Jonathan Coachman says Paul “Triple H” Levesque offered WWE superfan Rick Achberger free tickets after learning how much he was spending to attend shows. Coachman shared the memory during a tribute to Achberger, known to viewers as “Sign Guy,” on The Coach and Bro Show.
Coachman said Achberger once explained why he kept returning to ringside with his signs. According to Coachman, the habit grew from a promise Achberger made to his wife before she died:
The reason he went to so many shows, Vince, and he would only sit in the first or second row. Why? Because his wife died and on her deathbed, Vince, he said to her, “What do we love doing the most?” And she said, “Going to wrestling shows. That’s what we love doing the most.” So he promised her on her deathbed, and he’s telling me this. We’re sitting around having a drink one night. It’s just me and him. And he said, “So I promised her, Coach, that I would go to as many as I could afford to go to and make sure and sit in the first couple of rows with my signs so she could see it.”
Coachman recalled that Achberger saved for tickets and traveled to WWE events without asking the company for anything. During one show in California, he said, Triple H asked Coachman to bring Achberger backstage afterward:
So what he would do, he worked for Verizon. He would save up his money and then he’d buy a bunch of tickets. He would go to Arkansas, Oklahoma. He lived right here in Texas. And then one time after several years, he never asked for anything. He traveled to California to a show. And we’re talking around backstage and Triple H says to me, “Hey, Coach, I want you to text him and tell him I want to see him after the show.” It’s one of my favorite Triple H stories. So I text him. I said, “Hey, don’t leave. We need to talk to you after the show.” He goes, “Am I in trouble?” I said, “No, you’re not in trouble.”
Coachman said Triple H wanted Achberger to enjoy the shows without risking debt. He described the offer Triple H made in front of others backstage:
So, we brought him backstage, walked him in, and he was so crazy about meeting Triple H. And Triple H says, “We appreciate your support, but in no way, shape, or form do we want you going into debt. Do we want you spending money that you don’t have simply so you can watch wrestling shows?” So, Triple H said to him, in front of many of us, “As long as I’m here, you will not buy another ticket to a WWE show. And every time you want to come, you just text us.” We got him a name, and you just let us know and we got you. He was worth way more than the $150 he was spending on a ticket because he became synonymous with us, his signs.
WWE figures have paid tribute to Achberger since his death. Coachman also recalled receiving a birthday text from Achberger every year.
Source: The Coach and Bro Show.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Coach and Bro Show, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
