Brian Damage
This is the 569th 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.
Bear Down
Bear Boulder (Tommy Wansaw) one half of the AEW tag team known as Bear Country/Iron Savages was fired by the promotion, after it was revealed he was arrested for domestic violence against his fiancé. In January of 2025, Wansaw allegedly pushed his fiancé to the floor and then put his foot against her throat until she lost consciousness. Wansaw was arrested and officially charged with battery by strangulation.
After news of his arrest came out, Wansaw’s tag team partner issued this statement…
After issuing that statement, Bear Bronson later said that he felt AEW was punishing him for his tag partner’s crime, as he hasn’t been used at all since his arrest in January. Bronson posted this on social media…“Trying my best. I’m forgotten & ignored, just being honest. Almost feels like I’m paying for someone else’s crimes. But whatever, I’m doing everything I can. My wife, family, fans, wrestlers & many others have been there for me lifting me up & pushing me to succeed on my own.”
In February of 2025, all charges against Tommy Wansaw were dropped. His fiancé decided not to press charges in the case. No other details were made available.
No Tell Hotel
In September of 2018, Puerto Rican wrestler Vanilla Vargas said she was booked to wrestle a AAA show in Cancun, Mexico. A number of wrestlers including herself stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. She readily admitted that she brought a few “sweets” with her (which was code for recreational drugs). She was sharing them with a few of the other wrestlers that were staying at the hotel. That’s when she said an unnamed luchador asked her to hang out with him at the bar.
Vargas said she declined, but the luchador would not take no for an answer and actually locked the door behind him to keep Vargas locked in the room. Another unnamed luchador knocked on the door and was let in. According to Vargas, the other luchador was family with the aggressor. She initially thought that the family member would help her diffuse the situation, but started groping her as well. Vargas said she decided to “go along” with the two men until they both let heir guard down and was able to escape the room.
The two luchadors chased after her and grabbed her, threatening to ruin her reputation in AAA unless she returned to the room. Vargas said she physically fought back and punched one of the luchadors in the mouth and was able to escape once more. AAA was notified about the incident and conducted an investigation, but as far as Vargas knows, they continued to work for the promotion.
Sticking Your Neck Out
Matt Wiese, who wrestled in WCW as Horshu and WWE as Luther Reigns, detailed how bad his addiction to drugs were and how it almost ended his life in violent fashion. Wiese recalled approaching a friend who was also a crack dealer and giving him 40 dollars to purchase crack cocaine. His friend took the money and disappeared, stiffing Wiese out of 40 bucks. The next night, Wiese spotted his friend sitting on a stoop and proceeded to run up to him and kick the dealer in the head.
Wiese said that the situation did not end there, because the very next night, Wiese was back in the same area. While sitting down on a milk crate, the dealer returned with a large knife. He grabbed Wiese by his hair and pulled his head back. The dealer then slit Wiese’s throat from ear to ear. Wiese said he was able to tackle the dealer and started wrestling him for the knife. Wiese said he was stabbed three times. Twice on his side and once on his shoulder before the dealer ran off.
Luckily, Wiese survived the vicious attack. He said he would once again return to the same neighborhood and go to a crack house where he spotted the dealer. This time, the dealer was without a weapon and instead of trying to attack Wiese again or run away, the dealer handed him a bag of crack and according to Wiese, made up with the man who tried to end his life.
Not Everything is Black and White
Leng Yang loved acting, gaming and professional wrestling. In 2015, he began training to become a pro wrestler. He started out as a referee under the name ‘Sol Yang,’ officiating matches on the Oklahoma independent circuit in 2016. He also worked under the alias of Sol Van Heart. His positive energy and attention to detail made him a favorite referee in the area and eventually led to more gigs outside of Oklahoma including indie feds in Texas and Kansas.
His biggest break came in 2019, when he worked an Impact Wrestling pay per view ‘Victory Road’ as an official. Sadly, on March 14, 2022, the independent wrestling world was shocked to learn that Leng Yang took his own life. He was just 32 years old.
You can read all previous ‘Wrestling with Sin’ pieces here.