My name is Alex Moshenko.
I am 14 years old now. I was diagnosed with a form of autism, Asperger
syndrome, when I was six. I never cared about it too much. I actually
made someone laugh when I was first told about it, which is always
a good start – better
to laugh than cry.
Ever since then, I have had sensory issues and social skills problems,
but I am able to stick to something and learn all I can from it. I
have been on TV multiple times and in the newspaper a few times too.
I have been an advocate for autism since I was about eight years old.
It was then that I first found out about wrestling.
I was flipping through the channels on a Monday night and something
caught my eye; it was WWE Raw. It amused me for a moment, but I changed
the channel shortly after. I had no idea what I was missing. I became
a wrestling fan in late 2003 when I was almost ten. Since then it has
taken me by storm. I really enjoyed wrestling in 2004, but I was still
learning about everything, and mainly coping with the fact that wrestling
on TV is not real wrestling, but entertainment.
After learning the basics, I was able to gather more info into my
mind like a sponge. I could name half of the WWE roster and their pet
holds, or as they are called today, finishers, by 2005. By the middle
of 2005, I could name all the moves in a wrestling match as they happened;
I was almost 12 when this happened.
What always got on my
nerves was that I could never go to a live wrestling event because
of my sensory issues, especially sensitivity with hearing issues.
The fireworks and explosions were the main reasons for my not attending.
I have to say the WWE was so generous over the years before I attended
a live event. They found out that I was a huge fan and sent me
a box of wrestling items, which included pictures, WWE videos,
The Rock blanket, key chains, and T-shirts. It was like Christmas
when the box of wrestling items arrived the next day! Then I finally
was able to conquer my fear and go to a live event, which was quite
fun. I was interviewed in this time period by our favorite local
news station, WGRZ-TV2, an affiliate of NBC, and I told Maryalice
Demler, the news reporter, that watching wrestling is like a clash
of good and evil, except sometimes evil wins. I was pleasantly
surprised as Channel 2 had made special arrangements for me to
go to a press conference for WWE’s “Smackdown PPV, The Great American Bash” which
was held in Buffalo, New York, for my birthday. It was then that
I got to do my first TV interview with the World Champion at the
time, Batista The Animal. It was amazing!
In early 2006, I wanted
to have my own wrestling show—like my
mom has her own disability talk show, DisAbility News & Views
Radio. After a while of asking, having a Web site developed and learning
how to use the broadcast system, I began hosting my own radio show
in June 2006, which I loved. I was able to have some of my good friends
who were fans of wrestling on my show as co-hosts and take phone
calls from fans during the live weekly show.
Before I started Al’s Wrestling Talk, or AWT, a career in wrestling
wasn’t the biggest thing for me. I had wanted to become a play-by-play
announcer or a color commentator and utilize my vast knowledge of wrestling.
There aren’t a lot of recognizable announcer names other than
Jim Ross, also known as JR, and Joey Styles, but that makes the job
even more prestigious for me, because that’s what I want to
do as a career.
After about five months
of hosting my radio show, I was contacted by a few guys who thought
I was amazing and wanted me to become a part of their fundraising
efforts for autism called Wrestling Autism. Funds raised through
Wrestling Autism are being given to the National Autism Association.
After I got this call, I was in shock and awe and started to cry.
I accepted their invitation, of course, and now I have a show every
Wednesday as well as Saturday. I have even interviewed hall-of-famer
Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart.
Wrestling Autism is
a great fundraiser for kids like me who are wrestling with autism.
Even though I have already power-bombed my autism into oblivion
doesn’t mean other kids have as well.
I have reason to be grateful
to the four people who gave me a wider scale audience than before,
so let me personally thank Niko, Yeti, Big Joe, and JT. I owe them,
not just because of my second talk show, but also because I was
able to go to the Super Bowl of all wrestling—Wrestlemania
23. It was a wonderful experience.
Last year my mother and
I decided that we wanted to take our radio shows cross-country in
an RV, so we rented one to travel from Buffalo, New York, to Detroit,
Michigan, and boy was it fun. I was able to bring along one of my
co-hosts, Captain Obvious—my brother David, and
we loved every second of it. When we arrived in Detroit for Wrestle-mania23,
we put up a huge banner that said Al’s Wrestling Talk and we
parked a few blocks from Ford Field. I was interviewed on another wrestling
talk show while I was in Detroit and had a great time with everything
there. I stood outside of Ford Field surrounded by thousands of wrestling
fans from all over the country and broadcast my live radio show there.
It was a huge thrill!
When everyone got outside
the stadium and waited for the doors to open, several wrestlers came
out and greeted the fans. Rob Van Dam, Batista, Ron Simmons, The
Brooklyn Brawler, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon were all within
15 feet of us. When the doors opened and the show began, we were
amazed at how many people were there—over
80,000! The whole experience was amazing. There were two streakers
as well, one before the doors opened, the other during the main event!
We witnessed history in the making: the pile-driver was done on the
stairs (a feat not seen in years), the eight-man “money in the
bank ladder match,” The Undertaker winning his fifth world title
in five years, and the ECW originals first-ever Wrestlemania. My mother
was actually able to meet Tommy Dreamer and several other ECW originals
when she went to the snack bar!
I hope to be one of the best ringside announcers, like Jim Ross (JR),
who was inducted in the WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.
All together, my life
of wrestling has been more than a blessing to me, and I thank God
for that. I’ve loved every day I get to watch
my favorite wrestlers, past and present, entertain me, and then my
voice gets heard when I comment about it. I love to do what I do, but
this wouldn’t be possible without my wonderful mother. She’s
guided me, taught me, and helped me find what I wanted to be. I love
her more than anyone could ever know. She’s the one who helped
give me my voice, and now I do what I do best every week: speak.
Remember, “Big Al knows and that’s how it goes!” ![]()
Hear Big Al live online
every Saturday at 7 p.m. (ET) at www.alswrestlingtalk.com and
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Contact Big Al at 866-369-8058 or e-mail bigal@alswrestlingtalk.com Reprinted by permission from The Autism Perspective – TAP
magazine (Volume 3: Issue 3). For more information, visit www.theautismperspective.org or call 877-3-AUTISM.
