On Tuesday, December 18, the Vanguard Championship Wrestling (VCW) star Irvin Legend, Kempsville alumni, returned to Kempsville to speak to current students with a message of encouragement.

Legend attended Kempsville High School, where he played football. When he was 17 he discovered Southside Wrestling in a Buffalo Wild Wings and began attending 3 months later, the action which would jumpstart his entrance into the wrestling community, which he then considered his escape.

“I was dealing with bullying every day, and it took me out of it,” Legend said. “I fell in love with it. When everyone else liked skateboarding, Yu-Gi-Oh! and [the game] Dungeons and Dragons, I liked wrestling.”

Now, he loves wrestling for the experiences it has brought him, and the travel opportunities, but he hasn’t forgotten Kempsville.

“It motivated me. I want to see more people from Kempsville make it because it’s a good area and there are good kids here. I want to set the trail for the future.”

“I see the future of Kempsville here,” he told students. “My road wasn’t easy; I never knew that I was going to be here today. [And] at the end of the day that’s all that you need, to believe in yourself. When people don’t believe in you, believe in yourself.”