Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 514th 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.
A King’s Ransom
Back in 1981, Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler and journeyman wrestler Chic Donovan had a falling out, as both wrestlers were seeing the same woman at the same time. Steve Keirn had just entered the Memphis territory and was approached by Lawler to take out Donovan during a match. Keirn alleged that Lawler offered him $1,000 to break Donovan’s leg.
Steve Keirn said he refused the offer due mainly that he had no previous beef with Donovan and wasn’t a “shooter” that was skilled in such ways. Lawler would have issues with Keirn for years after that.
Ole School
Early in Barry Windham’s career, he was teaming with his father ‘Black Jack Mulligan’ against the team of the Andersons of Gene and Ole respectively. During the contest, Ole Anderson was said to go into business for himself and started working stiff on the young Windham. Mulligan noticed his son getting worked over by Ole and ran into the ring untagged and started throwing real punches at Ole.
After pummeling Anderson, Mulligan, Windham and Ole’s partner Gene all walked out of the ring and back to the dressing room leaving Ole alone and embarrassed inside the ring. Ole and Mulligan had a long history of hatred between one another. We documented a later incident between the two while working for WCW here.
The Red Menace
In 1959, former professional wrestler Orville ‘Red’ Duren was arrested after going on a violent spree. First, Duren got into a verbal argument with his mother in law, which ended up with Red Duren slashing her in the face with a knife. He then kidnapped his wife by forcing her into his car and wound up in a police chase.
When the police were able to stop Duren’s vehicle, the wife was able to jump out and run out. Duren went after her and tried to hit her with a hammer, but police shot Duren in his leg subduing him. Duren was treated at a local hospital in Fredonia, New York and released into the custody of police. While in jail, Duren suffered an apparent heart attack and died. Orville ‘Red’ Duren was 57 years old at the time of his death.
Kruel Intentions
In 2022, independent wrestler Charlie Kruel posted what appeared to be a suicide note on her social media platforms. The note read as follows….
She had also tweeted a goodbye message to her dog. It took some friends to rush to her home and got her the help she needed to cope with her battle with severe depression. Kruel was previously hospitalized a few months earlier from a suicide attempt.
Thankfully for Kruel she got the help that she needed and has continued her pro career. She even made her debut for AEW programming wrestling Ruby Soho. We wish her continued success and hope for the best for her and her mental health.