YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)- Pro wrestling super fan Timothy Martin of Austintown dedicates his time to meeting some of pro wrestling’s biggest stars.

One of the professional wrestlers he’s met over the years is WrestleMania 39 main eventer Cody Rhodes. Years after Martin met Rhodes in Niles in 2017, he decided to take his fandom to another level by getting one of Rhodes’s signature tattoos on his neck.

Martin was inspired by Rhodes when he met him at the Wrestling Under The Stars show at Eastwood Field in Niles several years before Rhodes became a bigger star and resigned with WWE. Martin remembers the motivational words that Cody told him. Martin recalled that his words helped encourage him when he was going through difficult times:

“My life was going, like, in a spiral about five, six years ago. And then just after meeting him, he just gave me the inspiration of being a better person and to show the people that I’m actually very well worth it,” Martin said.

On March 29, he decided to get the same tattoo that Rhodes has on his neck. The design is of a skull with a crown on top with wings at the sides. It is painted like the American flag.

What happened next was something that Martin did not expect. After getting the tattoo done, he posted a video on TikTok and it received lots of online traffic. Days after WrestleMania 39, when Cody Rhodes lost to WWE Universal World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns in the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania 39, his post was shared on Reddit and several pro wrestling news-related websites. Some users on these platforms claim that Martin got the tattoo because he lost a bet due to Cody losing the match on Sunday, April 2.

Martin said that these claims are false, and that’s not why he got the tattoo at all. He said that he does not know the person who wrote the post. The Reddit post now has over 400 comments. The TikTok video now has almost 90,000 views.

“I have no idea how this happened. I’m still trying to dig in and get more information about this. Everything was planned. I got it on March 29. I got it on the week of WrestleMania, and it just blew up from there. Somebody on Reddit said that I lost a bet. It wasn’t a bet,” he said.

Tim’s earliest memories of watching pro wrestling were when he watched WWE and WCW with his father in the late 1990s when he was 10 years old. He now has a massive WWE collection, and he has thousands of pictures of him with wrestlers at shows and autograph signings. He is happy that he gets to enjoy his passion with his own kids, now.

“My dad turned it on the TV and it blew up on me and it grew on me. Now, my kids are into it. It’s just a fun experience, and that’s what I love about it,” Martin said.

He has gotten to meet many WWE legends from the past that include WWE Hall of Famers Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, and Sgt. Slaughter.

Martin and his friends have long-term goals of forming a small independent wrestling promotion where wrestlers can appear. He even has aspirations of creating a popular podcast and hosting wrestlers for interviews.

When following his dreams in his own life, Martin thinks about Cody and a tattoo of the word ‘Dream’ that Rhodes has on his pec.

“He has a motto called ‘The Dream.’ You have to live your dream and live your life, and that’s what inspired me about him. It’s inspired me to go out and have fun, enjoy life, and just go out and meet the superstars as much as I can,” he said.

Martin said that his next decision on a wrestling tattoo will actually be a bet. Martin predicted that Rhodes will face Roman Reigns at SummerSlam in a rematch. He said that if this happens and Roman ends up winning, he will get a tattoo on the other side of his neck.

“If Roman Reigns beats Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, I’m going to get his name tattooed on my neck with The Bloodline symbol. That is the bet.”