OVWrestling.com’s Dale Sherman interviewed former OVW Heavyweight Champion and Tough Enough III Co-Champion (with Johnny Nitro) Matt Cappotelli for the company’s Web site. Cappotelli was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2005, and in February 2006, he announced that the tumor was indeed cancerous and dropped the OVW title in an emotional televised moment. He hasn’t wrestled since, as he’s been looking into his options, but has gotten married and has a very positive outlook on his situation.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview where he talks about whether or not he’ll ever come back to the ring:
It’s been tough at times because the overwhelming opinion from the neurosurgeons and oncologists is that I need to stay out of the ring or ‘bad things could happen’- every physician has their opinion – but there’s only one that counts. The great physician heals and the only limit to that is our own level of faith.
It’s very tough to know that something I love to do is dangerous to my life. Maybe making an analogy to your own life situation will give you a look into what I mean.
What should you do, sacrifice what you love doing or sacrifice your own health to do what you love?? Think about that and try to apply it to your own life. If you’re a carpenter, a salesman, a writer, or a bus driver that loves your job, but you’re told by numerous doctors that what you love to do (the same thing that pays your bills and puts food on your family’s table) is dangerous to your life? Just think about that for a few minutes.
That question is hard enough to answer, but now let’s look at Part Two of the equation that gets even more difficult.
Part Two of this question is this: Let’s say you want to pursue your career despite the warnings. To take care of your problem, you have two options. Option One: you can have a very risky surgery, where you would risk going blind, losing your hearing, sense of smell, or even having the right side of your face being completely paralyzed, among other worse things I won’t mention. The surgery is a very tough one to perform and they state that it’s almost impossible to remove all of the problems.
Option Two: You can decline the surgery and live with any symptoms you might have; try to go back to the work you love (if you can get the impossible medical clearance you desire), and take your chances with what might happen.
What would you do in your situation?
I want everyone to know that I am only writing this because I want people to be able to relate my situation to their own lives. It’s the best way I can explain to people what is going on and what I’m dealing with. We all face problems in our own lives and have to deal with them in our own ways. I am completely confident that everything I have gone through and am currently going through is part of God’s plan and I WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING.
To read the entire interview and see photos from Matt’s wedding, click over to OVWrestling.com. In the interview he talks about other aspects of his life, including his faith-based clothing company (www.Faith-Ink.com) and how he’d like to stay with WWE even if he cannot wrestle again, and do work for charitable organizations through WWE. We at Pulse Wrestling wish Matt the best in the future.
