Wrestling With Sin: 235

Brian Damage

This is the 235th 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.

A Bad Egg-sample

In 1924, Vincenzo Cotroni and his family immigrated from Italy to Montreal, Canada. After briefly working as a carpenter, Vincenzo began training to become a professional wrestler. Cotroni wrestled under the name ‘Vic Vincent.’ He wrestled all throughout Montreal in the 1930s.

Vic Vincent was trained to become a wrestler by a man named Armand Courville. Not only was Courville a wrestler and a trainer, but he also allegedly had a hand in several illegal business ventures. It was Courville who introduced Vic to the seedier side of Montreal. It wasn’t long before Vic became Courville’s partner in a number of illegal activities including bootlegging, counterfeiting money, writing bad checks and helping rig elections.

Eventually, Vic Vincent quit his job as a pro wrestler and worked in Montreal’s underworld full time. As the years went by, Vic gained more and more power and ultimately became the ‘Godfather’ of the Montreal mafia. Now known as Vic ‘The Egg’ Cotroni, he ruled the Montreal mafia. Cotroni allegedly ran the city’s prostitution ring, was involved in paying off political figures, extortion, gambling, loansharking and strong-arming his rivals.

Vic Cotroni became the most powerful individual in Montreal’s criminal underworld. He began trafficking heroin into the United States from Canada. Cotroni remained in power until the late 1970’s when he retired from the day to day activities. Vic Cotroni died in 1984 from cancer at the age of 74.

Taka Step Back

Former WWF light Heavyweight Champion and current New Japan star Taka Michinoku was outed by the Japanese media for having an affair on his wife. The extramarital affair started in 2011 and lasted for over eight years. Taka admitted to the affair and issued an apology on social media.

Michinoku said, he will accept the scolding from his fans and will try to cherish his family moving forward. He takes full responsibility for his actions and is prepared for any punishment that is handed to him. In Japanese culture, affairs are seriously frowned upon, especially from their high-profile individuals such as actors, singers, sports stars and wrestlers.

As punishment, Michinoku was fired from the board of directors of the Kaientai Dojo (a wrestling promotion/training facility) that he established in 2002. His pay was also suspended for one year.

Precious Moment

During the 1980s, there was no bigger tag team in wrestling than the ‘Rock N Roll Express.’ They were so big, that they were able to fly in NWA promoter Jim Crockett Jr’s private jet. On one occasion, Ricky Morton of the R’n’R Express was on the tarmac with Jimmy Garvin’s wife and valet Precious. Morton asked Precious to hold his gear because he wanted to snort some cocaine before getting on the plane.

According to Morton, when he took out his baggie of coke, the plane’s engines began to start up. The force of the engines blew the coke out of Morton’s hands and into the face of Precious. Precious would then spend the entire plane ride completely drugged out of her mind. Jimmy Garvin was not at all happy with Morton after that incident.

The Second Coming

George Gulas was the son of famed Nashville, Tennessee wrestling promoter Nick Gulas. George followed in the family business and became a pro wrestler in 1974. Gulas who didn’t have a successful career as a wrestler, but made headlines in Tennessee another way.

A local newspaper headline read: “Local Wrestler Arrested For Soliciting” George Gulas was arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute in the Nashville area. The very next week, the same local newspaper headline read: “Local Wrestler Arrested Again” Gulas was arrested for a second time for solicitation of a prostitute. Gulas was arrested in the same area by the exact same cop.

---

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

---