I started Chris LeRusso, Beastman, Ganon and several others were rotating in with MV Young so it always felt new and like I was learning from some of my favorites from the area,” Gleason commented.
In the year and half that Gleason took those first steps in an 880, he has become the 880 Thursday Night Fights, the live weekly cards that are streamed online, champion, and recently added manager to his resume as the advisor of Gianni Micheal Emricko, one of the brightest prospects anywhere in the Pittsburgh area, at Enjoy Wrestling, the league that originally inspired Gleason to start this journey.
“John is a great guy. He always knows how to turn chicken scratch into chicken salad with the ideas that are thrown at him. He is a true wordsmith on the microphone,” said Emricko.
“Some Guy Named John has a great mind for the business. He’s always generating new ideas for his character on his own. And they usually work, because he’s one of the best guys in the tri-state area at generating heat organically with fans,” added George Ross, the 880 Wrestling senior official.
At 37, Gleason isn’t looking for worldwide fame and stardom, he finds himself more than content with being able to check all the boxes as a dad and a pro wrestler simultaneously more than enough to consider himself a success. However, he still has goals and looks to pursue them throughout the rest of 2025.
“I just want to work at cool places and make great friends. I’m not trying to be a television guy. I had a list of three promotions I wanted to work with going into 2025: Enjoy Wrestling, SmashMaster, and Olde Wrestling. I’ve worked at two, and I have a booking at the third in August. These places all had wrestling that I enjoy watching so I wanted to be a part of their promotions. I want to work at the type of shows I liked to attend as a fan. I have an opportunity to work with Canadian Deathmatch in Hamilton in August. I want to try new things and work in front of new crowds with my friends,” Gleason concluded.
For more information, you can go to https://www.facebook.com/john.gleason.580166
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
