He died on February 18th, at the age of It isn't the arrest that is shocking and tragic, as much as it was Kerry's reaction to it. He didn't have an aptitude for the sport like his older brothers, Kerry, David and Kevin, and felt forced into being a wrestler because of his heritage.
Things took a turn for the worst when Mike suffered a shoulder injury and had surgery to repair it on August 22nd, The surgery was botched and led to Mike being afflicted by "Toxic Shock Syndrome". TSS is caused by an infection of either Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes, bacterial toxins that enter the body, that can lead to a coma, or multiple organ failures that lead to death.
While Mike survived the infection, he was never the same. He had lost muscle and body mass, couldn't perform to his usual levels and his speech had become slurred due to the damage done to his brain. To make matters worse, Mike then suffered head trauma in a severe car accident the following year.
All of this led Mike down a path of depression and self-destruction that culminated in his turning to drugs and alcohol as a stress reliever.
It would be this arrest his second, as he was arrested 16 months prior for assaulting an emergency room physician months after his shoulder surgery that pushed him over the edge. The following day, April 12th, Mike left a suicide note for his family. Four days later, he was found dead at Lake Dallas, having overdosed on sleeping pills and alcohol. The tragedy wouldn't end there, as Mike's death would be a key contributor for the suicide of his younger brother Chris Von Erich several years later on September 12th, Though he had a short-lived run in the WWF at the top of the card, his real success came in WCW, where he was a two-time World Heavyweight Champion and regular main-eventer.
Because Eric Bischoff would pay exorbitant amounts of monetary compensation to his athletes, Lex Luger had become a millionaire performer. He was known the world over, highly popular if not somewhat overrated and had money to burn. And then it all came crashing down, suddenly, just two years after the fold of WCW in At first, it started like most wrestler's stories who become addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Luger first got violent with his girlfriend, the beloved Elizabeth Hulette, who was known in the wrestling world as Ms.
He was arrested on April 19th, for beating her until she had two bruised eyes, a lump to the head and a busted lip. Only two days later, he was arrested again on April 21st, for driving while under the influence, without a license.
Elizabeth was found dead in their townhouse in Marietta, Georgia on May 1st, She had overdosed on a mixture of steroids, hydrocodone, testosterone, alprazolam a drug used to treat anxiety disorders and Vodka.
While Ms. Elizabeth's death was ruled accidental, Luger was charged on 14 drug possession counts and was featured on the news around the country. Luger decided to make a plea deal with the Marietta District Attorney's office and pleaded guilty on February 3rd, Even though Luger got off with a slap on the wrist for all of the drugs that he had that contributed to Elizabeth Hulette's death, he left for Canada with Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner in December Before he could take flight, he was removed from the plane and arrested for violating the terms of his probation by attempting to leave the country.
He would be sentenced to nine weeks imprisonment. Luger would eventually give his life over to Christ and become a born-again Christian, and successfully break his drug addictions, as he famously interviewed about with prominent Christian wrestler Steve Borden, also known as "Sting", on the Club.
He also writes for and works with different Christian ministries and helps with various nutrition initiatives. Even though 23 years have passed, the stabbing death of Frank Donald Goodish a. Bruiser Brody at the hands of Jose Gonzalez a. Invader I, is still one of the most shocking and controversial incidents in professional wrestling history.
On July 18th, , in Bayamon, Puerto Rico at the Bayamon Loubriel Stadium, Gonzalez asked Goodish to step into the shower with him so they could discuss some business. While in the showers, Gonzalez stabbed Bruiser Brody in the abdomen. Brody would die later that night.
Initially, Gonzalez was charged with first-degree murder, but that was reduced to involuntary homicide, as Gonzalez claimed he acted in self-defense. In January , he was acquitted of all counts and went free. There is much consternation in certain wrestling circles about the trial, as many believe it was not in self defense, and that Gonzalez knowingly murdered Goodish. Claims of corruption in Puerto Rican courts, bias against mainland Americans in Puerto Rico and Gonzalez's own ties with authorities plagued the verdict.
Fellow wrestler Tony Atlas was a witness to the stabbing and gives his own take on it here. There is also testimony from Dutch Mantell which can be read here. On August 18th, , Hardbody Harrison, who is best known for losing in WCW matches on any show that wasn't called "Nitro" during WCW's heyday in the late 's, was arrested for keeping eight women locked up as sex slaves.
He would lure them in with the promise of helping them financially and with finding housing. He would then trap them in one of the two homes he was keeping in Cartersville. He would force the women to have sex with clients for money. If they didn't comply, he would brutally beat them and threaten their lives.
He was busted when one of the women approached a police officer on the street and told them what was happening to them.
Hardbody faced multiple counts of forced labor, aggravated sexual abuse, sex trafficking, witness tampering and conspiracy. Facing possible life in prison, Harrison used the same intelligence that made him a violent pimp of defenseless women, and decided to defend himself in court. On a personal note, I can't stand men who do these kinds of things to women, and I am glad he's going to rot behind bars for the rest of his life.
Andre Davis was an independent wrestler from the Ohio area who wrestled under the name of "Andre Heart". On April 13th, , he was arrested by Cincinnati police for having sex with someone, in spite of the fact that he knew he was HIV positive since , in March of this year.
