I have had many houseguests stay over my house. From friends, to colleagues – to even strangers that have had too much to drink. But of all the people that have slept over my house – I never thought my bed would be occupied by a six foot, five inch three hundred pound wrestler.

On Wednesday, we had our fifth Ring Fever Round Table Discussion. The two main celebrity guests were former ECW Hardcore Champion Balls Mahoney – and a true legend in the history of professional wrestling – the king of the heart punch – Ox Baker.

I always admired Ox for his menacing demeanor. When he came out of that locker room – his opponents were already beaten. From the early 1960s to the mid 1980s, Ox plowed his way through some legendary opponents such as Lou Thez, Bobo Brazil – and Sterling Golden – later known as Hulk Hogan. These days, Ox runs a wrestling school where he teaches “the ropes” to the stars of tomorrow. Many of today’s famous superstars began at Ox’s school and were nothing more then young men with dreams of one day being superstars. While some of them couldn’t handle it – others graduated with Ox’s training and fulfilled their dream – one of those men was The Undertaker.

As the years progressed, Ox’s career went from one plateau to another. Winning countless titles, earning world wide respect both in and out of the locker room – and sacrificing two straight years without his wife by his side – Ox Baker became synonymous with the legends that came before him and a mentor to those that came after him.

Two weeks ago, my friend Karen called me at work from a pay phone and told me that she is staring at a man who is so large – he must be a wrestler who was signing autographs on the street. When I asked her what his name was – she said Ox Baker. I immediately kicked into Ring Fever mode and told her to give him my number and contact me about coming to the Round Table Discussion. She did – he called – and Ox Baker was at the dais of the Ring Fever Round Table Discussion.

We have had countless superstars on Ring Fever – from The Rock, to Goldberg, to The Undertaker – to Hulk Hogan – they have all been on our show – but I never thought that one of them would be sleeping in my bed.

I was thrilled that Ox decided to come all the way from Connecticut to be on Ring Fever. His only request was that he had a place to crash overnight. I offered my place and he accepted. When we got to my house after the Round Table Discussion, I went to park his car – and he went to sleep on my bed.

Seeing a large muscular man on my bed made me think of only one thing – the personal sacrifices that wrestlers have taken over the years for the enjoyment of their fans.

Here is a married man who traveled across three states to appear on a show he has never heard of and even willing to spend the night in the home of the host of the show – while leaving his wife behind. So while he is entertaining the fans – she is at home alone – wondering if he missies her as much as she misses him.

These days, the World Wrestling Federation has a fleet of airplanes of their own – which flies their superstars from RAW to Smackdown and from house show to house show. In Ox’s day, he had to drive from show to show. Sometimes he drove with the other wrestlers on the card – and sometimes – he drove hundreds of miles by himself – just like he did to come to my show. In addition to driving hundreds of miles by themselves, the wrestlers of yesteryear had to book their own hotels, feed themselves – and hope that they made enough money to cover the expense of getting to the next show.

The wrestlers of today have no clue what their predecessors went through. The wrestler of today receives an envelope with a pre-booked travel itinerary, has a personal assistant to fetch them their every desire – and on top of that, receives a salary that has at least five zeros. The truth is, if not for guys like Ox who gave more blood, sweat and tears between matches then he did in the ring, the wrestlers of today would not be the rich and famous superstars they are today. I just don’t think its fair that while Ox paved the way – he is still driving from show to show while the men he trained and helped succeed are raking in the big bucks.

If anything, I hope that the wrestlers of today truly appreciate what Ox did to pave the way for them to be what they are today – I know I do.