Eisenhower social studies teacher Dr. Frederick Froehlich, commonly known as Dr. Fro, has had many roles in his life ever since he was eleven. Pizza maker, Temple professor, an accidental presidential candidate, Citizens Bank employee, special education teacher, father and husband: even as a lifelong “wrestling junkie,” he never thought pro-wrestler was in the cards.
“When I was young, it [professional wrestling] was entertainment; when I was young, it was these larger-than-life characters,” said Fro.
At a boring late-September staff meeting in 2022, the idea of a school wrestling fundraiser popped into his head. Suddenly he’s working with the World Wide Wrestling Alliance (WWWA) to make this idea a reality.
The original deal was that WWWA would handle the wrestlers and get a third company to build a wrestling ring. Then the school would set up whatever concession stand they wanted.
“The proposal was just to walk [a professional wrestler] to the ring,” said Fro. “It slowly progressed from that to ‘maybe we find a way to get me to get into there’ to ‘hey maybe I could have a match.”
With 5 months to the performance, Dr. Fro had to figure it out. The wrestling part itself was set to be fully improvised, so he was on his own. He started with a daily workout routine, but that can only cover so much. One day, he stumbled across a long series of short tutorials by the “Santino Brothers Wrestling Academy” on YouTube, and decided to follow their quick lessons.
Finally, the first show came around on March 4, 2023. The set was built by a third party, but multiple students came hours early to assist in its production, helping build the ring and stands. Gone was the gym filled with random basketballs and scooters; now stood a makeshift ring and rows upon rows of seats.
As Dr. Fro walked out from the lockers to the stage, he was greeted by the loud cheers of the audience. Little did the crowd know, but at this very moment, Dr. Fros’ outlook on himself changed.
“First time I thought I was going to go out and just have a good time, and it was so much more than that. I fought the entire match trying not to cry from the reception the kids gave me,” he said. “I’ve been to a lot of sporting events, but at that moment, I’d never heard anything like that, and it was about me. That absolutely blew my mind”.
Fro’s debut was a smash hit, gaining the crowd’s and organization’s approval, and it immediately green-lit another wrestling throwdown for 2024. With fourteen months till the next show, Fro was determined that this time would be bigger and better than the last.
“The second show wrestling shifted for me. Wrestling became more than hearing that roar, doing a charity thing,” said Dr. Fro.
During this time frame, he amped up his training routine and diet. Along with that, he still had to recover from the first match.
“The chops took 2 months for all the handprints to go away,” he recounted. “My shoulders are not real thrilled”
This time around, Instead of fighting for entertainment, This time he was fighting for something greater.
“Wrestling for me [is] so much about the kids” he stated, hoping not to disappoint.
As the match rolled around, he did accomplish his goal: bigger and better. With his ambitious plans, Fro didn’t let the pressure get to him. In fact, it motivated him.
He said of the pressure, “It helped with the confidence, makes me care about what it looks like. First time I didn’t care.”
When Dr. Fro re-entered the ring, he was met with an even louder roar than before. This time he had three matches, a new costume, and a whole lot more confidence. The final match was the real spotlight, ending with him lifting his opponent in the air. As soon as his match ended, right as he left the backstage, he was offered to be a part of the WWWA roster.
As if things couldn’t get better, when he returned to the gym, he was swarmed by a sea of happy students. Last year the crowd changed his whole perspective on wrestling itself. This time around, the crowd validated every feeling he had, giving him an even greater purpose and goal than just doing a wrestling show.
“I try to put smiles on faces, which has always been important to me,” said Fro. “Wrestling has let me do it in a way I’d never thought I’d be able to, and it’s something that means so much to me.”