Pro wrestler Vinny Pacifico has made a name for himself on the independent scene and the success has led him down roads he never thought possible.The Staten Island, New York, native started training in a pro wrestling ring when he was just 14 after telling his father he no longer wanted to play high school football. He told Fox News Digital in a recent interview it was chats with John Cena and Bryan Danielson (formerly known as Daniel Bryan) that convinced him he was on the right path.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!”At one point, I was playing football in high school and I told my father, listen, I love football, I love this, I was following in his footsteps and all these things, but I said I want to try professional wrestling. I want to go for this. I have to do it,” Pacifico said. “I just felt this need, this fire burning inside of me that I just needed to chase this dream. And after that, I went to a John Cena talk show and he talked after that and I asked him for advice. He was very, very motivating, very, very inspiring. A little while after that, I went to a meet-and-greet with Daniel Bryan in the city – another one of my favorite wrestlers. Asked him his advice and he was the same way – motivating, inspiring, just a great conversation we had.”Once those two things happened, I knew this was what I was meant to be doing. So, yeah, I got my start at 13 and 12 years later, I’ve traveled to 15-plus countries, wrestled all over the world, doing things I couldn’t even imagine I’d be doing. Now, over the last year, spanning into a lot of films and TV, it’s been just an amazing experience. I’m thankful for everything because, at the end of the day, I’m just a kid who started this dream and turned it into something I never could have imagined.”Pacifico said his father was nothing but supportive of his decision and still shows up for his matches to this day.Pro wrestling has an overwhelming effect on everyone – either you really love it or you really hate it. For Pacifico, he knew from watching on television that he really wanted to give it a try and be as malleable as possible.”I loved watching it on TV, just the way it captivates you, just the way it makes you believe for a moment and it makes you leave reality,” he told Fox News Digital. “That’s TV, film, movies, they all do that, but wrestling is a live art form. So, that’s what it did for me.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM”When I started, it was very hard to transition because, you have to think when you’re wrestling, ‘What do the fans want to see?’ How do we get these fans to emotionally invest in us? And that’s the thing, I said, ‘OK, as a fan, for me, I liked these things.’ Nowadays, I watch the first match of the show and I just try to imagine, OK, the fans liked this, the fans liked this, and I try to figure out what crowds like. All over the world, there’s different types of fans. In Japan,
Pro wrestling star Vinny Pacifico talks journey to the ring, finding success outside of it
