“LOSER! LOSER! LOSER!”
Heckles from fans echoed in American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas, June 1, 2010, as Tyrone Evans, known as Michael Tarver to the WWE universe, addressed the fans about his “frustration” with the WWE after being eliminated from WWE’s NXT rookie contest.
While Evans was booed and heckled inside the ring at almost every WWE event, a 10-year-old Tye Evans could only sit there and listen to his dad be hounded by fans from Portland to Philadelphia, sometimes not even knowing if he should cheer for him.
“When I would go see my dad wrestle at WWE events, it was like I was on a fence,” Tye said. “He would go up against some of my favorite wrestlers and beat them, so I would sit there trying to think of who to cheer for. My dad, being the bad guy, or the other wrestler, being the good guy.”
As fans would continue to belittle his father, Tye, currently a freshman running back at Ball State, always had to remember that this was only a role his father was playing. In his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, Tyrone’s alter ego of Michael Tarver was a part of Nexus, a group made up of seven wrestlers aimed to antagonize the “good guys” on the WWE roster.
Back in Ohio, Tye would watch his dad on TV wrestle every Monday and Friday night, starstruck by the idea of seeing has dad on TV. When Tyrone did get time off from work, he would come home to massive amounts of attention from locals of his small suburb of Cleveland, but Tye knew his dad was there to see him.
“He would come to my games when he could, and when he showed up on the sideline, everyone flocked to him,” Tye said. “He had a big role, so everyone recognized him. Sometimes I liked it when he got all this attention, but at the same time, he’s here to see me. When he does come and I get the chance to see him, it’s my time, but I also knew that he got that attention because this what his job was. I understood both sides of it.”
Tyrone valued all the time he could get with his son and family. After signing with the WWE in March of 2008, Tyrone was moved down to Florida and would not see his family again until December. As Tyrone rarely saw his family, the few times his family were able to make it to events were a part of some of his favorite experiences in the WWE.
“They didn’t come down as much as I would’ve liked, but it was a lot of fun to get my children to the shows,” Tyrone said. “They got to meet some of the superstars there that they saw on TV, and it was surreal for them to see their daddy stand next to them.”
As surreal as it was for Tye and his siblings to see their dad on TV, it was just a surreal that Tyrone had gotten this far. When Tyrone received his contract in 2008, he was homeless and at the time only five percent of those trying out to be in the WWE were offered a contract.
“I went from being homeless to be in Wrestlemania in a matter of months,” Tyrone said. “Getting to the WWE and Wrestlemania is a super goal for a wrestler.”
For Tye, while he did grow up not seeing his dad a lot, seeing his father leave him to pursue his dream has taught Tye to do the same for his personal aspirations.
“My dad told me when i was 7 years old that he was going to chase his dream and provide for us,” Tye said. “He wanted to support us but chase his dream at the same time, and he’s inspired me to do what I want to do. Whether that’s pro football or being a missionary and keeping my family financially comfortable, that’s been my dream. I’ve been taught to pursue your dreams no matter what anyone says.”
This mindset of following whatever dreams you may have has been engraved into Tyrone’s head since he was young. Like Tye, Tyrone was inspired by his father who was a professional boxer and football player.
“Seeing my dad fight and meeting all these professional boxers set a precedent in me that I could be something more than average,” Tyrone said. “In Tye seeing his grandfather box, myself wrestle in the WWE and his mother graduate from college, he believes that there is something special within him and that he is going to do something special.”
With his first season with the Cardinals a few weeks away from coming to a close, Tye believes he is in the right place to follow his dreams in playing football at a high level. Alongside lessons he has learned from his father, he has faith that his opportunities are endless.
“My original dream was to play basketball, but when I realized I was better at football, I took that and started running with it,” Tye said. “My dream is to be able to get to that platform, the same way my dad did and live that dream that I’ve been working toward.”
Contact Jack Williams with any comments at jgwilliams@bsu.edu or on Twitter @jackgwilliams
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