Wrestling With Sin: 553

Brian Damage

This is the 553rd 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.

Dreams Crushed

Billy Jack Haynes recalled attempting to get a try out with the WWF in 1992. He had previously burned bridges with the company on two earlier occasions. This was after Haynes flopped in his WCW stint under the gimmick of Black Blood. According to Haynes, he reached out to Brian Adams aka Crush who he said he helped break into the wrestling business a few years earlier in Oregon. Adams told Haynes that Vince McMahon agreed to give him a try out at a taping that was pretty far from where Haynes lived. 

Despite the distance, Haynes said he was desperate for work and made the long drive to where the WWF were holding their television taping. Haynes said he waited all day backstage and nobody approached him and he never received his match. Haynes said he went looking for McMahon and asked him why wasn’t he used, to which Vince allegedly replied…’I never agreed to use you and I have no intentions of ever using you.’ Embarrassed and angered, Haynes went looking to confront Crush, who lied to him, but never found him.

Haynes said he got in his car to leave and return home, only to have his car breakdown. With no money to fix it and being screwed over by Crush, Haynes said he flipped and grabbed a .38 revolver he had in his glove compartment. Haynes said he had intentions of shooting and killing both McMahon and Crush and then was going to kill himself. Luckily, Haynes said his friend Hercules Hernandez caught up with him in the parking lot and was able to talk him out of committing a murder/suicide. Hercules gave him money to be able to return home.

When home in Oregon, Haynes said his mental breakdown continued. He went to the gravesite of his parents, took 10 aspirin and stabbed himself in the head. Haynes then let the blood pour onto the grave of his parents. An employee at the cemetery discovered a bloody Haynes lying at the grave and called police. Billy Jack said he was then institutionalized at a mental facility for several months after that incident.

Riddled With Issues

Promotor Dillon Hines of World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling has accused Matt Riddle of trying to scam him out of $2,000. According to Hines, he and Riddle agreed on a fee of $8,000 for the wrestler to appear for a meet and greet and wrestle a match. Days before the event, a woman named Michelle Grey emailed Hines and said she was now representing Riddle and demanded an additional $2,000 for Riddle to appear at the event. After Hines contacted Riddle directly to confirm that Michelle Grey was indeed working on his behalf, Hines said he sent the additional money to Riddle.

After that, Ms. Grey allegedly demanded an additional $5,000 for Riddle to actually wrestle a match. Hines claimed he couldn’t afford the extra fee and the entire appearance was cancelled leaving Hines in the lurch after heavily promoting Riddle appearing. Hines claimed that he never received his money back from Riddle and is looking into legal action against the former WWE star. Hines stated, “In our industry, a promo is as good as a contract. He did the promo; he chose not to perform to the contractual agreement.” Hines then vowed never to work with Matt Riddle in the future by stating, “I will never work with Riddle again. As with his career in the WWE, he’s riddled with issues.”

While Riddle has not commented on this incident, his partner Misha Montana did. She took to social media to say that not only was Hines refunded his lost money, but blast Dillon Hines and state…“I don’t know what is going on. Everything they say is not only a lie but it’s proven to be so. They block me. They talk shit. They keep giving my attorney sooo much willingly. Like dude how stupid do you have to be to ignore a cease and desist? Shut up everyone hates you goodbye.” Both Hines and Montana have continued to talk down to each other on social media with pending lawsuits and counter suits waiting in the wings.

This may be a bad look on Matt Riddle considering all of the previous issues that he has been involved with, but Dillon Hines himself has been no stranger to controversy either. Hines is the son of former wrestler Bobby Fulton. Hines has been accused of verbally and possibly physically abusing his own father. Hines has been heard screaming and cursing at his father on podcasts. Hines responded by stating that he ‘comes from a wrestling family and that is how we talk to each other.’ Aside from that, Hines has also been accused of forging autographs of wrestlers like Lex Luger and others. When confronted about the forgeries and customers demanding their money back, they claim he disappears and ignores their requests.

That’s NOAH Way to Act

In April of 2023, two Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestlers were arrested on charges of molesting a woman in her 20’s. Kinya Okada and Yasutaka Yano were accused of inappropriate physical contact with the young woman in Sendai, Japan. Because of their actions, NOAH terminated both of their contracts. While not 100% confirmed, it is believed both wrestlers groped the woman in an apartment without her consent.

In December of 2023, Yasutaka Yano issued a public apology where he said he felt a deep regret for what he did to the woman and how he brought shame to the wrestling promotion he called home in NOAH. Yano stated…“In the future, I vow to work hard and earnestly, remembering what I did and the inconvenience I caused everyone, so that something like this will never happen again.” It was revealed that the charges against Yasutaka Yano were dropped and has since returned to wrestling, but not for NOAH or anywhere in Japan. He is now competing down in Mexico.

In the case of Kinya Okada, his case has seemingly been sealed and no reports of what the outcome is. It has been reported that Okada has retired from pro wrestling after just 4 1/2 years. No word if he received any jail time.

What’s All the Big Huss-Huss-Huss

Tim Hagood aka Solomon Grundy recalls the first time he wrestled against Bruiser Brody in World Class. Grundy said this was his debut match at the Texas Stadium ‘Parade of Champions‘ event in 1988. Right from the opening bell, Grundy said that Brody went after him and began roughing him up for no rhyme or reason. Grundy said he made the mistake of not retaliating, instead trying to work a regular match.

Grundy believed if he fought back against Brody, that Brody might have backed off a bit. Instead, Brody threw real kicks and punches and said that he was kicked so hard in the head by Brody that day, he didn’t remember driving home from Dallas to San Antonio that evening. Grundy said he sat down in a chair and remained there for two straight days not able to function.

You can read all previous ‘Wrestling with Sin’ pieces here.