Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 435th 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.
Hush Money in the Bank
In the Summer of 2022, it was reported that WWE CEO Vincent Kennedy McMahon allegedly paid out over 12 million dollars in Non Disclosure Agreements to at least four former female WWE employees. Some of the accusations included McMahon sending nude photos of himself and coercing a former wrestler to perform oral sex. It also included Vince increasing the salary of a former paralegal with whom he had an alleged affair with. It was also alleged that McMahon’s Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis had sex with the paralegal as well and was passed around “like a toy.” The paralegal would end up with a 3.5 million dollar settlement.
The WWE board of directors were looking into a $1.5 million nondisclosure agreement from 2012 that involved misconduct claims against Laurinaitis. A former employee claimed that Laurinaitis demoted her after she ended an affair with him. Laurinaitis has been married to Kathy Colace Laurinaitis since 2016. She is the mother of WWE Hall of Famers the Bella Twins. Laurinatis was initially suspended during the investigation and was ultimately fired.
In a 2006 agreement, a former manager who had worked 10 years for Mr. McMahon before he allegedly initiated a sexual relationship with her was paid $1 million to keep quiet about it. While no names were mentioned in the scandal, it has been heavily rumored that two of the women involved were Kelly Kelly and Rosa Mendes. Again, as of this writing, no names were officially revealed but “inside” sources have claimed these were two individuals involved with McMahon’s NDA’s.
It should be noted that the settlements prohibit the women from discussing their relationship with McMahon or potential legal claims. The end result as of now saw Vince McMahon “retire” from his CEO position with WWE. He did so in a tweet where he wrote…“As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as chairman and CEO of WWE. Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you,” McMahon said in a statement. “I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success, and I would also like to thank all of our past and present superstars and employees for their dedication and passion for our brand. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for allowing us into your homes every week and being your choice of entertainment. I hold the deepest appreciation and admiration for our generations of fans all over the world who have liked, currently like, and sometimes even love our form of Sports Entertainment.”
Vince’s daughter Stephanie Levesque took over as co CEO of WWE along with Nick Khan and his son in law Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over the role of executive vice president of talent relations. Vince McMahon has since returned to the company to oversee its sale to Endeavor and now remains onboard as CEO.
Blown Away
Peter Ferestanoff was a Bulgarian strong man turned professional wrestler. He began his pro career in the 1920’s winning various tournaments in places like Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia, Austria and Poland. Ferestanoff wrestled all throughout Europe and some South American countries as well. He was considered by many, to be the second most popular wrestler to come out of Bulgaria behind Dan Kolov. The two men would wrestle each other to a draw in the capital city of Bulgaria called Sofia in front of 30,000 spectators. The match would set an attendance record for an event in that country.
After World War II broke out, wrestling in Europe became non existent and Ferestanoff was forced to look for work elsewhere. He dabbled in writing, but his main job was teaching hand to hand combat to Bulgaria’s secret police. He quickly rose up the ranks to serve as second in command to police chief Nikola Geshev. Ferestanoff was used by Geshev to make captured spies and prisoners talk by using his physical strength and brute force.
When the Communist Party took over control of Bulgaria in 1944, the regime sought out anyone who was considered a threat and eliminate them. Peter Ferestanoff was one of those individuals due to his involvement with the police. Usually prisoners who were captured and killed were either hung or shot to death. In the case of Ferestanoff, who had a reputation of being so strong and powerful, the Communists tied him down and placed a lit stick of dynamite in his mouth to kill him. Peter Ferestanoff was only 42 years old at the time of his death.
Pain in the Neck
Jimmy Uso recalled an incident that nearly ended his life several years ago. He said he was hanging out in a nightclub with a friend, when he noticed a woman being harassed by another patron. Jimmy claims he confronted the intoxicated individual about leaving the woman alone and the man agreed to back off.
As the evening progressed, however, the same man continued to harass the female and that is when Jimmy felt he had to do more to step in. Jimmy once again confronted the individual, this time in a much more heated manner. That is when a friend of the intoxicated man, smashed a beer bottle across the neck of Uso. Jimmy didn’t recall anything else that happened that night.
When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed already stitched up. The doctor told him that the gash on his neck was so deep, the doctor could place his entire index finger in the wound. The doctor also said that if the injury happened just an inch closer, he might have bled out and died from the incident. Jimmy Uso still carries the scar of the night as a reminder to him to stay physically out of other people’s business.
Knox Out
‘Jiving’ Jay Knox was an independent wrestler/trainer from the United Kingdom. One of his trainees was a wrestler named Rob Wilson, who wrestled Knox in a “Teacher versus Student” match at a camp for kids in 2020. During the match, Wilson supposedly kicked Knox a little too stiff and Knox immediately lost his temper…going into business for himself by legitimately pummeling his former student. While Wilson was down on the mat, Knox used all of his force to kick Wilson square in his face.
Wilson was rendered unconscious and bleeding profusely…all in front of a number children who attended the show. The fans in attendance screamed to stop the match, but Knox insisted the match continue for another three minutes. Rob Wilson was hospitalized and suffered several facial and skull fractures. He required to undergo three hours of reconstructive surgery where metal plates were inserted into his face. Wilson’s jaw was also wired shut for six weeks. The doctors said that Wilson was very lucky to survive the kick, as it easily could have killed him.
Jay Knox was arrested and charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. Knox admitted to attack which was caught on video, stating that he just “lost it” after being hurt by an accidental kick by Wilson, which reaggravated an old injury. Jay Knox was sentenced to two years in prison and was released after serving 21 months of that sentence.