Many know Stephen Amell for his work in the acting realm; beginning in 2015, though, Amell began dipping his toe into the world of professional wrestling, with notable appearances across WWE, Ring of Honor, and All Elite Wrestling. Recently, Amell opened up about long-time wrestling fandom on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," revealing that it sparked around the age of six.
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"I first fell in love with wrestling, we're looking at 1987 or something like that," Amell said. "I was six years old and someone got me the VHS tape of WrestleMania 3. Then, of course, I went back and I watched WrestleMania 1, I watched WrestleMania 2. Wrestling became my obsession. I will never forget getting in trouble in third grade [because] some kid accused me of throwing a booger on him, and I don't think I did, but my punishment was I had my wrestling magazines taken away from me for two weeks. I wasn't allowed to watch wrestling on Saturday morning. That was devastating."
According to Amell, he was particularly drawn to multi-time WWE Champion Hulk Hogan during childhood. At WrestleMania VI, Hogan battled The Ultimate Warrior in a title-for-title match, with Hogan raising his WWE Championship, while Warrior put his Intercontinental Championship on the line. With WrestleMania VI taking place in his hometown of Toronto, Ontario, and his friend John hosting a birthday party at the local venue, Amell was lucky enough to watch the pay-per-view, and his hero, in person. Unfortunately, Amell's excitement later turned to sadness as Hogan shockingly lost to Warrior in the show's main event.
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"I'm like crying in front of all these different 10, 11-year-old boys. My dad's like 'Hey bud, just get it together.' [I said] 'Sorry, Hulk lost.' I didn't think that him losing was conceivable." Amell said.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
