Wrestling With Sin: 576

Brian Damage

This is the 576th 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.

Ex-terminator

In July of 2025, police in Rogers, Arkansas got a 911 call of a gunshot victim on the side of the road. The victim was Kevin Nikel, a former WWE developmental wrestler who competed in NXT from 2012 until 2013 under the name of ‘Knuckles Madsen.’ Nikel continued his wrestling career on the independent circuit after being released. Nikel was rushed to a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He later succumbed to his injuries.

A few months later, investigators arrested two people in connection to Nikel’s murder. They were his ex wife Amanda Penny and her boyfriend Michael Hogue…who was believed to be the person who pulled the trigger. Nikel was killed just three days after his divorce from Amanda was finalized. Details of the murder were being tight lipped by police, but there was believed to be some sort of altercation via texts and they agreed to meet up on the side of an Arkansas highway. That is when Hogue allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the wrestler.

According to Nikel’s mother, Amanda Penny and Kevin Nikel were high school sweethearts who married each other in 2012. They were said to be best friends with one another for many years, until their relationship began to go sour. The relationship got progressively worse and they ultimately filed for divorce. The couple have one child with one another. Both Penny and Hogue were being charged with first degree murder and possession of a firearm. Kevin Nikel was just 41 years old at the time of his death.

Too Cruel for School

Joel Aguilar Levario was a luchador that worked on the Mexican independent circuit known as Alastor. In April of 2016, Levario and two friends got into a road rage argument with a van occupied by two men. All the men stopped at an intersection in front of a school. They got out and had both a verbal and then physical altercation.

The driver of the van wanted to leave the scene, but Levario stood in front of the van to ensure that the driver didn’t escape. The van driver decided to run over Levario and dragged him several feet. He would die from his injuries. Police were able to track down the van and arrested both men and the driver was charged with vehicular homicide. Joel Aguilar Levario was just 27 years old at the time of his death.

Jacques in the Box

An independent wrestler named KC Spinelli who has worked for such promotions as TNA and AEW, accused Jacques Rougeau and his girlfriend Nathalie of scamming. The incident in question happened back in 2023. Jacques Rougeau hosted a Wrestling Academy contest where the winners both male and female would win a $10,000 cash prize and three months of training at the Nightmare Factory wrestling school owned by Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall. It wasn’t about winning or losing matches, the wrestlers were on their performance. Spinelli made it to the finals of that competition against Kat Von Heez.

The controversy happened when Rougeau decided that the two female wrestlers were tied and they had to split the $10,000 prize. Spinelli argued the decision, saying that the male competitors had a clear winner and won the money individually. She questioned why the women did not get the same treatment. Rougeau then decided to award the contest to Von Heez and award her $5,000 and Spinelli was left with nothing. It is alleged that Rougeau pocketed the other 5 grand and bought property with it. Spinelli called the competition “corrupt” and demanded that both Rougeau and Von Heez do the right thing and return the money. Rougeau responded by saying, “You’re bringing this to me, you know, it’s something that’s new to me. We never expected to encounter this and instead of me taking the money away from the guys that were supposed to get the $10,000, for me the most important thing was to raise more money for the girls so that both get $10,000.” Two years later and Spinelli continues to demand justice in the situation.

Put Out to Stud

‘The Tennessee Stud’ Ron Fuller recalled wrestling a match in Eastern Tennessee and during the match…someone in the stands took out a pistol and fired three shots towards the ring. The three bullets hit the mat ripping holes in it. The man who fired the shots, then put the gun back in his holster and sat back down to watch the rest of the show. Seeing the man still sitting in the stands, Fuller went over to a police officer working security.

Fuller asked the cop why he wasn’t arresting the perpetrator? The cop stated that he knew who that man was and said he was an expert shooter. The cop said if the man really wanted to kill you or your opponent, you would already be dead.

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