Brian Damage
This is the 555th 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.
Ray Stevens was a big star during the 1960’s and 70’s. Having wrestled all across the country and worldwide, Stevens was not always home to spend time with his two small boys…Carl and Timothy. In fact, Stevens was hardly ever around long enough to be a part of their lives growing up. That caused both Carl and Timothy to develop a hatred for their famous father. Carl and Timothy became juvenile delinquents that constantly found them in trouble with the law.
Carl hated his father so much, that he changed the spelling of his name to Karl to try and distance himself to his father. While both of Ray’s sons despised him, the brothers didn’t exactly get along well with each other either. They often fought and argued with one another. One of those fights, nearly ended tragically for Carl. During a fight at their home in San Francisco, Timothy allegedly lit Carl on fire. Carl survived the attack, with severe burns on his chest, arm, neck and jawline.
News of the incident got back to their father Ray and his then tag team partner and good friend Pat Patterson. It is heavily rumored, that Patterson used this real life incident as the basis for the Kane gimmick several years later.
The Best Part of Breaking Up, Is When You’re Covering Up
Stephanie Vaquer and Luchadora La Hiedra were once the best of friends. That is, until Vaquer accused her former lover Cuatrero of trying to kill her as covered here. Cuatrero was sent to prison and Vaquer eventually left Mexico to sign with WWE. A Mexican journalist named Anthony Nieto has since released a private conversation on WhatsApp between Vaquer and La Hiedra who currently competes for AAA.
La Hiedra, who was dating Cuatrero’s brother and fellow luchador Sanson, admitted to Vaquer that she too was beaten and abused by Sanson. La Hiedra stated that it took Sanson’s sister to come between the couple and saved her from furthering the assault. She would continue to tell Vaquer not to tell police of the beatings she sustained from Cuatrero. Instead, try covering up her marks and bruises with makeup.
La Hiedra also told Vaquer to tell police that the marks on her body were “hickeys.” Vaquer then responded to La Hiedra by telling her it was too late and she already filed a report. La Hiedra and Stephanie Vaquer have since reportedly been on the outs with one another since Cuatrero was imprisoned for femicide.
Mike Lebell was a wrestling promoter for the NWA Hollywood based in Los Angeles, California from the mid 1960’s until 1982. He is the son of famed boxing/wrestling promoter Aileen Eaton and brother to wrestler and stuntman ‘Judo’ Gene Lebell. Mike was credited with starting closed circuit television for sold out wrestling events at the Olympic Auditorium. As creative and successful as Mike Lebell was as a promoter, many wrestlers who worked for him felt he pocketed too much money from the wresters, instead of giving them better payoffs.
Mike eventually sold the territory to Vince McMahon in 1982 and he and brother Gene had a major falling out over how much money should be divided between the two. After leaving the wrestling business, Lebell owned a video rental business. In 1988, Mike Lebell made headlines, when he was arrested by the Federal government. According to reports, Mike Lebell was involved in a phone charge card scheme. He issued several of the cards to people for a price and these customers were given codes which allowed them to make free long distance calls.
The phone company estimated that Lebell and others involved in the nationwide ring cost them over 3 million dollars in fraudulent phone calls. Lebell would plead guilty in his case. It is unknown if Lebell served any jail time or what fines he was forced to pay back in the case.
Manager Gary Hart recalled his final days working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) back in 1990. Hart was growing increasingly tired of travelling all over the country and was missing his family at home in Texas. That frustration boiled over during a show in Baltimore, Maryland. Hart readily admitted that he got into an argument with a couple of fans ringside and assaulted them. WCW security then ejected the two fans out of the arena.
The fans responded by filing a lawsuit against WCW and Gary Hart. WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd called Hart to his office and demanded that Hart not only issue a public apology for his actions, but also appear in court and admit that professional wrestling is fake and nothing more than entertainment. Hart agreed to apologize, but being “old school,” absolutely refused to admit that the business he was a part of for decades was nothing but fiction. Herd ordered Hart to do what was told of him or be fired from the company. Hart said that is when he told Jim Herd to “fuck off” and that he was nothing more than an “asshole.” Gary Hart was subsequently fired from WCW and he happily returned home to his family in Texas.
You can read all previous ‘Wrestling with Sin’ pieces here.
David Fullam
The Ray Stevens story is upsetting. Proof that life on the road could take a terrible toll on the family. Jim Herd. Another “wow” in his tenure as WCW chief. Proof he had no business in the business. Hart stood up for himself as he should, then gets screwed over by a ponce who doesn’t get it.