The following is a message from NRWL President Mr. Sunderland.
Last night was one of the most terrifying moments in my life. At the conclusion of the event Tiger Johnson was left in the ring with a horrible injury. We've had injuries in the NRWL before. It is part of the sport. We even had some career ending injuries. This one felt different. I knew as soon as I saw him wheeled backstage on a stretcher that Tiger Johnson was hurt badly. I could read it on the faces of our medical staff. It was bad. Mr. Charles and I rode with Tiger in the ambulance and stayed at his side throughout the night. We were relieved to learn that the injury was not life threatening and it sounds like Tiger has narrowly avoided paralysis. From a wrestling standpoint, however, it doesn't look so good. I have worked with Tiger Johnson throughout his entire wrestling career and I am flooded with memories of that career today.
Tiger Johnson came to me shortly after he was discharged from the military. He was a big man with a lot of fighting spirit and I knew he would be a great fit for Masters of Wrestling, the company I was running at the time. Tiger was a dominating force in MoW. I saw the potential and knew that someday he would be champion. Unfortunately, Tiger suffered a horrible knee injury during a match. It completely changed his career path. While recovering from the injury, Tiger refused to sit back and rest. He pushed on, wrestling with his leg encased in a large metal covered cast. He had to change his style. He adapted well, even using the cast as a weapon, but
Around this time, Mr. Charles' Super Century Strong Fighter had seen the rise of an unstoppable force named "The Mob". The Mob recruited mostly SCSF wrestlers but Tiger Johnson was one of the few crossovers. As part of The Mob, he was renamed "The Leg" and continued to wear the big metal cast though by that point his knee had mostly healed. Eventually, MoW and SCSF shut down. A handful of my wrestlers had joined Tex's Hardcore Wrestling Company and The Druid's Darkside Wrestling. Tiger Johnson was one of those men and he had reverted to his old, dominating self. Both of those companies didn't last long however. After that, Tiger Johnson stepped away from the ring completely.
When we started the second season of the NRWL, we really loaded up the roster and I hired Tiger Johnson. Unfortunately, most fans know that Season Two was too ambitious and it came and went very quickly. It wasn't until Season Five that I was able to get Tiger back into the fold. Despite being the elder statesman of the locker room, Tiger Johnson was just as impressive as he was when he debuted for MoW so many years ago. Again, I saw him dominate and knew he would be NRWL Champion. But history has a way of repeating itself and a serious injury has once again diverted his path. It is heartbreaking for me to see.
Tiger, I've seen you bounce back from the impossible. I never gave up on you before and I won't now. The NRWL will always have a spot open on the roster for you. I hope to see you fulfill your dream of being world champion someday. Get well soon.
