Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

The Two Faces of Mort: Mild-mannered van driver by day, Rob Noxious by night

Photo courtesy of Hailee’s Photography

Humans are complex creatures. All rolled up inside of each and every one of us—in not so neat packages—are all these ideas, emotions, whims and life experiences.

Rob Mort exemplifies this complexity.

By day, Mort, a 52-year-old resident of Harrisburg, is a caring, mild-mannered van driver for Boyo Transportation Services. By night, he is “Rob Noxious,” an aggressive, loud-mouthed professional wrestler, who once was a heel, but now is a fan favorite.

“I’m a nice guy, but I don’t want people to think I’m too nice,” Mort said. “If you’re too nice, you get picked on. I’m a nice guy, but don’t cross me.”

Then, in typical Rob Mort/Noxious style, he quickly switches gears.

“I was put on this earth to help people and make them smile,” he said. “I like to think I can change people and put smiles on their faces.”

For Mort, it’s more an internal struggle between man and child than it is good versus evil. But it’s all extravert, all the time.

“I think who the real Rob is will be determined when I’m dead and gone,” Mort said. “I don’t think I truly know who I am.”

Mort’s day job as a van driver for Boyo involves safely transporting disabled children, mainly to schools. It requires compassion, empathy and diligence.

“They’re just kids, but they’re the reason I keep my job here,” Mort said. “They’re amazing people, and I like helping people like that. You’re not supposed to get to know them that well, but how can you not talk to people? They’re kids, but they want respect as much as adults do.”

Mort’s alter ego definitely commands respect.

Rob Noxious is Mort’s personification of a video game he once played growing up as a child in the 1980s. In the ring, when the bright lights go on, he is an entertainer, an athletic, larger-than-life figure who feeds off the energy of an engaged audience that has laid down 20 bucks apiece to see him perform.

“It’s crazy,” Mort said. “But every time before I go out there, I get sick. Then, as soon as I go through the curtain, I’m a totally different person.”

He pauses for a moment with another take on his personality.

“Actually, I think we’re really similar,” he said. “The only thing Rob Mort can’t do is smash someone in the face with a chair and not go to jail. Rob Noxious can. We’re pretty much the same person—one’s just amped up a little bit.”

And there’s yet another side to Mort: the businessman/promoter/teacher side.

He is the owner of Classic Championship Wrestling, which produces and stages professional wrestling shows all over central Pennsylvania. He also operates a related business, Fort Noxious Training Center in Highspire, which teaches aspiring performers how to wrestle professionally.

“We teach a lot of discipline,” Mort said. “We teach respect, and believe it or not, we teach them to be family-oriented.”

Important to professional wrestling, he also teaches his students to be showmen.

“You’ve got to teach timing and the psychology behind professional wrestling,” he said. “Some of the guys who come here are from rough neighborhoods, but we try to help everybody. We’ve got a lot of great guys.”

Mort has been a professional wrestler for more than 25 years now, about eight years longer than he’s been a van driver. While he’s careful not to have his two occupations intersect, he can’t change who he is.

“I think every single person in the world is unique,” he said. “You’ve just got to find what you’re good at. One of the kids on my van found out that I was a professional wrestler. She asked me, ‘Can I be a wrestler?’ I said, ‘Sure. If you want to be a professional wrestler, you can.’”

You could describe Mort as hard on the outside and soft on the inside—a large, muscled, tattooed adult for sure, but one with a very active inner child.

“I never, ever wanted to grow up,” Mort said. “I never want to stop wrestling. It helps me stay young. But I think driving the van is almost like my calling. I can’t be a person who works in a warehouse. Children are our future, so why wouldn’t you want to help develop them?”


For more information on Classic Championship Wrestling and Fort Noxious Training Center, visit their Facebook pages.

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