Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: “Desperado” Joe Gomez
Date: 06/06/2026
Your Host: “Arizona” James Walsh
In September of 2025, many wrestling sites posted a blurb indicating that “Desperado” Joe Gomez had passed away. My Birthday in 2025 was a doozie of a day. I had gotten fired from a job I had for 9 years, Charlie Kirk was murdered in cold blood, and, as it turns out, Joe Gomez suffered a massive stroke that very day. That day is not one for the highlight reel, is it?
Well, I, “Arizona” James Walsh, did not believe that Joe had passed. I had seen him do a great interview with In Your Head a few years ago and while no one can ever tell when it is anyone’s time, he did not strike me as the kind of guy that was intending on going anywhere anytime soon. So, I did some digging. I traced him all the way down to a pizza parlor he co-owned fairly recently and the guy at the pizza place, after I bugged him a few times, gave me some info. The info was vague. But, he did tell me it wasn’t good news but he was still alive and kicking.
Fast forward to today and I have extreme hypertension. While I’m not overweight, not terribly anyway, I do live my life as a “Macho Man” style type A personality that allows far too much to get to him and that, as I’m approaching my mid 40’s, has caught up to me. So, I see on Facebook that Joe Gomez accepted my friends request and I saw that I had messaged him in September asking him to get back to me when he could… He did! And, he came with advice for me about my health situation given his experience.
I am a religious guy. I’m not a thumper and I will not ask you to believe what I believe. If you’re happy saying that things happen for a reason or that it was in the cosmos, that works for me as well. But, things absolutely happen for a reason. If you have hypertension, high blood pressure, and are ignoring the signs… Don’t!
Joe Gomez was a WCW superstar in the early 1990’s as Allen Iron Eagle and later as “Desperado” Joe Gomez during the Monday Night War boom. While he kicked around for a while, his most famous battles included hsi Bash at the Beach 1996 pay per view encounter with the late Steve “Mongo” McMichael.
We will post wrestling highlights from this interview early next week. But, we’ll begin with this blurb about his health.
Joe Gomez is one of the good guys. A friend of Ric Flair’s and a hard working business man, he’s one of the true good dudes in the business and we are so happy he’s doing relatively well given the potential alternative.
Visit www.WrestlingEpicenter.com for more interviews like this!
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/5KrJOjgpXgc
JOE GOMEZ:
On what happened to him in September of 2025:
“Well, James, you know, like so many of my friends and colleagues and guys you’ve interviewed over the years – The years of wrestling and I used to power lift… It all caught up to me. My knees were really, really bad… They still are. But, I’ve had nerve abrasions done where they burn away the nerves so you don’t feel the pain. That has helped quite a bit. I let my weight get up to over 400 pounds… 406 pounds! I guess I carried it pretty well. But, I was real big and just too heavy. But, business is good. I’ve got a funding company. And, I’ve got a new IV therapy that I’m starting up at the Hard Rock here in Tampa (on June 18th). My phone was on 24 hours a day. I’d have 2, 3 business lunches every day… And, my weight escalated. So, two weeks prior (to my stroke) I was in Cleaveland for Real American Freestyle. My friend Chad Bronstein owns it and my old boss, Eric Bischoff runs it. I had a great time. Then, I was the best-man of my friend Fandango’s wedding a week before it happened. That was a wonderful time. Ironically, myself and Mike Rotunda were both there. We came home and he had a massive heart attack And, I had a stroke. Mike’s on the mend and he’s doing really, really well. He was in the same rehab facility I was.”
On what resulted in his stroke:
“I just ignored it. I ignored my high blood pressure and hypertension because i thought I was invincible. I had never really been sick. I had a few surgeries on my shoulders and my knees. But, I never was a party guy. Never smoked. Never really drank that much. But, I ignored the warning signs. The weight and the high blood pressure… And, I had a stroke. A Schemic stroke which impacted the entire left side of my body. Thankfully, I am back on my feet. I’m walking again. In fact, I was just at the Hard Rock last night for a business meeting. I was probably there too late playing. But, I’m getting better. But, James. The most important thing is to keep the weight down, watch the blood pressure, and never stop excercising!”
On what happened:
“Thank God my daughter was home from school that day. I have a 16 year old daughter. If she wasn’t home sick that day, I’d be dead. I was in the bathroom and I passed out.”