Marcus Everett: The Guy from “That Gif”

Posted on by eatsleepwrestle

If you haven’t seen “the gif,” you obviously haven’t been on social media much in the last two weeks.

Much like the very first time Joey Ryan’s now infamous penis spot hit the Internet, the guy jumping off a girder and overshooting the other guy lying prone on a table set the Internet on fire. Many thought he as crazy. Most thought it was funny. Some thought he was a disgrace. At least a handful wanted to be sure the guy was okay.

I’m happy to report that the Guy in the Gif is okay. But unlike Joey Ryan, he won’t be turning his famous Internet spot into a career-defining move.

“I suppose I could do the spot everywhere I go,” he said. “But that’s probably not a good idea.”

The man responsible for the most-watched video clip of August is Marcus Everett, a young aspiring wrestler from Toledo, Ohio. Everett is only two years in the business, but he’s a life-long fan. “Goldberg was my favorite when I was little,” he recalls. “I can’t remember a single match he was in. But I remember him. he was like a super hero.”

Everett’s favorite wrestler of all time is the man who hooked him for good back in 2002, Shawn Michaels. “The night Triple H hit him twice with a sledgehammer, I was hooked. I wanted to know if he was okay. I had to watch Raw the next week. And then the next. And then the next. Weeks became years. Then thirteen years later, I stepped into a ring and began to train.”

Training started in Toledo at Northwest Ohio Wrestling, and Everett trained with some terrific mentors including Big Bear Benjamin Boone, Crimson, and Dave Crist. “I carry their names on my shoulders every time I step in the ring. it’s a heavy responsibility. I should also add, not a one of them would condone what I did in that video!”

Marcus Everett has worked for a number of Midwest promotions, but it was IWA Mid-South in Memphis, Indiana that the famous missed spot took place. “I was in a feud with Cole Radrick. Cole and I had had some brutal matches. This was the end of our feud, and what we thought at the time would be the last show in that building. We wanted to go out big.”

Radrick and Everett were booked in a Loser Leaves town TLC (Tables Ladders and Chairs) match. If you watch the gif, you’ll see that Everett is standing on a second tier girder. He had previously done a leap off the lower girder during and earlier match, and on that night, he wanted to do something extra special.

“It was my idea,” he says, “And my hubris. I take full responsibility, and the outcome was absolutely deserved.”

Everett made it very clear that no one put him up to the big spot. It was his idea, an idea Radrick tried and failed to talk him out of. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even clear it with promoter Ian Rotten – a decision he also regrets.

“It might have been a better idea to do that spot in a scramble match rather than a one on one match,” he says. “It would have been an even better idea not to do it at all!”

Prior to the spot you’ve seen online, Everett hit Radrick with a ladder and knocked him onto the table. Everett then began to climb not to the first girder, but the second girder.

“I got up on the girder and shimmied out to take position right in front of the table. It was only then that I looked down and realized that the table was a little further out than it should have been. Ideally, the table would be close enough, I could just lean forward Michael Jackson-style and fall through the table, but I knew I was going to have to give myself a little momentum.

“Unfortunately, with all the adrenaline I had in my system, a little turned into a lot. I didn’t realize just how bad I messed up until I hit the concrete.

“As soon as I landed, I gave myself a mental pat down and deduced that I was okay. I got up off the ground and turned to Cole and the ref, who were both looking at me in disbelief. The ref pointed and said, ‘Brother, I can see your bone!’

“I’ve heard people say that when drunks get into car accidents, the reason they survive is because they’re so loose. That has to be the only reason I wasn’t in pain. I should have been, but I was os in the moment, I didn’t feel a thing. The ref wanted to stop the match, but I said, “No, man, get me some duct tape. Let’s finish this!”

Finish they did. The match ended with Everett taking a piledriver off the top rope onto a table. “It was the same table I overshot coming off the wall. The table still didn’t break!”

The fans at IWA Mid-South were extremely generous with their applause after the match. Even though Everett was the heel in the feud with Radrick, the fans were cheering and chanting his name.

“It was a great moment. I turned to the fans, lifted my hands… and gave them all the finger. One girl in the crowd screamed, ‘Stop being a heel! I want to like you!'”

Everett thought that when the spot came out on video, he would see some sort of response from the fans. Then one day, just a few weeks ago, his phone blew up. He was shocked to see that everyone was watching the gif, not just once, but over and over and over. Even Jim Cornette weighed in on the controversial spot.

“I can’t stop watching this–what was the idiot on the table’s plan for survival had that gone right?”

Everett responded, “True story: When I smacked the concrete, 3 things went through my head. My family, Maffew, and Jim Cornette.”

Cornette replied, “At least your head was in the right place!”

Everett would dispute that claim. In hindsight he regrets the spot for many reasons. He knows he’s lucky he didn’t get seriously injured, but he also feels bad for possibly encouraging others to do something so dangerous. “That’s not the kind of wrestler I want to be.”

Everett has heard every reaction you can imagine, from “What were you thinking?” to “That was awesome!” to “Just don’t die, kids.” (Credit to Hurricane Helms.) He’s grateful for the attention, but he made it clear that his focus from now on will be working smarter. “Head locks and arm drags,” he says.

Everett’s loss in the Loser Leaves Town match came at a good time for him and his family. His sister is battling multiple sclerosis, and his mother is undergoing surgery this week. Family comes first for Everett, and he’s grateful to have the time off to be where he’s needed. “I’ll be working NOW, XICW, LPW, and other promotions close by for a while. But once Mom is back on her feet, it’s back to business. I have a lot of states and a lot of countries on my list to cross off.”

There are some who have questioned Everett’s ability to work safely in the ring, even before “The Gif,” and in the wake of this past weekend’s Sexy Star incident at Triplemania, a lot of wrestler and promoters have a heightened awareness about safety. I asked Everett to tell me what kind of wrestler promoters will be booking when they call him in the months and year ahead.

“They’re going to get a high flyer with a big heart,” he says. “I’m not about the high spots any more. I want to tell stories. I want to make people feel something. One thing I hear a lot from fans all the time is, ‘You’re too short.’ Yeah, I am small, but if I can rise up and fulfill my dream and beat a man bigger than me, I know I can inspire others to do the same. I’m the little guy who overcomes the odds and comes out on top!

“I can also solve Rubik’s Cubes.”

I believe in second chances, and I can only speak for myself and my brief interaction with him. Marcus Everett comes across as a sharp kid with a bright future. He’s made some mistakes, and he has taken his lumps for those mistakes, but his positive attitude and sense of humor are infectious. He’s far from done with this business, and eager to become famous for something other than the world’s most painful gif!

If you want to follow Marcus Everett, you can find him on Twitter @EverlastingMBD