Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 477th 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.
Haymaker
William ‘Haystacks’ Calhoun was one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s…both figuratively and literally. He stood 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed over 600 pounds, but was quite agile for his immense size. Calhoun was considered by many promoters as a “special attraction” at their shows and at the pinnacle of his career, made over $150,000 a year. Haystacks also appeared on various television shows and made appearances in feature films.
Haystacks Calhoun was beloved by the fans and by his peers in the business. He was considered a gentle giant, who was willing to sign an autograph while out and about away from a wrestling ring or give the shirt off his back for a friend in need. Wrestling greats like Lou Thesz and Buddy Rogers had high praise for the person Calhoun was outside of wrestling saying things like…Great guy. Nice with kids. Gentle man. Everybody liked him.
It was Calhoun’s niceness and generosity that some feel was his financial downfall in life. At one point, Calhoun sported a ring that spelled out ‘STACKS’ all in diamonds. Despite that, Calhoun insisted he didn’t spend his money lavishly, as he preferred to live a very quiet and modest life. Bad investments, two failed marriages, health issues and too many “friends” with their hands open looking to borrow money did him in. By the end of his life, Haystacks Calhoun was living as a recluse in a trailer park in Texas. All of his money was gone.
Calhoun stayed positive through all the friends that used him for his money and the one wife who allegedly cheated on him while he was wrestling all over the world. She ended up remarrying a member of the Hell’s Angels biker club. He was sent to jail for unknown reasons, but threatened to kill Calhoun once he was released from prison…to which Calhoun laughed it off. Sadly, Haystacks Calhoun died from complications of diabetes at the age of 55. He died pretty much alone and penniless.
Wilde Times
TNA/Impact wrestler Taylor Wilde opened up about her battle with alcoholism. Wilde talked about falling into the pro wrestling subculture of drinking and partying before and after shows because that was the norm in the business. Her social drinking where she would have a glass or two of wine, turned into at least a bottle of wine every night. She said after briefly retiring from full time wrestling to become a firefighter didn’t help her situation any because she said many firefighters also drank a lot while off duty.
Wilde believed part of her issues with alcohol was dealing with a bad relationship and instead of dealing with the problems head on, she would self medicate with booze to cope with her depression. Wilde didn’t go into detail of her hitting rock bottom, but did add that her lowest point was a wake up call to get sober and that it was the greatest thing to happen to her in successfully getting straightened out.
Ruth Shall Set You Free
Terry Bollea aka the future Hulk Hogan and Terry Funk recalled doing a tour of South Africa in 1981. The wrestlers said the South African promoter treated them like royalty having them chauffeured everywhere and given money to gamble at the casinos. The only issue that they encountered was actually being paid upfront for their match. Funk was more optimistic wanting to just wrestle and get paid after the show, while Hogan supposedly wanted his money before stepping in the ring.
As it turned out, the show only drew 300 people and the promoter allegedly stiffed Funk and Bollea, to which Bollea claimed they went to the United States Embassy to report the situation. Bollea said that they were able to receive the money owed to them by the promoter. According to Bollea, as they were headed back to the airport…a group of bandits held up the car that they were riding in at gunpoint. All the money and jewelry they had on them was stolen, including the pay off for the event they wrestled at. The belief was that the robbery was orchestrated by the promoter, who wanted his money back.
Bollea said that once he returned home, he told his mother Ruth about the situation. Bollea said that his mom called the US Embassy repeatedly and allegedly was able to get his and Terry Funk’s money back that was stolen and owed. Funk tells a bit of a different story, saying that while the promoter wanted to renege on the deal…Funk was able to get the money owed to them by schmoozing the promoter. The money just needed to be transferred from Africa to the United States, which supposedly took some time. Funk said while the money for the South African trip was delayed…Ruth Bollea called him demanding her son be paid. He eventually was, which Funk claims was $35,000…over 27 thousand dollars more than Funk made on the trip.
Play It Again Sammy
AEW star Sammy Guevara got into a heated Twitter exchange with fellow former AEW wrestler Andrade El Idolo that started when Andrade mentioned having some issues with Guevara in the past. Allegedly, Sammy complained to management that Andrade worked a match with him that was too stiff. Sammy would respond by criticizing Andrade as a wrestler who failed to get over in both AEW and WWE. He also mentioned that Andrade was nothing more than a “favor hire” by Tony Khan who was at the time….looking to hire Ric Flair to AEW.
As the two wrestlers went back and forth on each other on social media, Tony Khan warned both wrestlers to keep their disagreements on the internet and not have it spill over in real life. Despite Khan’s warning, the two had a physical altercation before an AEW Dynamite show in Washington D.C. Reportedly, Andrade was waiting for Guevara to show up at the arena and when he did, Andrade confronted him. Sammy Guevara allegedly pushed Andrade, who responded by throwing at least two punches.
Andrade El Idolo was sent home that night and removed from a scheduled match for AEW’s Rampage show, while Guevara was allowed to wrestle that night on Dynamite. While Guevara continued to work and be featured prominently on television…Andrade was kept off TV for months. Tony Khan had plans to reintroduce Andrade to be a part of their new ‘Collision’ show…but Andrade refused to take part in an angle. Many insiders had stated and speculated that Andrade wanted to be let out of his contract. Andrade did ultimately leave when his contract ended.