Wrestling With Sin: 565

Brian Damage

This is the 565th installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘ series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involve such subjects as sex, drugs, greed and in some cases even murder! As with every single story in the Sin series, I do not condone or condemn the alleged participants. We simply retell their stories by researching interviews, newspapers, magazines and various other sources of media.

Your Time is Up…

A former enhancement talent who worked for the WWF/WWE in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s named JR Ryder shared a story of a confrontation that occurred back in 2002 between a young John Cena and the then husband of WWE diva Victoria aka Lisa Marie Varon. It all stemmed from an affair the two wrestlers had with one another while traveling on the road together. Victoria’s husband Lee Varon found about about the relationship and allegedly confronted Cena by sticking a gun in his face.

Cena was able to call his father and grandfather and talk Lee down from doing anything crazy and violent. Victoria did admit to having a brief relationship with Cena but said she was separated from her husband at the time. Jr Ryder emphasized that this incident was all hearsay. It should be noted that Cena did release a rap song entitled “If it all Ended Tomorrow” in 2005. In it, were these lyrics…

Homie pipes up, you should hear what he’s spittin’ out
Says I’ve been sleepin’ wit his wifey
And he ain’t the type of kat to take that shit lightly
I made a move and he told me homie wait
Reached in his purse pulled a chrome 38
He asked me if I’m ready to die
Said he was gonna pull my brains all over the sky
Said he was leavin’ the country, and he was straight with the passports
Cocked the hammer, I’m thinkin’ my last thoughts
I’m in a bad way, nothin could save this.
I close my eyes hopin it’s painless
Just waitin’ for the sound, ready to swallow too
But homie havin trouble with his follow through
By a miracle, I avoid the chalk ground
Homie’s confused, he just wanna be talked down
His wife is sleepin’ through town and he knew it
Picked me outta the crowd but couldn’t do it
Just lost it, and as he’s walkin’ away

Victoria eventually divorced Lee in 2015 after he allegedly had an affair with a waitress from the pizzeria the couple owned together in Chicago.

Brexit

Dan Spivey recalled his close friendship with the Dynamite Kid back in the 1980’s, when both wrestlers were working for the WWF. Spivey remembered Dynamite was a guest over at his house in Florida and Dynamite decided to take some sort of drug, which Spivey didn’t remember which one. The drugs caused Dynamite to go into convulsions and in a panic, Spivey called an ambulance to take the Dynamite Kid to a local hospital.

While Dynamite was being medically treated, he called another mutual friend in wrestler Scott McGhee. Like the Dynamite Kid, McGhee was a fellow Englishman and was worried that the doctors in the hospital would notify police about Dynamite’s drug use once they had him stabilized. McGhee and Spivey snuck Dynamite out of the hospital in the middle of the night and McGhee took the Dynamite Kid on a plane back to England to avoid any legal troubles.

Tijugona

Alberto El Patron formerly known as Alberto Del Rio in WWE, was involved in a wild brawl with fans after a match in Mexico. According to reports, Alberto was being pelted with ice cubes and coins by some overzealous fans and Alberto responded by jumping over a guardrail and throwing a chair at said fans. The fans responded by throwing a chair back at Alberto before security was able to step in and deescalate the encounter. During the melee, an elderly woman was injured after getting hit with a chair. It was unknown if it was caused from Alberto or the fans he was engaging with.

The Tijuana Wrestling Commission decided to suspend Alberto from wrestling in Tijuana for approximately 6 months. Alberto El Patron will be able to wrestle elsewhere in Mexico. Alberto was not quiet about his suspension and said that he was the real victim in this situation. Alberto blamed AAA staff and security for not doing a better job of protecting fans and wrestlers. He compared the situation to when Perro Aguayo Jr died in the ring during a match with Rey Mysterio back in 2015. Alberto said the promotion AAA failed to have proper medical staff and equipment readily available and blamed AAA for Aguayo’s untimely death. Alberto had recently made overtures to WWE to rehire him and also personally campaigned to be inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame.

Double A Goes to AA

In May of 2003, Arn Anderson was sent home early from a WWE European tour after a number of alcohol related incidents. Arn reportedly was intoxicated on the flight overseas and acted belligerently towards airline staff and crew. There was another incident where a drunken Arn got into a verbal spat with a tour guide on a bus and threatened both the guide and the bus driver. In yet another incident, Arn yelled at several wrestlers at a hotel and threatened to get them fired. The situation was so bad, that both Big Show and referee Earl Hebner had to step in and separate Arn from the others.

WWE management was informed of all the incidents and sent Anderson home to check into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. According to sources, WWE basically gave Arn a choice…either rehab or be fired. A WWE press release stated that Anderson went home due to “personal reasons.” Arn checked into rehab in May of 2003 and was back on the road for the company in July of that same year. Anderson acknowledged his problems with alcohol stemming from surgery on his neck and the great deal of pain he was suffering from.

You can read all previous ‘Wrestling with Sin’ pieces here.