Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 262nd 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.
I’m Mordecai’d
In 2004, while working in WWE’s developmental territory OVW, Kevin Fertig went to a local Kentucky bar to celebrate fellow wrestler Sylvan Greneir’s birthday. During the course of the night, Fertig was confronted in some way by a fellow bar patron. The two engaged in an argument and the patron allegedly grabbed a beer bottle to use as a weapon. The details of the actual fight are sketchy, but the patron did end up with a broken nose and was sent to the hospital.
The patron wound up suing both the WWE and Kevin Fertig for his injuries. The matter was eventually settled out of court, but it is believed the lawsuit ended Fertig’s initial WWE run as ‘Mordecai’ before it really got going. After a brief time on the main roster, Fertig was sent back down to OVW and repackaged.
The Girl Next Door
Ricky Morton, one half of the Rock N Roll Express, is not shy talking about his past discretions. Morton was extremely popular with the female wrestling fans and had his pick of which ones to sleep with while on the road. In one particular case, it almost came back to bite him.
Morton recalled a time he was back at home with his wife and family and a woman came knocking on his door. Morton’s wife answered and the woman revealed to his wife that she was having an affair with the wrestler. The wife called Ricky to the door and questioned him right in front of the woman. Ricky looked at the woman, who he called ‘heavy set’ and told his wife…”I never saw this woman before in my life.”
He then told his wife that he would never fool around with someone that looked like that. His wife evidently believed him, because according to Ricky went on to “beat the crap” out of the female fan in front of the house.
Star Struck
Luchadora Faby Apache was married to a fellow luchador named Billy Boy. Together, the couple had a son named Marvin. Apache and another Luchadora named Sexy Star worked a program together with Billy Boy involved.
It allegedly led Billy Boy having a real life affair with Sexy Star. Faby Apache and Billy Boy would eventually divorce. Promoters saw money with the real life strife between these wrestlers and continued to book them in a feud.
Steele Curtains
‘Iron’ Mike Steele was a pro wrestler who was trained by Boris Malenko (Dean’s Dad) and Tor Kamata. He wrestled primarily in the 80’s and 90’s. In 2007, while drinking at a local bar in Florida…a drunken man named Harry Brian Taylor overheard that Steele was once a wrestler. Taylor challenged Steele to a fight, in which Steele turned him down.
Instead of getting into an unnecessary confrontation, Steele left the bar and drove away on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Completely agitated, Taylor got into his van and followed Steele. Taylor proceeded to run over Steele while on his bike and then drove off. Mike Steele would die from his injuries about two hours later.
The suspect…Harry Taylor was eventually arrested and charged with second degree murder. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. This was the second time that Taylor had killed someone. In 1988, Taylor had murdered a 60 year old man by stabbing him. In that case, Taylor was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but was shockingly released in 2000. Mike Steele was just 52 years old at the time of his death.