If you’re a long-time pro wrestling fan, the name Marc Mero may elicit memories of the colorful Johnny B. Badd shooting off confetti from his Badd Blaster. Or perhaps you think of the “Wild Man” accompanied by the stunning bombshell Sable or Golden Glove boxer alongside the dangerous Jaqueline. Regardless, you’ll feel the nostalgia pouring out as the former WCW and WWE superstar is opening up about his time inside and outside the ring with his new autobiography “Badd To Good: The Inspiring Story of a Wrestling Wildman.”
With forewords from Diamond Dallas Page and Lex Luger, contributions from Mick Foley, Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Justin Roberts and more, the inspiring read sees the veteran performer get candid with co-author Ben Veal about overcoming obstacles and dark periods to find his true purpose. One that has seen him spend the last 18 years going to schools around the world, motivating young people and spreading positivity. It’s what inspired him to do a book now.
“Just seeing the difference I’m making in people’s lives,” Mero said. “I talk about my hard times and bad choices during my presentations at schools. I thought, ‘Why don’t I put this into a book?’ A place to share some in-depth stories. Obviously, I share where my good choices took me. I’m very blatantly honest where those bad choices took me. I take people on this rollercoaster ride. I think it came out well. I was happy with the final version of the book.”
The 64-year-old recalls laughter and tears shared during the writing process. One of the overarching themes of the book is that happiness is a choice.
“I could think of all the miserable things that happened to me or things I can’t change like the weather or stock market and be bummed out or I can think about positive things,” he said. “I’m alive today. I can take a shower, eat food and do whatever I want. That’s a blessing in life. I live with this attitude of gratitude. It has really helped me change my mindset to want to be positive, but also surround myself with positive people…”
Among the hot topics Mero delves into was signing with WWE under a guaranteed contract. This was virtually unheard of, but the “Monday Night War” between the company and WCW was hot and heavy.
“At that time, I had no idea how I was viewed in the locker room because Steve Austin just signed before me. Mick Foley, too,” Mero recalled. “They just got the opportunity. Here I just got this big guaranteed contract, signing bonus where I can take my now ex-wife [Rena] on the road with me. Get her a contract. I look back now, and I can see how people can get upset at me.
He continued, “Now, when you think about it, this really broke the glass ceiling. In other words, now everyone gets a guaranteed contract. I look back, and I was the first one. I had a great negotiation with Vince McMahon, and it came down to I didn’t need the WWE. I had another guaranteed contract at WCW where I can stay there as Johnny B. Badd, so I had great leverage to go after that guaranteed contract. Vince just said yes, gave me the signing bonus and gave me the contract for my ex-wife, got to travel all over the world with me. We had everything we could ever want at the time, but looking back and seeing how much of an outcast we were was really tough.”
Despite everything that happened, the has no regrets about leaving WCW. When asked what might have happened if he stayed, Mero responded, “You never know, maybe Johnny B. Badd would have been in the nWo. Who knows?” Among the times he’ll cherish in the once Turner-owned organization was working with the “American Dream,” who was really the first to truly believe in him.
“Dusty Rhodes loved that character because it was a take off of him in a sense,” Mero said. “Before the matches, Dusty would work with me. He said, ‘I want you to walk to the ring like this and talk like this. Like a bad man!’ Me and him would laugh so hard because he would do it so outrageous. I couldn’t get it like he wanted some of the time, so we’d be laughing…He hugged me and we’d be laughing. We got so close because of that. Those are memories I’d always carry with me.”
Mero looks back at his early meetings with Vince McMahon and those early drawings of the “Wildman” persona. Drawings he still has to this day.
“Vince was like, ‘Can you do a Tarzan yell?’ I said, ‘I don’t have a very strong voice.’ Ric Flair has his Woo and Sting has his thing. Everyone has something for the fans to get behind, but I couldn’t do a Tarzan yell. I asked, ‘What is ‘Wildman,’ like am I from the jungle? What am I?’ Because I never resonated with the character, the audience didn’t either. Then you bring out this beautiful woman swirling a whip and people are going crazy over her and the character got lost in the shuffle. I have no regrets…”
For Mero, it’s fun to see the evolution of the business including seeing Paul “Triple H” Levesque ascend to the top of the WWE corporate ladder. He looks back on sharing the ring with him fondly.
“Triple H his first title he won was off me the Intercontinental title,” Mero said. “He went on to have a stellar career. There are three guys I’d wrestled a lot like hundreds of times. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, and remember we were at both WWE and WCW together, Triple H same thing and Diamond Dallas Page. We opened more pay-per-views and plus wrestled on the road all over the country. Those three guys I wrestled the most. I had the opportunity to wrestle Triple H many times, and he was an amazing worker. He is kind of the ring general where he’d cal the match as the heel and always had good matches with him. I couldn’t be happier to see where wrestling is going now. It’s really interesting. They have so many ways for people can go now….”
One of the more interesting parts of the book for people will surely be Mero reflecting on his decade together with ex-wife Rena Mero, who became a household name as Sable. Their relationship went through ups and downs before imploding in the end. Rena entered into a relationship with her now husband Brock Lesnar while the two were still together, during her second run with WWE.
“The greatest thing in life is forgiveness. Sometimes the hardest one to forgive is ourselves. Knowing I’ve forgiven everyone and everything and myself, it wasn’t hard talking about it,” Mero said. “You obviously relive moments in your life that were sad. I wanted to just tell the truth and tell the record straight. Yes, it was difficult being in the WWF when she was going through things also. That’s my wife they were doing these things to. It was very hard. A lot of people don’t know this, and I think it’s in the book, but I had three years left on my guaranteed contract. In other words, I could have stayed there another three years and not done anything and got paid. But I chose to walk away with her when she wanted to sue the WWF. I made that decision to walk away with her.”
Mero revealed in the book the last time he spoke with Rena was while their daughter was going through a difficult pregnancy. Despite the silence, there is no ill will.
“I’m very close to my daughter. In fact, her birthday is coming up. I just talked to her yesterday. She comes here in the summer with my granddaughter. We spend some time together, and it’s just amazing. We have a great relationship. And she has a relationship with her mother too,” Mero said. “I wish them all the happiness in the world. I believe they think the same thing for me. They wish me happiness. No, there is no need to talk. If we ever did, like I say in the book, there are just two words I’d like to say to her: Thank you.”
These days the motivational speaker finds no greater joy than helping another person. Capacity crowds still provide the adrenaline rush, but from a different stage.
“I remember when I left wrestling and had my last pay-per-view match in England,” Mero said. “I remember flying home thinking, ‘I don’t have to travel any more when I was doing 250 cities a year.’ Then I started this, and my average up until the pandemic was 230 events a year. It has been a crazy whirlwind, but I love it. The good thing is I still get to entertain people, and nobody is hitting me over the head with a chair anymore.”
“Badd To Good: The Inspiring Story of a Wrestling Wildman” is available now available on Amazon and through Inside the Ropes.
