Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 519th 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.
Drop Dead Ed
Ed Kennedy was a stand out collegiate athlete from the University of Iowa State playing football and amateur wrestling. Once Kennedy graduated, he became professional wrestler competing in various venues across the northeast and in the Texas territories. Kennedy had a moderately successful pro career…but it was cut short in 1934.
It was May 24th of that year and Kennedy and a friend went to a nightclub called ‘The Morocco’ in Atlantic City, New Jersey. While at the club, Kennedy and his friend got into a heated argument with a bartender named Harry Spewick and the club’s owner Harry Parzow. Kennedy and his friend were thrown out of the club by Parzow late in the evening. It was reported that Kennedy and his friend, met up with a few more friends and returned to the establishment about an hour later.
One of Kennedy’s friends…a pro football player named Don Nelson Rhodes walked up to the bartender and struck him. That caused a large melee to break out inside the nightclub. The owner Harry Parzow took out a .32 caliber pistol from behind the bar and fired one shot into the air. Eye witnesses stated that Kennedy looked at Parzow and stated…” We’re not afraid of a gun, if you shoot again, you better shoot to kill.”
That is when Parzow fired three more shots from his gun, with one bullet striking Kennedy in his forehead. Kennedy was rushed to a nearby hospital and died seven hours later from his wound. Parzow was arrested and charged with ‘atrocious assault and battery with a weapon with intent to kill.’ Through his attorney, Harry Parzow insisted it was justifiable homicide and self defense. No word how the case ended up. Ed Kennedy was just 35 years old at the time of his death.
The Smoke Show
In the Summer of 2001, Missy Hyatt was making the rounds promoting her subscription adult based website called ‘Wrestling Vixxxens.’ She was scheduled to appear on a morning radio show in New York City hosted by Craig Carton called ‘The Sports Guys.’ After not showing up to the studio for her scheduled appearance…the producer for the show called Missy’s home numerous times with no answer.
Later that day, a female claiming to be Missy’s niece returned the producer’s call and apologized for Missy’s no show earlier that morning. She told the producer that Missy had taken some drugs the night before and passed out in her while smoking a cigarette and suffered some burns as a result. She was hospitalized from her injuries. Missy Hyatt was never re-booked for that radio show.
I’ll Catch Ya Latah…Time For A Potatah
Edward ‘Moose’ Cholak was a big, bruising heavyweight wrestler out of Chicago, Illinois. While considered to be a kind individual out side of the ring, he was also considered one of the toughest of his era. Moose Cholak wrestled from 1952 up until 1987. Cholak was so strong and tough…Angelo Poffo feared him and warned up and coming wrestlers to never cross him whether inside the ring or outside of it.
One wrestler who apparently didn’t heed Poffo’s warning was ‘The Boogie Woogie Man’ Jimmy Valiant. It all started when Valiant and Cholak were traveling together one evening. After reaching their destination, Cholak told Valiant that his end of the traveling expenses came to fifteen dollars. Jimmy Valiant innocently told Cholak he didn’t have the cash at the moment and he would “Catch him later” to pay up. A few weeks went by and Cholak asked Valiant for his money and again Valiant told Cholak that he would “catch him later.”
This apparently went on a couple more times with Valiant not coming up with the fifteen bucks he owed Cholak for gas and traveling expenses. Finally, Cholak and Valiant were booked in a match against each other and it was in the ring that Cholak decided to legitimately work extra stiff on Valiant. After the match ended, Jimmy Valiant was carried to the back and suffered from several bruises and a severe concussion that sidelined Valiant for months.
Crime Time….Literally
Former WWE wrestler JTG real name (Jayson Anthony Paul) accused his ex girlfriend and mother of his child (Ashley Murrey) of domestic violence in 2022. According JTG, after Ms. Murrey visited his home to see their son….she refused to leave. The couple got into a heated argument and Murrey started flipping over furniture and throwing objects at him….injuring his lower leg in the process. JTG was able to physically remove his ex from the home, but she allegedly broke back into the premises through a window.
JTG admitted to shoving Murrey during their physical confrontation. Once police arrived, Murrey told police that she was taking her son and moving to Virginia (from Los Angeles) and will never return. The police told her that legally she could not do that. JTG requested and was granted a restraining order from his ex and also asked the court to grant him full custody of their son claiming that Murrey is a flight attendant and is always travelling. Murrey is not allowed within 100 yards of him.
The couple began dating in 2017 and JTG claims almost from the beginning she was verbally abusive towards him and constantly talked down to him. He decided to break off the relationship and co parent their child together…but Murrey became more violent and unhinged since their split.