Wrestling With Sin: 582

Brian Damage

This is the 582nd 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.

Drowning Out the Noise

During a match involving Darby Allin at AEW’s WrestleDream pay per view, saw Allin being drowned in a fish tank. That part of the match was criticized for being too violent for kids to watch by former AEW producer Sarah Stock. Brodie Lee’s widow and current AEW employee Amanda Huber snapped back at Stock saying as a mother and as a responsible adult it is up to the parents to protect their children, not AEW. That set off a firestorm of angry social media posts by both women.

Huber accused Stock of being a hypocrite considering some of the violent matches she was involved in elsewhere in places like TNA. Stock fired back at Huber for being unqualified to speak on such incidents being the widow of a wrestler. Huber, was in fact a wrestler herself on the independent scene for a few years. Despite that, Stock continued to argue that Huber was unqualified to talk on the subject.

Stock then accused Amanda Huber of using her position in AEW to blackball independent wrestlers she doesn’t like from getting opportunities in the company. She also accused Huber of going behind Sting’s daughter in law’ Katelyn Borden’s back and complained to AEW owner Tony Khan about Katelyn getting a position that Huber once had in the company. 

Stock then went further accusing Khan and AEW management of mistreating female talent from outside the country. Stock stated that AEW made luchadoras “pay for their own hotels and transportation to “figure it out” when scheduled to appear at events, while certain other talents had everything fully planned for. That comment was apparently liked by current WWE star Stephanie Vaquer who briefly worked with AEW. 

Left on a Burch

Danny Burch wrestled for WWE’s developmental brand NXT for several years beginning in 2011. He was released from NXT in 2022 after suffering injuries to his shoulder and collarbone. After his release, Burch fell into a deep depression and began drinking heavily. Burch attempted suicide in December of 2022, but was unsuccessful. 

Realizing that he desperately needed help, Burch reached out to his former mentor Shawn Michaels. Burch felt that Michaels could relate to what he was feeling and going through depression and abusing alcohol. According to Burch, Shawn Michaels didn’t offer any sage advice, instead giving him a phone number for rehab.

The phone call made Burch feel even more depressed and isolated. It wasn’t until his wife staged an intervention, that Burch finally got himself sober and realized his life was worth living. 

Taylor Made

Terry Taylor was wrestling in the Memphis territory in 1984 and was receiving a strong push from Jerry Jarrett. Taylor was teamed with Bobby Fulton to form a tag team named The Fantastic Ones. The team was pushed hard, but Taylor abruptly quit the team and left territory without notice. 

Taylor revealed years later that he impregnated a woman down in that territory and instead of facing his responsibilities, he ran off and tried to disappear. The problem was, he remained in the spotlight wrestling for other territories and was ordered to pay back child support and continued to pay 365 dollars a month for what he says was a child that he never met. 

1:20 to 15 Years

An independent wrestler nicknamed Jarek 1:20 real named Evan Cloyd was arrested for sexual assault on a child under the age of 14 years old in Houston, Texas. Cloyd pled guilty and was then sentenced to 15 years in prison. Evan Cloyd’s biggest break in pro wrestling happened in 2016, when he appeared on Monday Night Raw under the name of ‘Chase Silver.’ He was interviewed by Byron Saxton before being squashed in a match against Braun Strowman. 

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