Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 404th 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.
Don’t Walk All Over Me
WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas was accused by his wife Monika of stealing money from her. She claims Atlas used the money to go on trips and wine and dine other women. She went on to say that Atlas has several children from other women. Monika also accused Atlas of being very controlling of her life and how she can and cannot spend her own money.
As you recall, at one time Tony Atlas was penniless and homeless, sleeping in a park. That was until he met Monika and she took him into her home and they eventually married. Monika recently suffered a stroke and can no longer work as a seamstress. She relies on social security to live.
Don’t Practice What You Preach
Atanacio “Tony” Gonzales was a pro wrestler from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. He was trained by both Jack Donovan and Buddy Colt and wrestled throughout the territories like Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee. Gonzalez started out wrestling as a babyface, but became a heel once he donned a white mask, white tights and called himself the ‘Mysterious Medic.’
As the Mysterious Medic, Gonzalez drew the ire of many fans from every territory he appeared in. It became so bad, that one night in 1962, an overzealous fan rushed the ring and repeatedly stabbed Gonzalez with a knife. Gonzalez was stabbed a total of 17 times and his attacker turned out to be a preacher in the area. Luckily, Gonzalez survived the brutal attack and resumed wrestling for years to come.
All That Jazz
German wrestler ‘The Alpha Female’ Jazzy Gabert has wrestled all over the world including Europe, Japan and here in the United States for TNA wrestling. She was eventually signed by WWE and assigned to NXT UK. She suffered a neck injury that required surgery and that put her career on the shelf for a year. When she returned to NXT UK, Gabert alleges that several other women on the brand bullied her. She said,
“I ended up in NXT UK in the UK, so I had to go to London a lot of times and I didn’t like it, actually I hated it. It was the worst thing I ever done in my life. It was horrible, I got really badly bullied and people would to try to hurt me and they would on purpose go for my neck.
Then I asked when my contract one year later, when we had another contract talks I asked, ‘can I go to America, please to the Performance Center in America?’ they said no. I said what about [if we] raise the money, and they said no. So I said ‘ok, if there’s no improvement and I really hate it here, why would I continue doing this?’”
Gabert didn’t mention who the other wrestlers were, but said that they would laugh and talk behind her back, intentionally screw up her promos and target her injured neck during workouts. One time, she said she was hit so hard on the back of her neck that her legs went numb. She said she looked to the trainer on duty and they allegedly turned their back pretending not to witness the attack.
Sure Shot in the Dark
Derek Wayne Gatton aka ‘Sure Shot’ Derek Wayne…was an independent wrestler/promoter in the Maryland area. On April 28, 2009, his body was discovered in the home of his parents. The official ruling was a suicide. Derek Wayne was reportedly recently separated from his wife at the time of his death. Derek Wayne left behind four children…he was just 29 years old.