Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 383rd installment of the ‘Wrestling with Sin‘series. A group of stories that delves into the darker, underbelly of pro wrestling. Many of the stories involves 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.
Seeing Red
Aileen Eaton was small redheaded woman who just so happened to be one of the most powerful people in all of Southern California. She was both a promoter for boxing and professional wrestling based out of Los Angeles’ famed Olympic Auditorium for five decades. Despite her small stature, Eaton was hardworking and at times ruthless. She earned the nicknames of ‘The Dragon Lady’, ‘Ma Barker’ and ‘The Man Eater.’
Eaton ran thousands upon thousands of boxing and wrestling matches at the Olympic Auditorium. She was well connected as she hobnobbed with powerful people including lawyers and politicians. In one incident, a boxing manager once tried to get the upper hand on her for a fight. She proceeded to kick the manager down a flight of stairs.
She was also a creature of habit, who did the same routine day after day. It included her leaving her LA home early in the morning, goes to the office, then to the bank and back to the office. On one evening, a couple of men met Eaton in her driveway struck her and snatched her diamond necklace and bracelet. They then decided to tied her up with duct tape and kidnap her for a ransom. As the men were attempting to put her in the trunk of their car…Eaton screamed out…“Don’t be stupid!” She added, ‘kidnapping me will get you executed, while a simple robbery will only get you a few years in jail.’
The men agreed and decided to rob her home with Eaton guiding them to her valuables. Eaton allegedly refused the order stating that her husband (Former promoter Cal Eaton) was very sick and was not to be disturbed. A neighbor heard all the yelling back in forth and came out to confront the robbers. They took off in their car and Eaton was able to stumble to the street and get their license plate numbers. That eventually led to their arrests. When reporters asked her about her ordeal, Eaton responded by saying…“If people are going to steal, they should know how.” Aileen Eaton was inducted into both the Boxing and National Wrestling Alliance Halls of Fame.
Ay Dios Hijo
El Hijo del Santo is the son to one of the most iconic luchadors in history…El Santo. Like his legendary father, El Hijo del Santo was one of Mexico’s top babyface wrestlers for years and had cartoons, comic books and starred in television shows and movies in Mexico. In 1993, Hijo del Santo was embroiled in a huge scandal involving his ex wife named Sylvia Tovar. In the middle of a very bitter divorce, Tovar released all of the couple’s divorce records to the Mexican tabloids.
The documents revealed Hijo del Santo’s real identity of Jorge Guzman with pictures of his face without the mask. She also released a picture of his father’s face without a mask. That was considered a huge deal considering before El Santo died, he requested that he be buried with his Lucha mask on. As scandalous as all of that was, Tovar also released reports that stated El Hijo del Santo beat her on several occasions.
At the time, El Hijo del Santo was one of AAA’s top stars and the promotion spent a considerable amount of money to protect their star against all of the actions of his ex wife. AAA went as far as to pay the top wrestling magazines in Mexico to paint a nicer, friendlier picture of El Hijo del Santo and make Tovar out to be a vindictive ex wife with an agenda to take all of Hijo del Santo’s money. Luckily for El Hijo del Santo, his career survived the scandals.
She’s Only 17…Seventeen!
In June of 2020, former WWE and current AEW ring announcer Justin Roberts was accused of inappropriately asking a girl for nude photos of herself in text messages. The incident took place in 2014, when Roberts was still employed by WWE. The female accuser stated that she was 17 years old at the time and posted screenshots. She said, “I’ve held onto these for a long time. I felt ashamed and like somehow it was my fault. I was 17, naive, had never been spoke to in such a manner. It makes me so uncomfortable looking back at it now. Legal or not, a man in his 30’s has no right to talk to a teenager. And yes. He was aware I was a teenager. Legal age in the UK is 16, but if you think it’s okay for a man in his 30’s to converse with such a young girl, still growing physically and mentally like this, then you need a serious reality check.“
Justin Roberts was never publicly punished for the incident by All Elite Wrestling and he never issued a statement about the messages. Roberts is still employed by AEW at this time. The female accuser went private on her social media platforms after posting everything. She has since returned to an open Twitter account.
Catering to the Lowest Denominator
While traveling from Kansas to Oklahoma for the WWF, John Layfield and Barry Windham that it would be funny to take pictures by ‘Welcome to Oklahoma’ sign on the side of the road. Windham used his Polaroid camera to take pictures of Layfield urinating on the sign.
When they arrived at the arena, Layfield and Windham plastered the wall next to catering with pics of JBL peeing on a road sign. While the two Texans thought the act was funny, one individual did not and that was road agent and Oklahoman Gerry Brisco. While Layfield sat in catering laughing, Brisco invited his older brother Jack and legendary Oklahoma grappler Danny Hodge to the building.
As Layfield looked up and saw stoic faces on the Briscos and Hodge, he realized he had insulted the native Oklahomans and was in big trouble. Layfield said he was ready to make a run for the exit, when Danny Hodge grabbed him from behind and hooked him into a submission hold. Layfield said Hodge nearly broke his right arm and couldn’t utilize it for over three months.