Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 473rd 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.
The Penthouse to The Outhouse
In 1977, ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham was on top of the wrestling world as the reigning WWWF world heavyweight champion. Graham was making more money than he could possibly spend, living in a posh penthouse in New York City during his 91/2 month reign as champion. Despite initially agreeing that he would only be a transitional champion, until Vince McMahon Sr could get the WWWF’s heir apparent ready in Bob Backlund, Graham had a change of heart and tried vigorously to try and convince McMahon Sr to keep the title on himself.
Unfortunately, McMahon Sr was an old school promoter, who was already committed to putting the title on Backlund. Once the title switch was made official in February of 1978, Graham confessed that his career and life went into a downward spiral. Depression set in that he was no longer “the man” in the WWWF and even though he was set to make a great deal of money in several rematches against Backlund, Billy Graham eventually left the promotion and went into hiding. He would occasionally pop up in different territories when money became tight, but Graham for the most part remained very low key.
It was during this time, that Graham started using more and more hard drugs to cope with his depression. Graham said that he and his wife were living in a dingy motel while his drug habits became increasingly worse. Graham went on to work installing underground sprinkler systems to make money…a far cry from his days selling out Madison Square Garden. Eventually, his wife left him and Graham ran out of money to not only live, but to keep his drug addiction going. He would return to wrestling full time once again, including a return to the WWF in 1982…but this time with a much different look.
He returned with a Kung Fu gimmick and said the reasoning was due to Vince McMahon Sr killing his ‘Superstar’ gimmick and presented a new character that was bland and boring. Graham only returned due to the need for money and not because his passion for pro wrestling was there.
Hand in Marriage
‘The Nebraska Tiger Man’ John Pesek was a heavyweight pro wrestler who competed from the 1930’s until the 1950’s. He was considered one of the all time greatest wrestlers of his era, winning various regional titles as well as the National Wrestling Association’s version of the world title.
In April of 1931, Pesek’s wife Myrtle Pesek filed for divorce from the wrestler claiming he was abusive towards her. She sported a broken hand, which she said was caused by a physical altercation with John Pesek after an attempt at a reconciliation. A few weeks later, Myrtle withdrew her request for a divorce as the couple reconciled their differences. She would then go on to blast the media for portraying her husband in such a negative light, despite her own admission to Pesek being physical with her.
Mrs. Pesek would go on to write a letter to a local Nebraska newspaper stating that the newspaper had a “gross distortion of the facts.”
The Mauro of the Story
Around 2003, Mauro Ranallo was working for a version of Stampede Wrestling based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Hart family. It was while working for the Harts, that Mauro met and began dating Jenni Neidhart (Daughter of Jim the Anvil and sister to Natalya). The couple started to become serious and according to the late Smith Hart, when Mauro received an offer to move to Los Angeles, California for a job as an MMA announcer, he convinced Jenni to make the move with him.
It was in LA, that the couple started having relationship issues, as Smith Hart claimed that Mauro’s mental health began to deteriorate and allegedly took it out on Jenni. Smith intimated that the relationship perhaps might have become physical at some points and led Jenni to split up with the rising star in Ranallo. Ranallo admitted that Jenni was often on the receiving end of his mental outbursts which Neidhart simply described as “insanity.” Mauro Ranallo suffers from bi polar disorder and confessed at times has contemplated suicide.
Thankfully, Ranallo has since been properly diagnosed and has become an advocate for people who suffer from mental illness. Jenni and Mauro were able to make amends with each other and become friends.
An Ugly Situation
Independent pro wrestler Adam Ugly was accused of taking pictures of his 19 year old stepdaughter while she was undressing without her knowledge, as well as steal nude photos of her from her iPad. Ugly real name Adam Lee, was arrested and charged with 12 counts of being a Peeping Tom. Ugly and his lawyer reached a plea agreement in this case and therefore was not obligated to register as a sex offender.