Wrestling With Sin: 581

Brian Damage

This is the 581st 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.

Beware of Dog

In October of 2000, ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith was arrested in Calgary, Alberta, Canada after confronting his ex wife Diana and her new boyfriend, a wrestler nicknamed Jimmy T. Jimmy T was trained by Bruce Hart and competed for the revived Stampede promotion. Davey Boy allegedly threatened to kill both Diana and her boyfriend and it led to a physical confrontation between Smith and Jimmy T. 

85 year old Stu Hart had to step in and help break up the fight along with his son Bruce and his daughter Ellie. Smith then threatened Bruce and Ellie before he was arrested and jailed. Ultimately, Smith had to pay a $10,000 fine and was ordered to stay away from Diana, Jimmy T, Bruce and Ellie indefinitely. 

Shikane-ry

Mustafa Shikane was a Syrian born professional wrestler who began his pro career in 1965 and competed until 1978. Shikane wrestled all throughout Europe and after his retirement resided in Germany. After his career ended, Shikane was employed by the Hamburg, Germany police and trained officers in martial arts and wrestling holds. On the outside, Shikane seemed like a model citizen, but in reality Shikane ran a brothel called ‘Crazy Sexy’ in a red light district of Germany.

Shikane was considered by many to be the uncrowned king of the brothel scene in Germany. On July 18, 1981 Shikane was seen arguing what was believed to be a “john” over money. In actuality it was a rival brothel owner who shot Shikane multiple times inside his Crazy Sexy brothel. The shooter was arrested and claimed self defense. He was later released from custody and served no prison time. Mustafa Shikane was just 43 years old at the time of his death.

Going Dutch

Dutch Mantell recalled the heat he had with Superstar Bill Dundee in the Memphis territory. According to Mantell, he loaned Dundee exactly $56 dollars after Dundee hounded him for the loan. Weeks went by and Dundee never attempted to pay back the loan. Mantell finally asked Dundee if he was ever going to pay back the money he owed. Dundee supposedly got angry and denied he owed Mantell anything and even if he did, he wouldn’t pay it back.

Mantell went on to wrestle Dundee all throughout the territory and said that they legitimately beat the shit out of each other for several matches. One night in Evansville, Indiana…Mantell walked into Dundee’s dressing room and stole over $70 from his wallet. Mantell said he took that much due to interest on non payment of the loan, but admitted that there were a couple of hundred in his wallet that he did not take.

When Dundee came back and noticed money was taken from his wallet, he immediately confronted Mantell. Mantell denied taking any cash and said he blamed Ricky Morton instead. Dundee then confronted Morton and the two fought in the locker room. Mantell never confessed to taking the money from Dundee.

Bear Down 

Gorgeous Gus was a 900 pound wrestling bear who competed in special attractions in the 1940’s and 50’s. He was co-owned by Dr. Jerry Graham and Chuck Molnar and was said to be very gentle. That all changed in December of 1953, while being put in a match against Graham in Denver, Colorado.

According to the local promoter, Gus’ muzzle slipped off during the contest and bit Graham. After not being able to control the animal, Graham took out a pistol he had hidden in his gear and shot Gus dead in the ring. Graham suffered injuries and was forced to miss several week of wrestling to recover.

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