Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 474th 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.
Guardian Angel
Low Ki was a former TNA and WWE wrestler, but is most known for his time on the independent circuit and the very first Ring of Honor World Champion. In the past, Low Ki has had a reputation of working a very stiff style that has, at times, rubbed his opponents the wrong way. Some have accused Low Ki of often times going into business for himself at the expense of another wrestler.
A case in point, occurred while wrestling for the British promotion…the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) in November of 2004. At the time, Low Ki was the reigning champion and had a title defense against challenger Hade Vansen. During the match, Low Ki delivered a number of very stiff, hard kicks to Vansen, which legitimately hurt him.
After the match, Low Ki went backstage and was allegedly acting very smug about what had just happened in the ring. He was then confronted by wrestler Johnny Angel (who was previously a bare knuckle fighter before his wrestling career started). Angel allegedly got into Low Ki’s face and challenged him to do the same thing he just did on Vansen. Low Ki refused his offer, so Angel challenged him to a fist fight outside, to which Low Ki allegedly turned down citing a shoulder injury as the reason.
Thunder Bolted
Ann Gunkel ran All South Wrestling, a Georgia based territory starting in 1972. She inherited the promotion once her husband Ray Gunkel passed away. During her run as a promoter, Gunkel had a verbal confrontation with one of her bigger stars in ‘Thunderbolt’ Patterson. The situation appeared to be over a pay dispute in which Patterson was not happy.
Dutch Mantel often referred to Thunderbolt as “toxic” and the Masked Superstar Bill Eadie said that he did not like Patterson mainly due to the wrestler constantly going into business for himself and no selling a lot of his opponents maneuvers. In this particular case involving Gunkel, Patterson was allegedly screaming at Gunkel and allegedly went towards her in a very threatening manner. Ann was supposedly terrified during this encounter.
Luckily for her, Charlie Harben, a former wrestler turned referee and ring announcer for Gunkel was nearby and heard the commotion. Harben carried a small pistol in his suit pocket and brandished the weapon and pointed it at Thunderbolt’s face. Harben told Thunderbolt to leave the office or be shot dead then and there. Patterson left the office and never returned.
Kisselbach of Death
In September of 1949, in a small town in Missouri…a call to police was made that a man was accosting patrons at a well known “Negro only” bar. A car carrying three officers spotted a man that fit the initial description a few blocks away. As one of the officers approached the man in question, the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the officer in the head. The two other officers got out of their vehicle with one being shot in the abdomen and the other shot in the right shoulder.
The perpetrator was able to successfully flee the scene. He would be apprehended 11 hours later. His name was Arthur Betts a 29 year old black unemployed laborer. He confessed to shooting the three officers, but said he did so because he was afraid for his life and did not mean to hurt anyone. Sadly, the officer who was shot in the head, Paul Kisselbach, a former heavyweight pro wrestler died at the scene. Kisselbach wrestled from the 1930’s to mid 1940’s in the St. Louis area before retiring to become a police officer. Kisselbach was just 37 years old at the time of his death. The other two officers survived their wounds.
Seeing Crimson Red
Anthony Mayweather was a professional wrestler who competed under the ring name of ‘Crimson’ for TNA wrestling and Billy Corgan’s NWA. He’s a former TNA world tag team champion with Matt Morgan. Crimson was arrested back in 2016 for allegedly headbutting his wife during a domestic dispute.
In March of 2023, Mayweather was arrested in Tennessee for allegedly violating an active order of protection. Police discovered that Mayweather made several calls and sent text messages to his juvenile son and his estranged wife…some of those calls were even made while police were present in his ex wife’s home.