The following day, two additional women came forth to admit that Andre Davis had also had sexual intercourse with them and did not disclose the fact that he had HIV. Andre has been charged with four counts of felonious assault for having sex with the three women. One woman twice, thus the four charges. Some of his matches were bloody, so he was bleeding on wrestlers when he knew he was HIV positive.
Wrestlers who had matches with him were encouraged to get HIV screenings. Thus far, none of the women he had sex with, or men he wrestled against, have come up HIV positive. Prosecutors are looking into adding more charges, and if someone should come up infected, he could face charges as severe as attempted murder, manslaughter or murder, as Ohio is one of 34 states that criminalizes the purposeful passing of HIV to an unknowing victim.
Ion Croitoru may best be remembered as "Johnny K-9", a WWF jobber who wrestled for the promotion for several years in the late 's. In independent promotions he wrestled as "Bruiser Bedlam" where he had more success, winning a few heavyweight championships in the ICW and Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
Ion was the president of the "Satan's Choice" biker gang in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was arrested in the early 's for trafficking cocaine and sentenced to ten months. Right after that, he was arrested again for assault and sentenced to seven months in prison. Then on December 15th, , Croitoru and his gang blew up a police station in Sudbury, Ontario. I repeat: blew up a police station. Inexplicably, he was only sentenced to 33 months in prison. Seriously, he blew up a police station and that's all they gave him.
An officer got hurt in the bombing, as well. Even more astounding is that he was given bail while awaiting trail for blowing up a police station.
And while out, he got arrested for assault, extortion and carrying a concealed weapon. I'm pressed to believe that Ion had some friends in law enforcement, because he allegedly had a hand in the November 16th, murders of Fred and Lynn Gilbank, who were both shotgunned to death, execution style.
But the police didn't bring charges against Croitoru and his accomplice Andre Gravelle until January 6th, The murders were believed to be retaliation for the Gilbanks helping to get two informants into the witness protection program who were going to help the authorities bring down the Gravelle Crime Family, a Canadian mob.
They even unearthed that Ion was given a contract to kill a police inspector who was investigating the family. Though charged with two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the prosecution failed to build up a strong enough case, even though they took over six years to build it. The case is still in court.
On May 15th, , Croitoru was arrested along with seven other members of the "United Nations Gang", a multi-ethnic, criminal syndicate that operates out of Vancouver, British Columbia. They were charged with conspiracy to commit murder after planning to kill multiple members of a rival gang. Then again, on January 24th of this year, this guy, who probably has given every single wrestler that had ever even looked at him funny, nightmares about sudden murderous reprisals , was charged again with first degree murder for the execution of a man named Johnathan Barber in in Vancouver.
The results of these charges in court have yet to be decided. But, if history is any indication, they will probably let him off with six months probation, a million dollars and a formal apology for inconveniencing him with the trifles of jail. By far the most horrendous crime on this list was committed by Douglas Whitton, an independent wrestler from the Mississippi area.
Douglas Whitton had previously been in a substance abuse center for his addiction to alcohol. He checked himself out early and ended up meeting the family of Owen Reeves while at a church. The Christian family took him in out of the kindness of their hearts.
Douglas Whitton would then murder Owen, his wife, 9-year-old son and roommate in a series of actions so barbaric, they don't have any business being written on this website. The court case can be seen here. Whitton was arrested on October 17th, by police who worked with the girlfriend of one of Whitton's friends, to arrest him shortly after the bodies had been discovered on October 16th, Whitton confessed to the police that he may have killed the family while he was blacked out and pleaded innocent to the charges on those grounds.
On February 26th, , Douglas Whitton was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! Your sports. Join Newsletter. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. April 20, May 2, Dan. Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.
Email required Address never made public. The men had a pair of championship reigns during their career, and are remembered as one of the top tag teams in company history. Despite Saed's relative success in the company, he has only found work on the independent scene, where he continues to wrestle to this day, since leaving ECW in JT Smith looked like he was going to be one of ECW's first superstars, as he was a fan-favorite right out of the gate when debuting with the company as they were just getting their feet under them in He was heavily involved in the main event title scene early in his career, but he never seemed to come out on top of any of his championship matches.
He did, however, have a short ECW Television Championship reign in , although his momentum came to a screeching halt after losing the title just one month into his reign. Wolfe was involved in some high profile storylines early in his wrestling career, feuding with some of the top wrestlers in ECW history in the process.
Wolfe was the victim of one of the most unfortunate botches in company history when he broke his neck in a match with Shane Douglas in He spent the rest of his wrestling career on the independent circuit after leaving ECW in Tommy Cairo was one of the top wrestlers in the company for a short period early in his ECW career. He was involved in somewhat of a twisted kayfabe love triangle with his former partner Sandman and his wife Peaches.
He is remembered by anyone who actually does remember him as one of Sandman's first rivals in his career. ECW 2. ECW 3. ECW Alt. Share to your Steam activity feed. You need to sign in or create an account to do that. Sign In Create an Account Cancel. Edit links. All rights reserved.
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