(Retro) Top Ten Scandals In Professional Wrestling - July 18, 2003

Top Ten Scandals In Professional Wrestling - July 18, 2003

It was hard to decide what exactly would qualify as a scandal these days? I thought this would be easy, but there was, unfortunately, way too much material I could use. I narrowed it down to things that just stood out above everything else and got such widespread media coverage, that the face of pro wrestling was forever darkened. These are my choices:

Top 10 Major Scandals In Wrestling History

10. On May 28, 1987, the Iron Sheik and Hacksaw Duggan were stopped and arrested by a state trooper in New Jersey. At the time, they were alleged "enemies" and had been involved in a major feud. Duggan was charged with "drinking while driving" and possession of marijuana, while the SheiK was charged with posession of marijuana and cocaine. They wrestled against each other that night, but 100 plus years of kay-fabe was totally blown.

9. Sable sues the WWF for $110,000,000.00 The same Sable who's working today quit the WWF in 1999 and sued the WWF, claiming unsafe working conditions and sexual harrassment. It was settled out of court.

8. Lex Lugar makes an appearance on the first Monday Nitro. The night before, Lugar had teamed with the British Bulldog at a WWF match in Canada, Monday, in Minneapolis, MN - he walks out on WCW Nitro, and the Monday Night Wars are officially on.

7. The Von Erich Family - Not so much a scandal as just a tragedy. The premiere wrestling family of the 80's - and only Kevin remains alive now. Daivd died in Japan in 1984 (alleged drug overdose), Mike committed suicide by overdosing on Placidyl, Chris committed suicide by shooting himself, Kerry, following an arrest for forging prescriptions, committed suicide by shooting himself. The parents divorced after the last death, and then Fritz died of cancer.

6. Black Saturday - On July 14, 1984 - fans of World Championship Wrestling on WTBS turned on their TV's to watch Gordon Solie and Ole Anderson and the stars of Georgia wrestling. They got Vince McMahon and the WWF. Jack and Gerald Brisco (part owners of Georgia Championship Wrestling) had sold their interest in the company to Vince McMahon.

He owned World Championship Wrestling. And buried it, replacing it with taped WWF programming. The TBS switchboards were lit up as over 10,000 complaints came in and Ted Turner quickly intervened to move Gordon Solie and the Georgia based NWA wrestlers to a new Saturday morning time slot. The ratings for the 6:05pm show crashed to almost nothing and Vince eventualy sold his shares to Jim Crockett and the NWA.

5. WWF Sex Scandal - In 1992, former WWF announcer Murray Hodgson filed a wrongful termination suit against the WWE. Accusations were also made by wrestler Barry Orton and ring attendant Tom Cole. It seems that Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin (two high ranking WWF officials) used their pull in the company to allegedly sexually harrass young men and exchanged sexual favors for better positions, better pushes, etc. Patterson, Garvin,and ring announcer Mel Phillips all eventually resigned in disgrace and the WWF reached settlements with all parties involved. Patterson was quietly rehired about a year later, and is still a top ranking person in the company.

4. Montreal Screwjob of Bret Hart. The Survivor Series - was it a work or did Bret get screwed by Vince McMahon. After six years, it is still alive and talked about. The evil "Mr. McMahon" was born and neither man can be mentioned without this topic coming up.

3. Vince McMahon Steriod Trial - The Federal government was out for Vince McMahon. How serious was it? Jerry Jarrett was brought in by the WWF to assume control of the company if Vince went to prison. Hulk Hogan testified against Vince. Former WWF Champion Superstar Graham testified against Vince. Dr. D David Shultz testified against Vince. But a jury found Vince not guilty. The government overplayed their hands and seriously underestimated Vincent Kennedy McMahon. But the reputation of the WWF and professionial wrestling was damaged forever.

2. Bruiser Brody Murdered In Puerto Rico -On July 16, 1988, Frank Goodish, who wrestled as Bruiser Brody was stabbed to death in the shower by fellow wrester, Jose Gonzales, who wrestled under the name Invader I. Brody bled to death on the shower floor while awaiting medical attention. The room was full of wrestlers, including Tony Atlas, who saw the entire scene, but they all refused to testify against Gonzales, who was aquitted due to lack of evidence.

1. Owen Hart - At the Over the Edge PPV in Kansas City, Owen Hart was the victim of a stunt gone bad, and plummeted to his death as thousands of fans watched. So much has been said of this situation, I don't need to go into details. But the world lost a great wrestler, two children lost their daddy, a lady lost her husband, and wrestling lost a hero.

There were many others,like the Anderson/Vicious brawl in England, Juvi's flipping out on drugs in Arizona, the death of Brian Pillman, etc, but in my eyes, those are the top ones that had the most meaning and long term impact.

That's enough for now!

Later all

-Doug