This man's wrestling obsession has nabbed him over a million YouTube followers
Dave, aka Grim, just loves wrestling — whether he’s in the ring, watching a match, hoarding action figures, or chatting about his passion on YouTube, where he’s got a million followers and counting.
“I’ve probably spent at least $150,000 on wrestling, between the toys, between the tickets to shows, merchandise,” he says, followed by a dramatic pause. “Actually, it’s probably way more than that.”
The 40-year-old from New Jersey first fell for the WWE back when he was a kid in the ’80s. He even tried to become a professional wrestler, going to wrestling school and becoming part of the local professional circuit when he was in his ’20s. That didn’t last long, but his fandom did. Now he’s got over a million YouTube followers and makes a living off of his obsession, appearing in character in his videos, vlogging about his toy collecting, even hosting his own wrestling championship. “It’s all about wrestling — it’s action figures, it’s real wrestling, it’s collecting, it’s arguing with my wife about how much I spent on my toys,” he says.
And Grim’s action figure collection cannot be rivaled.
“I have one of the biggest wrestling figure collections in the world,” he says. “I have over 5,000 individual wrestling figures. I started making my YouTube channel, which is called Grim’s Toy Show, about seven years ago, and we have over a million subscribers.
“I wanted to grow up to be a professional wrestler. The biggest problem with that was I really hate to exercise,” he says, laughing at what’s an ongoing joke of his videos, including one in which he declares his attempt to try a FlowRider Surf Ride as a “fat man fail.”
“I still get in the ring and wrestle at least two or three times a week,” he says of his passion. “My character is named Grim, and Grim is kind of a bully, he’s kind of a jerk. A lot of people don’t get that. They think, well, Dave must be like this in real life, which is the complete opposite.”
When it comes to his wrestling obsession, Dave has faced resistance and ridicule. “My parents were not the most supportive of me becoming a professional wrestler,” he notes. “I mean, who wants to see their kid get beat up every day? My father said, ‘Let’s be real here, man, you’re a smart guy. I’m sure you could do something more with your life than get thrown around in the wrestling ring.’ I didn’t listen to him. And now my father looks at me and says Dave, I am proud of you.”
Further, he says, “I get a lot of hate on YouTube. A lot of people tell me I need to grow up, get a real job.” And that, he admits, “kind of gets to me sometimes. But then I check my bank account, I check my subscriber count, I check all the love and adulation I get from my fans, and I go, ‘No, I’m on the right path.'”
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