By John-Paul Volino
Chair Shot Heard Round The World
#Sammartino #Zbyszko
|
Dusek Riot Squad
#DusekRiotSquad
|
Hart of Stampede Wrestling
#HartFamily #Stampede
|
Hollywood Movie In Making
#TaleOfAliBaba #HollywoodMovie
|
Immigrant to Champion
#ImmigrantToChampion #Sammartino
|
Match That Changed Two Worlds
#Liger #Pillman
|
Mrs. Krieger
#MrsKrieger
|
Tragedy In The Hart-Land
#Tragedy #HartFamily
|
John-Paul Volino (April 19, 1985-June 9, 2015)
John-Paul passed away way too young. For as long as this website exists, John-Paul's article shall remain available for everyone to read and so his memory lives on.
Words about John-Paul.
It was late in the day when I heard about John's passing. A friend messaged me to ask if it was true. Truth was, I wasn't sure. I even told him if it were true I'm sure someone would have posted in the group. After all John would normally be around sharing information daily, or very close to it at least. He informed me that Greg had actually shared the sad news. I knew then it was true and went straight to the group to find out what happened.
The first thing I saw though was not the content of the post or the pictures of John. No, it was that over 300 people had liked and/or commented their condolences on the post. Instinctively I looked at the posting time. Thirty-four minutes it had been up. And don't think that as I was surprised it had climbed to that number so fast, no, not at all. John was a highly valued and well-liked member of the group who I never saw have a cross word with anyone. I just couldn't help thinking how much he deserved every single like.
Although it was and still is an upsetting time, all of those words and gestures and the ones that continued to come in after, symbolize accomplishment. In my eyes that is something that anyone should be able to find a slight glimmer of happiness in this darkest of time to help remind you that his life should be celebrated and honored.
With that in mind I knew I had to speak to John's brother, Christopher, and ask for the families blessing to put up a tribute and keep John's work alive. Having said that on behalf of PWHS, we are all very proud to announce that no matter what happens, John-Paul Volino shall always have his own page on the website for as long as it is in existence.
There was an Ancient Greek by the name of Marcus Tullius Cicero who apparently once said, "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." Whether he really did say that or not, who knows, most of these "famous quotes" are baloney, either way, the sentiment is right and we feel it is the very least we can do, to help keep his name and all the hard work, research and general helping of PWHS to grow, with the recognition it deserves.
As I was explaining what we wanted to do, to Christopher, I very quickly and suddenly realized that I actually hadn't known John that long and really I knew very little about the man outside of professional wrestling. In fact, the only three things I know about his personal life was he suffered from an illness, he had studied both history and religion at college, also at some point we ended up in a long conversation where a mutual fanship of the band Nirvana was discovered.
John had come into the PWHS group a few months after it started. I'd guess around fourteen months ago. May-be a little longer. It has to be around then as John was one of the first people confirmed to be writing articles for the website. He had impressed from the get-go. It's very likely everyone involved could tell a story of how he impressed them with some piece of information, it was not a a rare occurrence. It was quite the opposite.
Anyone who has done any kind of research, fact collecting and the like for an extended period of time will know that if someone who you don't know. Someone you have never heard of or seen before comes up to you spouting information that most do not normally do research on, that there is an even-to-good chance they are just reading quotes from a website or two and have actually not done any research at all.
As anyone who had the pleasant experience of having a conversation with John on wrestling, will know he really can talk wrestling. He sounded knowledgeable, so I asked him the question which will provoke one of three reactions:
A) Catch-out the person, John in this case, as a fraudulent researcher.
B) Irk the person so much because you dared to ask them this question. They then go off on a rant that concludes with the sources they do have not being provided due to their ego being so insulted at the notion their word, the word of a stranger, should be questioned.
C) This is the rarest of the three, but so refreshing and they provide you with the relevant sources that you requested with complete understanding.
John was that breath of fresh air. Of course none of us knew at the time that he had studied history and was probably even more aware of the importance of accurately noted source materials when trying to preserve the past than we were ourselves. With that a respect born and I believe he knew that he found the people he had been looking for and I knew he was just on the same wave length. One of the very few people who just "got it" without any real explanation needed.
Through-out the time we were lucky enough to have John with us, his passion for wrestling and it's long and often complicated history shone bright. If I recall correctly it was supposedly Albert Einstein who said, "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."
Given that the majority of people who are very serious about gaining vast amounts of information in one area of their lives, are also the same in most if not all other areas of their lives too, I would care to speculate that John more than lived up to that quote across the board. He most certainly did when it came to wrestling. Just a couple of days before his passing we had been sharing information we'd forgotten about WCW from the middle of the 1990's.
