Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 315th 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.
Sky’s The Limit
Robert Leedy was a Canadian wrestler who competed under the name of Sky Hi Lee. He stood 6’11 inches tall and weighed over 300 pounds. Lee wrestled all over the world including Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. He also challenged Lou Thesz for the NWA world title on a couple of occasions.
Lee legitimately had a high tolerance for pain and used that as a part of his act. He would chew on glass and have fans throw darts on his bare back. Sky Hi Lee was also known as a heavy drinker. Friends say he would easily drink three or four bottles of whiskey a day.
While Lee was wrestling and living in Canada, he had stopped by a diner to get something to eat. The cook recognized Lee from the TV as a heel wrestler and refused to serve him. He was asked to leave the establishment, but Lee refused. In retaliation, the cook allegedly placed some rat poison in Lee’s food.
Sky Hi Lee would get violently ill, but survived the attempt on his life. He never fully recovered from it. It did however, trigger Lee to drink more and more to ease his pain. Sky Hi Lee died in 1974 from a combination of his acromegaly ( The same affliction that wrestlers like Andre the Giant and Giant Baba suffered from) and alcohol poisoning. It has been said that Sky Hi Lee basically drank himself to death. Robert ‘Sky Hi Lee’ Leedy was 53 years old at the time of his death.
French Fried
In 1988, Vince McMahon held a tour of Europe in an attempt to expand the World Wrestling Federation globally. During that tour, the WWF was in France and held a media event on a double decker bus that the superstars were traveling in. While members of the French media were in front of the bus interviewing some wrestlers, The Junkyard Dog and Davey Boy Smith were on the upper level.
They allegedly took a liquid version of the drug Valium and mixed it with beer. A few minutes later, members of the media noticed a stream coming down from the spiral staircase of the bus. It was JYD and Davey Boy urinating from up above. Word got back to McMahon of the incident and both were subsequently fired from the company.
Taking Stock of a Bad Situation
Sarah Stock was a former wrestler who competed all throughout Mexico and TNA. In 2015, Stock was hired by WWE as a trainer at their performance Center and more recently used as a producer on the main roster. In April of 2020, Stock was furloughed by the company as a part of budget cuts due to the global pandemic.
In early October of 2020, Stock was arrested in Evansville, Indiana after an apparent drunken fight with another woman at a bar. She allegedly kicked the other woman in the stomach. Stock was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, disorderly conduct, public intoxication by alcohol, and resisting law enforcement.
Stock posted a bond for $600 and was released from custody. As of this writing, Stock was due in court to face those charges…but no word yet of the results of that court date. She did issue a brief statement saying….“Never a dull moment! I’m just fine, and so is Cookie. Everything will be resolved in due time. I’ll keep you updated!”
Don’t Shoot
Independent wrestler/booker/promoter ‘The Shooter’ Ronnie Gossett was arrested in April of 2008 and charged with criminal domestic violence. It all stemmed from an incident where Gossett went to the home of his ex girlfriend to visit their common children. During the visit, Gossett allegedly took out a handgun and threatened to harm himself if the couple could not reconcile. Police were called and sent looking for the 300 plus pound wrestler.
They located his vehicle at a motel and entered his room where they found a .38 caliber revolver. After searching the motel, Gossett was discovered hiding in a stairwell and was arrested without incident.