Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 394th 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.
No More Bull
Buford Pusser was a professional wrestler under the moniker of ‘Buford the Bull’ from 1957 until 1961. He wrestled in territories like Chicago, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee and parts of Mississippi. Pusser stood 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighed approximately 250 pounds. While Buford had the look of a wrestler, promoters like Buddy Wayne said that while he was capable of putting on a good match, he was too soft spoken to really succeed.
Pusser’s name became legendary after his wrestling career ended, when he became the sheriff of McNairy county in Tennessee from 1964 until 1970. As sheriff, Pusser waged a one man war against moonshining, gambling and prostitution in his jurisdiction. The movie ‘Walking Tall’ was based on the life of Sheriff Buford Pusser.
Naturally, Pusser’s war on all the illegal activities in McNairy County led to him receiving numerous death threats and an attempt on his life. He was stabbed seven times after responding to a routine call, but luckily survived. That led his wife, Pauline to get very nervous over his well being and she decided to go on calls with her husband. On August 12th, 1967….Buford and Pauline were responding to a drunken disorderly call. As they pull up to the scene, a car drives up next to the Pussers car and opens fire. Pauline was shot in the head and was killed. Buford was able to drive off and escape. A few miles down the road, Pusser pulled over on the side of the road and held his deceased wife. As he sat with Pauline in his car….the hitmen pulled next to him and opened fire again. This time, Buford was shot in the jaw and slumped over. The hitmen took off leaving Buford for dead.
Pusser was able to drive to a nearby hospital and once again survived the hit on his life. Pauline Pusser was just 36 years old when she was murdered. Buford Pusser was killed in a car crash on August 21, 1974, some have speculated that his car was tampered with before the fatal crash. Buford Pusser was 36 years old at the time of his death.
Mulkey Business
In Greenville, South Carolina in 1985…the Mulkey brothers wrestled the extremely popular Rock N Roll Express. During the match, Randy Mulkey was stabbed in the back of his neck by an overzealous fan. When Randy turned to see who attacked him, he immediately recognized who she was. The assailant in question used to babysit the Mulkeys when they were kids. Randy had to convince security at the arena not to arrest the woman.
According to Randy, “She was just a wrestling fan, and I felt like I had done my job,” explains Randy. “When you go out there and you do your job well enough that someone is willing to cut you, stab you or kill you, you know you’ve done your job of getting your opponent over. You’ve made that fan mad enough to hurt you.”Besides, he says, “My dad used to go fishing and all that stuff with her husband. And before she did all that, she used to keep us when we were kids.” The attacker would later apologize to Randy Mulkey for stabbing him.
No Shade For Jade
AEW star Jade Cargill has made it known that she would like to follow in the footsteps of the late WWE hall of famer Chyna. Perhaps not so much in the ring, but in the pages of Playboy magazine. Cargill took to social media to say….“I would love to model for Playboy one day like @ChynaJoanLaurer”
While Jade’s Playboy ambitions are now out there…some fans did a little digging and allegedly discovered nude photos of the wrestler already. It’s a bit hard to decide if the pics are legitimate or not, but anything is possible. My best guess is that the photos are doctored. Either way, Cargill isn’t opposed to nude photo shoots down the road.
Scamdemic
Former WWE and TNA star Mr. Ken Anderson, has been accused by numerous students of scamming them out of money. Several anonymous students who enrolled in Anderson’s “The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling”, have claimed that the school hasn’t been in operation since the Covid 19 pandemic hit in 2020. Despite paying tuition, the students say they haven’t been taught anything and have had little to no contact with Anderson himself. One student claimed after having a 30 minute consultation with Anderson…he showed up to the school and found nothing but a completely empty warehouse.
Ken Anderson has vehemently denied the scamming allegations by issuing a statement on social media. He wrote…
I personally have not been contacted by anyone from the Internet Wrestling Community wishing to ask for my comments on those statements about me. In 2016, my friend Shawn Daivari and I realized we had similar visions for how a wrestling school should be and could be operated. We decided to team up and open “The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling.”
Since day one, we were committed to giving everyone that came through our doors an opportunity to learn as much as they could about professional wrestling. From safety to etiquette, from basic holds to exciting high spots, from character development to interview skills, we either covered it or were able to connect our students to resources that did. We’ve hosted some of the biggest names in the wrestling industry as guest trainers. We’ve welcomed over 200 students from all walks of life, foreign and domestic, each with individual goals and aspirations.
Dozens of those students now appear weekly around the Midwest independent wrestling scene, some have traveled nationally and even internationally, a handful of our graduates are “on the radar” of the big companies, and a few call AEW their current fulltime employer.
Unfortunately, Covid 19 closed our doors in 2020. I understand that not all will agree with our decision to not re-open and to play it safe (some re-opened almost immediately) as we were hit with variants and waves of infection. I don’t have control over what others choose to do with their bodies or businesses, but I felt it was the right thing to do for the health and safety of our students and their families as well as our own family. Pro -wrestling and social distancing do not pair well. If I had to do it again without the benefit of hindsight I would have handled those unsure times the same way.
As those dates got pushed forward, in the individual correspondence with our students, there was a natural sense of frustration. But each time we expressed our reasons and concerns, we were met with understanding every time, from every student. It was our understanding that everyone was on the same page. In hindsight we recognize that we could have and should have communicated more.
Nobody has been conned or scammed. We remain as dedicated to and excited about re-opening now as we were to initially open our doors in 2016.
We are currently working with a realtor to secure a new location that will meet our specific needs: high ceilings, zero noise restrictions, ample parking for our students, price and location. Two months ago, we had found a great building that met every single one of those criteria, but after discussing it with each student individually, and some expressing concerns over distance, we decided that it wasn’t a fit. We need to do this right the …second time. With minimum 3-5 yr lease terms we cannot get into a building that isn’t going to check those boxes.
We look forward to re-opening. The minute that we secure that building, we will be in touch with everyone including new students, returning students and graduates. In the meantime, our students are encouraged to contact us at any time, with any concerns.
Thank you,
Ken Anderson
The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling
(507)722-2776