When anyone dies it is sad. When someone who was only weeks into their thirtieth year on this planet, an awful tragedy, really is the only way to describe it in a polite manner. Everyone here will truly miss his presence in the group and the insights he could bring that very few others could.
The society can not express enough how thankful we are for his contributions to PWHS and again to his family for allowing us to continue saying thank you by keeping his work and name alive. Which in turn will help one of his biggest passions to just keep going. He was always so enthusiastic about and enjoyed sharing any and all information with fans who are new to the history. So they could have an easier time separating facts from fiction as they began the journey down the road he had already raced along.
For that. For his loyalty. For his friendship. For his research. For all of his input and what seemed to always be his good-natured, easy-going, happy-to-help attitude, one last time even though the two words are not even close to being an adequate adulation: Thank you.
Thank you for the "Memoria" John-Paul Volino.
And rest in peace brother.
From Jimmy Wheeler
Although I didn't have the chance to really know John-Paul, I always enjoyed his contributions to the page...his love for the business was obvious.
From Jay Boutwell
I had a few occasions of conversing by Messenger with John Paul and was impressed he understood what this group was accomplishing. And wanted to do his part for history. I will miss conversing with him.
From Terry Kent.
John-Paul Volino and I were Facebook friends. Unlike the majority of our "friends" on Facebook (who, in reality, are friendly acquaintances), I actually had a connection with John-several connections in fact. John and I both shared a love of professional wrestling (obviously), but we also shared a love for History in general, food/recipes, and music.
I immediately connected with John once I met him. From day one, he exuded class, kindness and intelligence. A combination like that is very hard to ignore, and despite the fact that John never blew a trumpet for himself, I wound up anticipating his posts, and even when we disagreed (which was often), I never once left an exchange with him feeling anything but uplifted.
When I heard the news of John's sudden death, I felt the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as I did when my old friend, Jim Zordani, died suddenly last year, and when my newlywed bride, Heather died 3 and 1/2 years ago. It was a sinking, shocked and incredibly sad feeling.
That is not surprising. In the few months that I was privileged to know him, John-Paul Volino became someone who I respected, in some ways admired, and most importantly liked. When someone who you know marginally dies, you say "Oh-that's a shame!", and then move on with your daily routine. When someone has made an impact on your life dies, your world stops for a little while. My world stopped for a little while this week.
I won't say that I will miss John-Paul, because I already do miss him. We at PWHS lost a fantastic member, writer, contributor and supporter. The world lost a humane, decent a good man. R.I.P. my friend.
From Harry Grover
John-Paul passed away way too young. For as long as this website exists, John-Paul's article shall remain available for everyone to read and so his memory lives on.
Words about John-Paul.
It was late in the day when I heard about John's passing. A friend messaged me to ask if it was true. Truth was, I wasn't sure. I even told him if it were true I'm sure someone would have posted in the group. After all John would normally be around sharing information daily, or very close to it at least. He informed me that Greg had actually shared the sad news. I knew then it was true and went straight to the group to find out what happened.
The first thing I saw though was not the content of the post or the pictures of John. No, it was that over 300 people had liked and/or commented their condolences on the post. Instinctively I looked at the posting time. Thirty-four minutes it had been up. And don't think that as I was surprised it had climbed to that number so fast, no, not at all. John was a highly valued and well-liked member of the group who I never saw have a cross word with anyone. I just couldn't help thinking how much he deserved every single like.
Although it was and still is an upsetting time, all of those words and gestures and the ones that continued to come in after, symbolize accomplishment. In my eyes that is something that anyone should be able to find a slight glimmer of happiness in this darkest of time to help remind you that his life should be celebrated and honored.
With that in mind I knew I had to speak to John's brother, Christopher, and ask for the families blessing to put up a tribute and keep John's work alive. Having said that on behalf of PWHS, we are all very proud to announce that no matter what happens, John-Paul Volino shall always have his own page on the website for as long as it is in existence.
There was an Ancient Greek by the name of Marcus Tullius Cicero who apparently once said, "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." Whether he really did say that or not, who knows, most of these "famous quotes" are baloney, either way, the sentiment is right and we feel it is the very least we can do, to help keep his name and all the hard work, research and general helping of PWHS to grow, with the recognition it deserves.
As I was explaining what we wanted to do, to Christopher, I very quickly and suddenly realized that I actually hadn't known John that long and really I knew very little about the man outside of professional wrestling. In fact, the only three things I know about his personal life was he suffered from an illness, he had studied both history and religion at college, also at some point we ended up in a long conversation where a mutual fanship of the band Nirvana was discovered.
