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- Professional wrestler Mike Parrow comes out as gay after meeting future husband
- Parrow shares his struggles and experiences as he struggled with his sexuality
Wrestler Mike Parrow recently spoke publicly about his sexuality for the first time. The wrestler shared how he decided to finally come out to his friends, family, and fellow wrestlers around four years ago, which is also the same period he met the man he fell in love with.
With the height of 6’4” and weight 300lbs, the wrestler has a powerful stance and figure. Those who may have watched him inside the ring are unlikely to know that for many years, he has struggled a lot.
Parrow grew up with his brother and sister in Troy, New York State. He shared that is was about 2009 when he went to wrestling school. He perished the challenge as he was a really competitive person, he absolutely hates losing.
“I was about 330lbs when I came too wrestling school, and I hadn’t been working out in a while, so it was a little bit harder for me. But they work with every student to get them ready to step into the ring.
I’m an extremely competitive person. Extremely competitive. I absolutely hate losing. So everything I’ve ever done in my life, I’ve set goals for myself. So once I stepped through that door I told myself that no matter what, I am going to get through this year.”
His competitiveness is what lead him to the wrestling ring before he competed thorough companies Evolve and MLW.
As for his sexuality, he admitted that he has always known that he’s gay. But growing up, he spent most of his student life in a Catholic school while his mom is also a Sunday school teacher.
“I’ve always known I’m gay. That was never a question in my mind. But growing up, I went to Catholic school my whole life. My mom’s a Sunday school teacher. I came from a small town in upstate New York. It didn’t have a flourishing gay community.
The only exposure I saw of any gay culture was extremely effeminate and that was what was on TV. I’m not like Jack on Will and Grace, so I’m not gay.”
The wrestler did try to hide it by playing sports and other manly activities. It also got to the point that he resulted to dating woman even if he finds it difficult.
“In the beginning, when you’re younger, it’s easy – you’re young. But the older I got, the harder it got for me to have any kind of emotional relationship with a woman.
I would find ways to end it. I’d be like, “Listen, I just don’t think you’re pretty.” And I was kind of mean to some women. It’s wrong. And I wish sometimes I could have that back.”
As he got nearer the gay community, he stated that he didn’t really experience what he was expecting as he was considered as a “fat” and “ugly”.
“I learned you can get very much masculine shamed in the gay community as of late, which is really weird, but it happens.
‘And so that put me further back in the closet than going forward. So I buried myself in wrestling and focused on my career. And I had some success, but that was always in the back of my mind.”
Parrow became massively depressed.
“I became massively depressed. Extremely depressed. I couldn’t get out of bed. And I knew what it was.
I felt like nobody knew who I really was. So I became very lonely. Very distant from my friends. I was very angry. I was very rude and mean, and a lot of things would just set me off.
‘And I’m a big guy, so when I get angry, I kind of scare people! I’d purposefully be mean because it’s a protection mechanism that I’ve built into myself – “Don’t let people close because that way they can’t find out anything else about you.”
He started asking for signs to determine his real sexuality. And that’s when he met his fiancé, Morgan.
Parrow first saw Morgan at a bar while sitting by himself, then saw him again at the supermarket. Never did he knew he’d see him again at the bar he’s tending, wherein they got to talk for the first time.
It wasn’t an easy road for the couple.
We then went on the worst date ever, cos I have no idea how to talk to guys. And it was funny, but I told him, “You’re never going to meet my friends, I’m probably never coming out, and the only time you can see me is in the house.”
‘A couple of weeks into us talking about stuff, he broke it off. And it was the first time in my life I was absolutely crushed. That’s how I knew.
That’s when Parrow started to tell himself to stop being so scared and start being him. When Morgan called him back, he told him that it’s time that they do things for real. Morgan answered him by saying, “That’s all I’m asking.”
Four and a half years later, came out to his family after introducing Morgan to them. Confounding his initial fears, the members were all very supportive.
As for the wrestling community, He says he’s rarely experienced homophobia on the wrestling circuit.
