Former WWE Superstar Heidenreich didn’t even know he had gone viral until people from wrestling started reaching out, but he was worried fans were going to mock him.
Heidenreich unexpectedly returned to the limelight after a photo of him working at a Walmart in Greenfield, Ohio spread across social media. While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Heidenreich revealed that he wasn’t online when the photo took off and only found out after people from the independent wrestling scene began contacting him.
“No, I didn’t, I didn’t really, I didn’t see it when it happened. I didn’t even these kids that I call them kids, kids that I’ve known working Indies on the Gulf Coast and so other places, they started messaging me and calling me about it, you know, have you seen the Internet? So I don’t really do that.”
Heidenreich explained that his co-worker Wade was the one who posted the photo. Wade was on Walmart’s renovation team, happened to be a wrestling fan, and didn’t fully believe Heidenreich at first when he mentioned his past in wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling.
“Yeah, he’s actually on the renovation team that travels around, but he was there for a couple months. He’s from Ohio… I saw he was from Ohio and asked him if he knew about Ohio Valley Wrestling. And he says yeah, and he was a wrestling fan. And I told him some of the stuff I did and he left that night and I think he said he didn’t really believe me… but he looked it up.”
After Wade realized Heidenreich was telling the truth, he ordered one of his old action figures and asked him to sign it. That quickly led to more co-workers learning about his WWE past and treating him like a legend.
“And then he was like, dude, this dude’s like, I remember you or whatever. And then he said, I ordered an action figure. You going to sign it for me? I was like, yeah, of course I will. And then a bunch of his buddies found out. They’re like, dude, why don’t you tell us that he was a wrestler, man? They ordered action figures too… And when my coworkers found out… they were like, man, you’re like a legend, man. I was like, I guess so.”
Heidenreich admitted the reaction surprised him because he initially thought people might mock him for working at Walmart. Instead, fans were happy to see him doing well, and even former WWE star Gene Snitsky publicly showed support.
“Yeah. People were like, I thought, well, they bashing me because I’m at a Walmart now. They said no, dude, it’s like cool. And I mean people that I think Schnitsky said some good stuff because he’s a cool dude. I love he’s, he put me over. He’s like, man, I’m glad John’s all right. We were wondering what happened to him.”
The viral photo has now brought Heidenreich back into the wrestling conversation in a way he clearly didn’t expect. After years away from the spotlight, fans were simply glad to see him healthy, working, and doing fine.
What do you think about Heidenreich’s reaction to the viral Walmart photo? Were you happy to see fans show him support? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.