John had come into the PWHS group a few months after it started. I'd guess around fourteen months ago. May-be a little longer. It has to be around then as John was one of the first people confirmed to be writing articles for the website. He had impressed from the get-go. It's very likely everyone involved could tell a story of how he impressed them with some piece of information, it was not a a rare occurrence. It was quite the opposite.
Anyone who has done any kind of research, fact collecting and the like for an extended period of time will know that if someone who you don't know. Someone you have never heard of or seen before comes up to you spouting information that most do not normally do research on, that there is an even-to-good chance they are just reading quotes from a website or two and have actually not done any research at all.
As anyone who had the pleasant experience of having a conversation with John on wrestling, will know he really can talk wrestling. He sounded knowledgeable, so I asked him the question which will provoke one of three reactions:
A) Catch-out the person, John in this case, as a fraudulent researcher.
B) Irk the person so much because you dared to ask them this question. They then go off on a rant that concludes with the sources they do have not being provided due to their ego being so insulted at the notion their word, the word of a stranger, should be questioned.
C) This is the rarest of the three, but so refreshing and they provide you with the relevant sources that you requested with complete understanding.
John was that breath of fresh air. Of course none of us knew at the time that he had studied history and was probably even more aware of the importance of accurately noted source materials when trying to preserve the past than we were ourselves. With that a respect born and I believe he knew that he found the people he had been looking for and I knew he was just on the same wave length. One of the very few people who just "got it" without any real explanation needed.
Through-out the time we were lucky enough to have John with us, his passion for wrestling and it's long and often complicated history shone bright. If I recall correctly it was supposedly Albert Einstein who said, "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."
Given that the majority of people who are very serious about gaining vast amounts of information in one area of their lives, are also the same in most if not all other areas of their lives too, I would care to speculate that John more than lived up to that quote across the board. He most certainly did when it came to wrestling. Just a couple of days before his passing we had been sharing information we'd forgotten about WCW from the middle of the 1990's.
When anyone dies it is sad. When someone who was only weeks into their thirtieth year on this planet, an awful tragedy, really is the only way to describe it in a polite manner. Everyone here will truly miss his presence in the group and the insights he could bring that very few others could.
The society can not express enough how thankful we are for his contributions to PWHS and again to his family for allowing us to continue saying thank you by keeping his work and name alive. Which in turn will help one of his biggest passions to just keep going. He was always so enthusiastic about and enjoyed sharing any and all information with fans who are new to the history. So they could have an easier time separating facts from fiction as they began the journey down the road he had already raced along.
For that. For his loyalty. For his friendship. For his research. For all of his input and what seemed to always be his good-natured, easy-going, happy-to-help attitude, one last time even though the two words are not even close to being an adequate adulation: Thank you.
Thank you for the "Memoria" John-Paul Volino.
And rest in peace brother.
From Jimmy Wheeler
Although I didn't have the chance to really know John-Paul, I always enjoyed his contributions to the page...his love for the business was obvious.
From Jay Boutwell
I had a few occasions of conversing by Messenger with John Paul and was impressed he understood what this group was accomplishing. And wanted to do his part for history. I will miss conversing with him.
From Terry Kent.
John-Paul Volino and I were Facebook friends. Unlike the majority of our "friends" on Facebook (who, in reality, are friendly acquaintances), I actually had a connection with John-several connections in fact. John and I both shared a love of professional wrestling (obviously), but we also shared a love for History in general, food/recipes, and music.
I immediately connected with John once I met him. From day one, he exuded class, kindness and intelligence. A combination like that is very hard to ignore, and despite the fact that John never blew a trumpet for himself, I wound up anticipating his posts, and even when we disagreed (which was often), I never once left an exchange with him feeling anything but uplifted.
When I heard the news of John's sudden death, I felt the same feeling in the pit of my stomach as I did when my old friend, Jim Zordani, died suddenly last year, and when my newlywed bride, Heather died 3 and 1/2 years ago. It was a sinking, shocked and incredibly sad feeling.
That is not surprising. In the few months that I was privileged to know him, John-Paul Volino became someone who I respected, in some ways admired, and most importantly liked. When someone who you know marginally dies, you say "Oh-that's a shame!", and then move on with your daily routine. When someone has made an impact on your life dies, your world stops for a little while. My world stopped for a little while this week.
I won't say that I will miss John-Paul, because I already do miss him. We at PWHS lost a fantastic member, writer, contributor and supporter. The world lost a humane, decent a good man. R.I.P. my friend.
From Harry Grover