PJ rizzo

[Christ Russakis]

sad day today finding out of PJ Rizzo's passing!!! he will truly be missed!! a great armwrestler with a lot of passion for the sport!!! just a great person to be around!!!

[Cody Hadley]

All true words! PJ was one of the 1st people I got to train with along with Mark Taggart and Jason Ryan and others and PJ ALWAYS had a positive attitude and smile on his face. You will be missed and remembered always!!

[John Wilson]

It's so hard to talk about PJ in the past tense.

PJ was about as nice as a human being can possibly be. Seeing him at tournaments always put an immediate smile on my face because it made me happy just to be around him. At the same time, I had to grit my teeth because I knew it was going to be a long day and he was there to spoil my chances in the class. He was a great armwrestler and I had to constantly remind myself not to be so happy when we were on the table together because he was there to win. It took a lot of conscious effort to focus on the match, but if I didn't then I'd remember really quick why he was one of the best around.

PJ was loved by every person who ever had the opportunity to meet him. I have never met one single person who had a bad thing to say about him. Far from it, whenever PJ's name came up it was immediately followed by a really nice compliment and nodding heads from whoever was standing around. On and off the table, PJ was the epitome of a gentleman. On the table he was a warrior and off the table he was the nicest, most gentle guy you'd ever want to meet. But gentle is not weak- damn that guy was strong!

It is said of good people when they pass that the sport is worse off for their passing. It has never been more true in my mind than with the loss of PJ Rizzo. The entire world is worse without him in it. I'm worse off and that is a fact. My own personal weaknesses are readily apparent, and when PJ was around I was constantly aware of them. PJ was a light, an example of what we should all be and a reminder to me of how much better I could be as a person if I tried- and to think of the struggles he was dealing with for so long and he still managed to be better than the rest of us.

Seeing him a few weeks ago at the IAF Florida State event was crushing. His speech and his difficulty getting around had me on the verge of breaking down as I talked with him and his mother. He was so upbeat in spite of it all and he looked very happy. I was happy talking to him but my heart was breaking all the while. The only comfort in all of this is knowing that such a wonderful friend is no longer suffering. That is a blessing for him even as it hurts everyone else who miss him dearly. He was the one suffering and he is the one who deserves the peace in all of this, along with his family who have been there with him the whole time. The hard part is over and slowly their healing can begin.

PJ, thank you for being my friend.

[Mike West]

Wow John, nicely said.
It had been years since I'd seen PJ, as you said he was a warrior on the table.

[Casey Szparaga]

Wow. So sad. PJ was a good friend and great guy. I knew he had been sick for years but I guess we all got used to seeing him beat it back. Even my son liked him a lot.

I'll miss him.

[Willie Reagan]

PJ was one of my training partners. He battled so hard. Cancer got the best of him. He was the best! I don't know anyone who can say anything bad about him. It breaks my heart to know that he is gone. But now he is no longer suffering. He was a true warrior on the table and he had such a passion for armwrestling. He will never be forgotten. RIP my brother.

[Robert Miller]

Very sorry to hear of him passing. My deepest condolences to his family & friend's.

[Carl Bowers]

Hearing PJ has passed really saddens me. PJ was always a first class gentleman every time I met him. John, I believe you said it perfectly. Christ, please give his family my condolences.

[Eric Wolfe]

Sooo Sad... he was a great friend. . I can't believe im reading this.

[Chris Ceci]

I'm sure to many reading this it may seem a little late. Sometimes in life we all have to step away from the things we love, in my case it was Armwrestling. In that time I stopped posting and reading the board, and P.J.'s passing was something I wasn't made aware of, which was a shock to me, I received a call yesterday, 8 months later, from an armwrestler I don't know, residing in South Florida. He started asking questions about what I've been up to, and asked if I had heard about P.J.'s passing. At first I thought this can't be possible, he's 41, he's fought this before, and P.J. would talk about his surgeries w me at a practice, with a smile, like he had know cares in the world. I'm writing this to just to say, I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet a true gentlemen of the sport. I would drive up to a park in Sarasota and pull w P.J. and a few of his teammates under a gazebo in his hometown. If there's one thing about the sport of Armwrestling it doesn't matter where you are in the world, we as Armwrestlers speak a universal language. He was passionate about the sport, and techniques, and willing to learn what I had to bring to the table, as well as I, learning from him. I hope we can get a tournament together in his honor sometime, and if any tournament directors in the State of Florida do it, please let me know, I'd like to be part of it.

GOD BLESS YOU, P.J. RIZZO