Wrestling with Sin: 604

Brian Damage

This is the 604th 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.

Dog Day Afternoon

Most of us are aware that in 2004, Perry Saturn saved a woman from being raped by two assailants…in the tussle with one of the men, he was shot twice…once in the neck and once in the shoulder. Saturn’s collarbone was completely destroyed and effectively ended his pro wrestling career. The pain he endured for years after the incident caused him to rely on drugs to cope. 

His addiction to drugs and his inability to wrestle and make money caused him to eventually become homeless. In 2010, while living on the streets in Iowa during a brutal winter…the former ECW, WCW and WWE star had finally reached his breaking point. He made the decision to end his life to escape the pain he was suffering from both physically and mentally. 

Before he could attempt suicide, Saturn said his dog laid her head on his lap. It was at that moment that Saturn realized that his dog needed him and if he died, the dog would most likely die as well. Instead of killing himself, Saturn reached out and sought help. He insists that he has been clean and sober ever since. 

Up in a Blaze

Paola ‘Blaze’ Mayfield is a pro wrestler who competes for various independent promotions as well as Women of Wrestling (WOW). In addition to her wrestling career, Paola is also a reality TV star. While her wrestling career has started to take off, her marriage to her husband of 12 years was falling apart. Paola confessed on her reality show that she no longer has an emotional attachment to her husband. She admitted to still having sex with him, but feels nothing to him romantically.

On that same show, it was revealed that she had been messing around with another man. First via texts and then according to her lover a sexual relationship. All this while still being married to her husband and going to couples therapy. Paola demanded that she would only continue the marriage and go to counseling if her husband agreed to sign a postnuptial agreement. 

Her husband said he signed the agreement under duress and despite agreeing to her terms, she ended up walking away from the marriage anyway. 

BLK OUT

In 2024, a young black entrepreneur named Bryan Datrell Tanner announced that he was starting a wrestling promotion called BLK Girlz Wrestle. It would be a promotion that would showcase independent female wrestlers of color. The date was announced for September 28, 2024….wrestlers were booked…and fans purchased tickets. The show never happened.

The promoter was nowhere to be found. The venue wasn’t paid, the fans never received refunds and the wrestlers were out of a pay day with some on the hook for paying their own way to the show like future AEW star Maya World. As it turned out, Tanner was arrested days before the supposed showcase. He was a convicted sex offender who had sex with a minor and was on a sex offender registry.

No Holds Bar

John Layfield recalled his younger days working for the Global Wrestling Federation based in Dallas, Texas. Layfield said that as a rookie, he usually hung out after shows with veterans like ‘Hacksaw’ Butch Reed and the ‘Raging Bull’ Manny Fernandez. Layfield stated that they practically got into fights on a daily basis…especially due to Fernandez and his short temper.

One night, they were drinking at a bar in Fort Worth, Texas and the owner made the ‘Last Call’ to close up for the evening. Manny refused to leave and the owner warned him that he would call the police. That caused Fernandez to smash his beer mug against the wall and went on to completely trash the bar by breaking chairs, tables and windows. Layfield made it known that they got out of there before police arrived.

To read other articles in the Wrestling with Sin series…Please Click Here.