15 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Tony Atlas
3. How His Current Wife Saved Him
If you're married, then think about how you met your spouse. Through friends? High school sweetheart? Online dating apps? One thing's for sure: You surely didn't stumble upon them freezing to death on a park bench and nurture them back to health. That angel who walked into Tony's life that was mentioned before - a woman named Monica.
She literally saved Atlas's life.
Monica was walking by on a blustery, cold day when she spotted Tony sleeping on a park bench in -20 degree weather. Waking him up, she told him he’d freeze to death, but Atlas “cussed her out” and said he wanted to die anyway. To her credit, Monica kept coming back, then eventually called an ambulance when he admitted he couldn't feel his legs anymore. She couldn’t even tell medics anything about Tony, because she didn’t even know his name.
When Tony got out of hospital, Monica told Atlas he could stay with her if he needed somewhere to go. That was a wake up call to the former WWF star. He started going back to the gym and got a part time job as a bouncer to pay rent. That’s when Vince got in touch offering a federation comeback out of the blue in 1990.
Perhaps rightly, Monica was worried that Tony would return to his former life and forget all about her, so he bought some “cheap rings” and said they were married. He was grateful to his lover for seeing something in him when he was at his lowest point; Atlas didn't plan on messing things up again.
What a story.