Wrestling’s “Painter of Champions” Rob Schamberger will be painting a portrait of Sting this Monday night outside of the Sprint Center in Kansas City, host of this week’s RAW.
This week’s RAW promises to a be a big one, with advertised appearances by Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, John Cena and Dean Ambrose will take on The Authority in a handicap street fight, and Triple H says Hell In A Cell will be there, too. Schamberger will kick things off with his set up outside the Sprint Center around 3 pm, and he talked to Pitch about working with WWE, painting world champions, speaking with Ultimate Warrior, and much more.
You can read a few excerpts below:
Schamberger on Wrestlemania weekend and his new popularity:
“I went down to the lobby to get a pizza that I had ordered, and there were fans down there because it was the WrestleCon [another wrestling convention] hotel, and they started bowing to me. I almost went into Wayne’s World mode. Oh, you’re worthy. You’re worthy. Which one of you has my pizza?”
Schamberger on working with Ultimate Warrior before he passed:
“It was so surreal,” Schamberger says. “I was glad that I was able to be a part of it. Also, getting to know his friends and communicating with his family was definitely tough. And for his agent — his agent’s father had passed away just two weeks before that. So I was really feeling bad for him.”
“He told me that he watched my YouTube videos every week, and that he daydreamed about being in the studio and learning how to paint from me,” Schamberger says. “I just pictured Ultimate Warrior in full gear and shaking things and telling me that the paint needs more rocket fuel. That was really cool. He was a super-nice guy.”
Schamberger on how art has changed his life:
“It’s been a life-changing experience, from having that miserable day job to being able to make a living off of art,” Schamberger says. “This year, I’ve traveled way more than I ever have in my life, coast-to-coast and doing it because of my art and also because of being associated with WWE. Also, all of the charity stuff is cool. Last year, I raised over $10,000 for various causes, and I’m on track to do the same this year. Being able to make that significant impact for doing something that I like is great.”
To read more about Rob Schamberger’s work with WWE, including how he arrived at Wrestlemania 30, how he painted “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and met him during Summerslam weekend, and more, click here for the entire article.
