Brian Damage
This is the 541st 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.
Dancing With the Scars
Former WWE Divas champion Nikki Bella met her husband dancer Artem Chigvintsev on the hit reality show Dancing with the Stars in 2017. Bella admitted to developing feeling for Artem during their run on the show, while engaged to WWE superstar John Cena…but never acted on those feelings. After Nikki and John Cena ended their engagement in 2018, she re-connected with Artem and the two got engaged a year later. The two welcomed a son Matteo in 2020 and got married in 2022.
Two days after their two year wedding anniversary, police were called to the couple’s home, where Artem was arrested for domestic violence against Nikki Bella. She claimed that Artem had been on edge in recent weeks due to the fact that Dancing with the Stars did not ask him to return to the show’s 33rd season. It was that, coupled with his anger that caused a fight over breakfast for their son. Bella admitted to throwing a pair of shoes at Artem and grabbing her son out of the arms of Artem to run up the stairs. She accused Artem of grabbing her by the waist and tackling her on the stairs. She said she grabbed Artem by the throat to get him off of her. She then called police and Artem was arrested and subsequently released.
The decision was made that no charges were going to be filed against the dancer. Nikki then filed for a divorce and asked for a restraining order against Artem and for sole custody of their four year old. Artem filed for his own protective order against Nikki and requested joint custody of their son. Artem then accused Nikki of being the “primary aggressor” in the case. He said she was the one on edge, due to her nerves hosting a Netflix show. She complained that her son’s English muffin wasn’t toasted enough and complained about the outfit Artem dressed their son in. He said she threw shoes at him, while Matteo was by his side and screamed profanities at him while in the presence of Matteo.
He accused Nikki of being physically aggressive towards him, when all he was trying to do is protect his son from seeing his mother get physically violent. Artem took pictures of the wounds he sustained in the confrontation he had with Nikki, which included cuts, scrapes and scratches on his hand, neck and arm. It should be noted that in February of 2023, Nikki did a podcast with Rene Paquette in where she admitted to growing up in a somewhat abusive household and is more short fused than Artem who is peaceful and non confrontational. The two differing personalities would sometimes clash, where Nikki wanted Artem to be tougher and stricter with their son.
Don’t Meet Your Idol
Stan Hansen joined the Memphis, Tennessee territory Continental Wrestling Association in September of 1983. By December of ’83, Hansen was gone from the territory. The reason Hansen didn’t last but three months in Memphis was due to his hard hitting, stiff wrestling style that made him a huge star in Japan. Wrestlers in Memphis weren’t accustomed to that style and began refusing to work with Hansen.
One wrestler that did work with Hansen, was his friend ‘The Universal Heartthrob’ Austin Idol. After wrestling Hansen in a Bunkhouse Brawl match at the Mid South Coliseum, Idol went to promoter Jerry Jarrett and got Hansen fired. Stan Hansen admitted to roughing up Idol in their match and regretted doing so because Idol was a good friend of his. It was just the style that he was used to and never adjusted it when wrestling in the United States.
Reil World
‘Highlight’ Billy Reil was a top independent pro wrestler in the northeast in the 1990’s. Reil was a sensational indie talent, who was best friends with fellow independent star Trent Acid. As was the case with Trent Acid, Billy Reil battled substance abuse and was arrested in May of 2022 for drug possession. Despite his battles with drug addiction, Reil made headlines when he saved an elderly woman from being robbed in his Philadelphia neighborhood.
Reil’s also battled depression. In 2020, Reil posted this dark message on social media where he talked about ending his own life. Reil wrote…Tomorrow Morning when you read that I tragically ended my life, Just know that many people knew my situation but everybody’s goofy everyday life was more important. Fuck must of you. I’ll see scumbags at the gates of hell. I don’t do fake look at me , fake suicides. Axl, see you soon cuz. Verdi , I can’t wait. And you haters. You made me live longer. It’s the ones who said they loved me. Live with that. Reil would retire from wrestling and dabble in writing and acting, starring in a number of indie films.
It was reported that Reil was suffering with an assortment of medical conditions before he passed away in 2024. The owner of Game Changer Wrestling Brett Lauderdale wrote this about Reil’s passing…Sorry to hear about the passing of Billy Reil. Unfortunately, I can’t say Im surprised. He was a funny guy and as “South Philly” as it gets. He was a childhood friend of Trent Acid; they broke into the biz together. Billy had potential at one time. A cautionary tale. RIP Billy. No official cause of death was publicly made. Billy Reil was just 44 years old.
U Nita Punch in the Mouth
In 1996, during an independent show, it was reported that Taka Michinoku got involved in a heated confrontation with Atsushi Onita. It all apparently stemmed from Onita not booking Taka on a show that Taka paid for his own travel expenses. The two started yelling at one another with some pushing and shoving involved.
Onita began insulting Taka saying he wasn’t much of a man and hurling other insults Taka’s way. Tarzan Goto and security had to step in between the two wrestlers before punches were thrown. As Onita was walking away, Taka allegedly threw a bottle of water that hit Onita in the head. Taka was either fired or quit the promotion right after the confrontation.
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