Wrestling with Sin: 575

Brian Damage

This is the 575th 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.

Wake of Controversy

The mysterious death of the former girlfriend of Superfly Jimmy Snuka…Nancy Argentino has been discussed here in the past. Even after her tragic death, the circus atmosphere that surrounded the case didn’t stop. Nancy’s older sister Lorraine detailed what the wake for Nancy was like back in 1983. The wake for Nancy took place at the Andrew Torregrossa and Sons Funeral home in Brooklyn, New York.

The wake lasted for three days and was filled to capacity with family and friends. Lorraine said that Jimmy Snuka did not show up until the third and final day. He walked in “looking sloppy” wearing casual clothes and flip flops and was accompanied by wrestler/manager Buddy Rogers. Nancy’s sister said that Snuka pretended not to speak English well and let Rogers do most of the talking for him.

When it was time for Snuka to go view Nancy’s body, Lorraine claimed that he started touching and speaking to her as if she were still alive. He then passionately kissed the body, messing up her hair and makeup. Snuka then walked up to Nancy’s mother and said, “She looks horrible” and walked out. Lorraine said that Snuka’s total time visiting was only about 20 to 25 minutes.

Dumpster Dive

Former WWF wrestler Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese was arrested in April of 2025 on charges of child exploitation. Droese attempted to purchase child pornography on the dark web using a cryptocurrency account. The crypto company flagged the attempted purchase and notified the FBI. The FBI investigated and contacted local police in Tennessee where Droese was arrested.

The next month, Droese was indicted on charges of Attempted Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. Sexual Exploitation of a Minor is the name of Tennessee’s law prohibiting child sexual assault material, in all its forms. Droese was released on bond. He faces two to four years in prison if found guilty.

A Giant Mystery

In August of 1961, the ‘Mormon Giant’ Don Leo Jonathon left his Indianapolis apartment and traveled to Novia Scotia for a wrestling tour of the area. A few days later, Don Leo’s wife Shirley Heaton, was found dead in their apartment. Her body was discovered after a tenant on the first floor complained of a liquid dripping from their 2nd floor apartment. A janitor inspected the incident and discovered Shirley Heaton face down dead on the floor. She was dressed in a nightgown with pictures of her husband strewn all over the room and over fifty bottles of barbiturates with some full, some half empty and others completely empty in the room as well.

The door to the apartment was locked and there were no signs of a physical altercation. Mrs. Heaton’s purse had $435 dollars in it. Homicide detectives put a pause on the case until toxicology reports came back on the deceased Mrs. Heaton. It appeared that Shirley Heaton died the day after Don Leo Jonathon left for his tour and was not considered a suspect at that time. The case seemingly closed and not made public after the initial investigation. Shirley Heaton was just 31 years old at the time of her death.

Reeves of Absence

Ryan Reeves formerly known as Ryback in WWE, recalled his time in WWE’s developmental territory Deep South Wrestling. Reeves said it was down in Deep South where he was first introduced to the club drug GHB. According to Reeves, most of the trainees were doing the drug during workouts calling it a “very weird drug.” He admitted that he eventually got addicted using GHB and told the story of how he almost died taking the drug.

He said he took the drug and mixed it with large amounts of alcohol one Saturday night. The next morning, Reeves was scheduled to take the Great Khali grocery shopping, but was passed out for hours. When he woke up, his answering machine was filled with messages from Khali asking where he was. Reeves said he woke up to a horrible smell and when he got up his eyes were blurry and was dizzy.

He then saw piles of his own shit all over the floor of his bedroom. He also had urinated on his walls and vomit was all over him and the bed. It took him over three hours to get his room cleaned. Reeves said he was lucky to survive that incident and realized it was time to get himself to stop using GHB.

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