VIDEO Wrestler Chris Masters saves mother from fire by bear hugging and uprooting a tree

They say you never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have. Former WWE wrestler Chris “The Masterpiece” Masters learned that lesson earlier this week after a crazed neighbor took his mother hostage and set the house on fire!

The story reads like a horror film script: a nutso neighbor barricaded himself inside of Chris’ mother, Diane Mordetzky’s, Los Angeles home. The neighbor shouted through the front door and threatened to set the house on fire if the police were called. Chris, whose real last name is also Mordetzky, received a call about the situation and arrived at the house as quickly as he could But, by the time he arrived, the house was already on fire!

Chris tried to plead with the neighbor, who had used furniture and a deadbolt to lock himself inside the burning home, but the man would not let Chris’ mother go. “He started going into this weird thing that he’s her son and she’s my mom now,” Chris says. “Once I heard that he was talking that madness I knew he had a problem. I was scared.”

Here’s a video report from Good Morning America:

Chris told GMA, “You feel so helpless. You hear your mom’s in there, a guy won’t let you in that you don’t even know, and it’s like, I can’t find any good way to get into the house…”

Chris then called the police, who had trouble getting into the house via another entryway because a tree was blocking the windows. Desperate to save his mother, Chris “bear-hugged” the tree and uprooted it; he then used the tree to break the window and pull his mother out of the house to safety!

Chris posted the photo with his mom above on instagram on Thursday along with the caption, “Safe and sound.Love my Mom!!!! Off to Italy for some NWE! Tune in to @gma 2morrow!!”

He also posted this next photo of the injuries he sustained on Wednesday, writing, “Pulled down a tree to bust my moms windows open and get her out of the house.”

“I basically took this whole tree,” Chris recalls, “and pulled it from the ground…. It’s not really a tree that’s meant to come down but basically I gave it a bear hug and got the tree down.”

Here’s a photo posted by Chris on instagram that shows the house, the windows, and I assume where the tree used to be:

After Chris saved his mother, the neighbor who had barricaded himself inside the home was pulled out, arrested, and charged with arson. Chris seems humbled by the incident and by all the attention his heroic story is receiving; he tweeted on Thursday:

I think it’s safe to say that Chris is set when it comes to gifts for Mother’s Day… and what do you bet we see Chris back in the ring soon with his new move, the Tree Hugger!

(Photos via Chris Masters’ Instagram)