Honoring technicians, WWE style

I never thought that the worlds of the security industry and professional wrestling would ever cross, until this past weekend!

My son and I were watching the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Royal Rumble on Saturday, and one of the matches featured a World Heavyweight title match between the champion, Cody Rhodes, and one of the company’s top “villains,” Kevin Owens, aka KO.

Well, much to my surprise, as Owens walked down the aisle for his match, he was sporting a t-shirt that read, “The Canadian Dream, Son of a Security Systems Technician.”

Now, for us wrestling aficionados, the t-shirt actually pays homage to Cody Rhodes’ famous wrestling father, “The American Dream,” Dusty Rhodes, who wore a shirt that read, “The American Dream. Son of a plumber” during a match where blood was streaming down the right side of his face.

So, why did Owens mock Cody’s father on the way to the ring? Perhaps it was a way to poke fun at the “American Dream’s” idea during his heyday that anyone could reach any height if they work hard enough. Who knows, it’s wrestling.  

But what I thought of when I saw Owens wearing that t-shirt, in addition to the fact that two-thirds of our publication’s name was featured on it, was the recent celebration of the third annual National Security Technician Day, which took place on Jan. 23 to honor security technicians across the country.

On National Security Technician Day 2025 and the week that followed, the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST) encouraged all businesses and individuals in the security industry to recognize the hard work, dedication and skills that security technicians provide.

As FAST stated when announcing National Security Technician Day 2025, “From the installation of security solutions to the configuration and service of this equipment, the efforts of security technicians are essential to the delivery and function of security technologies that protect our country, its citizens, businesses and government; the skilled work of security technicians underpins the safety of our homes and even our nation’s homeland security.”

It was great seeing all the LinkedIn posts from integrators and manufacturers, thanking their technicians for their dedication, hard work, skills, and service to protect their respective communities, with some offering nice breakfast and lunch spreads while others provided group photos with technicians flashing their pearly whites and showing how much they enjoy keeping customers safe and secure.

It goes without saying that we at Security Systems News give our heartfelt thanks to all the security technicians out there who keep our communities – our homes, our businesses – safe and drive the industry forward.

I also have to thank Kevin Owens for shining a light on security technicians with his t-shirt, which you can buy on WWE’s website for $34.99, if you so choose. Otherwise, a package piledriver might have been in my future.