Wrestling With Sin: 390

Brian Damage

This is the 390th 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.

Scarlett Fever

In the Summer of 2019, Impact Wrestling shockingly announced that the company and talent Scarlett Bordeaux reached an agreement for her to be released. It was surprising considering that she was being pushed heavily on Impact television and suddenly she was gone. Not only her, but her boyfriend and fellow Impact star Killer Kross requested his release as well…although his request was not initially honored until a few months later in December.

During that time, it was reported that Anthem Sports (the Owners of Impact Wrestling) hired a 3rd party to investigate allegations of sexual harassment by a top level Impact executive towards a former talent. No names were mentioned as to who the executive was and who the former talent was. After a few weeks of an independent investigation, Anthem Sports released this statement: “An inquiry was held in consultation with the complainant and the allegations were proven to be completely without merit. The matter is closed. No disciplinary action was deemed necessary and none was taken.”

A television producer later revealed on social media that the anonymous exec and talent were allegedly Don Callis and Scarlett Bordeaux. He wrote, “It was sexual harassment by Don Callis to Scarlett Bordeaux and they only gave her an ultimatum that she would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement or she wouldn’t get her release and that’s why Killer Kross for months was asking for his release it wasn’t because of money.

Also around this time, Impact let go a referee named Kris Levin. He revealed that he was questioned in this internal investigation by the independent third party about anything he witnessed. He was promised anonymity for his statement. While Levin didn’t publicly release the names of the accused and the alleged victim…he did talk with the investigators and told them what he knew. Soon after, Levin was let go by Impact citing they had no more use for his services.

A little more information came out that the “independent” investigators were once employed by Anthem Sports. In April of 2021, Callis quietly exited Impact as an executive and joined AEW as an on air talent. Anthem Sports said that Callis leaving Impact was one that “ended on good terms and was not a dramatic one.”

It must be noted, that the accusations directed at Don Callis and were not officially confirmed by Anthem, Impact or even Scarlett Bordeaux (If in fact it was her that was harassed.) Scarlett was asked at a virtual signing in December of 2021 if she and Killer Kross would return to Impact Wrestling and she was quoted as saying… “We’re not going back there. No. There’s no reason to share why I wouldn’t go back to IMPACT. Thanks for asking though.”

We Need A Hiro

Hiro Sasaki was a Japanese professional wrestler who competed under the moniker of ‘General’ Hiro. He wrestled all over the world in places like Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and for the National Wrestling Alliance. Sasaki co-held tag team titles in both New Zealand and Puerto Rico in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

By 1985, Hiro’s wrestling career was over, but he still made huge headlines during that era. Hiro was working for the United States government, in particular the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to help take down the Yakuza who were beginning to infiltrate the United States. The Yamaguchi-gumi had approximately 10,000 to 11,000 members and they were smuggling both drugs and weapons from the U.S.’s mainland to Hawaii and then to Japan. While it was unclear exactly how Hiro Sasaki got involved with the DEA, rumors were he had some sort of affiliation with the Yamaguchi-gumi. Hiro agreed to assist the DEA with a takedown of some of the gang’s top level bosses.

Sasaki arranged a few meetings between members of Yamaguchi-gumi and undercover agents which ultimately resulted in the arrests of top boss Masashi Takenaka and two associates…Toyohiko Itoh and Kiyoshi Kajita. The Yakuza were attempting to smuggle 100 handguns, five machine guns and three rocket launchers into Japan from Hawaii. In addition, the DEA seized two pounds of heroin and 32 pounds of amphetamines. Unfortunately, in 1986, the DEA lost the case and the Yakuza members were eventually set free. There were rumors that Hiro Sasaki and his family were placed in a witness protection program…but that was not the case. He and his wife did change their names and left Japan with Hiro changing his alias to ‘Tsuneo Soranaka.’ Sasaki died in April of 2020 of natural causes.

A Giant Brawl

In 1978, while wrestling in Arizona…Andre the Giant was both drunk and in a bad mood. His opponent for this particular incident was a masked wrestler named ‘The Masked Monster.’ The masked wrestler portrayed the classic Frankenstein monster who came to the ring with a manager carrying a torch. While not as big as Andre, the Monster was himself a large, lumbering individual.

Because Andre was intoxicated and uncooperative…the masked Monster became frustrated and the two wrestlers began to legitimately brawl. It was reported that Andre won the fight, but the Monster did shock many with how he stood up to Andre and lasted for a while in a good old fashioned street fight with the 8th Wonder of the World. Both wrestlers suffered injuries in the fight and missed several bookings because of it…much to the dismay of promoters.

Sinister Thoughts

An independent wrestler named ‘Matt Sinister’ began his career in 1994 after being trained by Ross and Bruce Hart in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Sinister wrestled mostly in Canada, Southern California and in Mexico. He eventually had to retire due to numerous injuries, but remained in the business as a color commentator for an indie group based in California.

On June 10th, 2016…Matt Sinister was discovered unconscious in his home by his wife. Sinister took numerous pills in a suicide attempt. Luckily, paramedics reached him in time and saved his life. He was in a coma and on a ventilator for a few days, but was able to make a full recovery.

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