MCRD Parris Island -- Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Shane Plummer, corpsman, Base Health Clinic Dental, is more than he appears to be. Aside from performing his daily duties as a Navy corpsman, he is also a professional wrestling champion.
Plummer, who has been in the Navy for two years, started wrestling when he was 16-years-old, when he beat the son of former World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Gerald Brisco during a high school wrestling match.
"After I beat his son, Gerald introduced me to where I got to meet one of the world's top wrestling instructors, Dory Funk," said Plummer. "Dory is well known for training WWE and [Total Nonstop Action] wrestling superstars Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Lita, Steve Corino, Rhino and many others."
Plummer began his training with Funk and graduated early from high school because training took up most of his time.
"After all the training, I went to the [World Championship Wrestling] and stayed for the last 13 shows before the company was bought out by Vince McMahon [chairman of the WWE]," said Plummer. "I was only 19 at the time and needed something to do with my life. So, I did something I never thought I would do. I joined the Navy as a corpsman."
After basic training, Plummer was sent to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he went on two deployments to Iraq.
"It was a little hard to wrestle in Iraq, so that stopped me for a while," joked Plummer.
Soon after returning to MCB Camp Lejeune, Plummer received orders to his current position at the Depot, which allowed him to put less time into deploying and more time into his hobby.
"When I transferred here, I had to opportunity to get back in the full swing of wrestling," said Plummer. "I started working at Dory's school, helping with the training and wrestling."
During his wrestling career, Plummer has held many titles, including the Florida Tag Team titles with wrestlers Dale Williams, Brent Dale and Paul London.
Plummer currently holds the Conservatory Hardcore Championship and will be competing for the Florida Heavyweight Championship against Johnny Magnum in a Texas Death Match at the end of May.
Plummer plans to continue wrestling and has no immediate plans for his future. For now, this sailor is just taking it one show at a time.