Johnny ”Butabi” Martin - Tragedy, Triumph and Mindset

Johnny “Butabi” Martin is a former baseball prospect, school sports coach and independent professional wrestler from Central California.

As a 7th grader, John Martin was called up from his middle school baseball team to play with the high school varisty team. He was a major prospect, and by freshman year, talks of the big leagues were already happening.

His whole life changed when a woodshop accident left him with crushed fingers on his throwing hand, leaving him an amputee. He spent time in the hospital as everyone told him things would be different.

Staring at all of his dreams crushed with his lost fingers, he fell into a depression…until one day he read a letter from a friend saying how sorry she was that his life was ruined…caused him to snap out of it. That day, he changed his mindset. He said to himself “this isn’t over.” That day he developed a saying that he uses to this day. “The story only ends one way.”

Hear the story of how he overcame, got back to playing ball using a tarp and a string, developed a successful wrestling career headlining some of the biggest shows in the world, and is now giving back to his community.

This is a can’t miss story of triumph over tragedy.