Wrestling With Sin: 444

Brian Damage

This is the 444th 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.

Rear Ended

In September of 2006, while driving in Pensacola, Florida…Solofa Fatu Jr aka ‘Rikishi’ was pulled over by The United States Marshals North Florida Violent Fugitive Task Force. He was arrested after no showing a court appearance. Rikishi was issued an arrest warrant earlier that month, but was wrestling overseas. When word got back that he had returned to the States, the U.S. Marshals tracked him down and arrested him.

He remained in jail until his Federal court hearing later that month. While it is unclear what the exact charges were that ultimately led to his arrest…Rikishi did release a public statement. In it he said….

“I am dealing with a private matter at this time that I am unable to discuss in detail, however, I am confident my name will be cleared in a court of law soon. Additionally, I will say, make sure to have all business affairs in order and up to date and do not trust anyone to handle for you, even if that person is your wife. I thank everyone
for their continue support.”

Solofa Fatu Jr (AKA RIKISHI, AKA KISHI)

Take A Giant Stab At It

‘The Giant Warrior’ Jeff Bearden was a 7 foot over 360 pound wrestler who had a modicum of success competing in the United States in the late 1980’s. He was trained by greats Dick Murdoch and Dory Funk Jr. His biggest success, however, was wrestling overseas, where his enormous size made him a star. Bearden wrestled all over the world, including places like Mexico, Japan, Europe, Puerto Rico and India.

In 1992, while wrestling as a heel in South Africa…the Giant Warrior was in the middle of a full blown riot. Fans began throwing chairs into the ring very reminiscent of the stunt that occurred in ECW. As Bearden laid on the mat with dozens of chairs on top of him, suddenly someone was pulling the chairs off of him. The individual grabbed the Giant Warrior’s arm to pull him off the mat. Bearden thought it was a fellow wrestler or referee who was aiding him, but in reality, it was an enraged fan.

The fan took a seven inch blade and stabbed the Giant Warrior in the chest with it. With a knife sticking out of his chest, Bearden was able to fight off the fan with help from other wrestlers. Luckily, for Bearden, the knife did not puncture any vital organs and survived the attack.

Mandy’s Candy

In December of 2022, WWE abruptly released wrestler Mandy Rose from her contract. It was a bit odd considering she was in the middle of a long push by their developmental brand NXT as its women’s champion. The reasoning for her firing was that she had violated certain standards and practices of the company with adult content on her personal subscription based website.

On said website, she would pose in various states of undress including full nudity. She also provided masturbation videos, and simulated sex with her fiancé former wrestler Tino Sabbatelli. The content was simply too racy for WWE management to overlook and thus Mandy was released apparently without warning. WWE issued a statement on the matter of WWE wrestlers going into business for themselves by saying…

“Much like Disney and Warner Bros., WWE creates, promotes and invests in its intellectual property, i.e. the stage names of performers like The Fiend Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Big E and Braun Strowman. “It is the control and exploitation of these characters that allows WWE to drive revenue, which in turn enables the company to compensate performers at the highest levels in the sports entertainment industry. Notwithstanding the contractual language, it is imperative for the success of our company to protect our greatest assets and establish partnerships with third parties on a company-wide basis, rather than at the individual level, which as a result will provide more value for all involved.”

As for Mandy Rose, she has refused to take down her site as it has reportedly generated $250,000 a month in revenue for her. She recently upped her subscription fee from $25 a month, to $40 a month.

Killing The Competition

On March 25, 1909, there was an international pro wrestling event held in Russia. A German wrestler known simply as Leisner was scheduled to wrestle an undisclosed opponent from Russia. Apparently the two wrestlers had a volatile past wrestling against each other. Before their scheduled match, the two combatants got into a physical altercation. The altercation led Leisner to fatally stab his Russian opponent. After murdering his adversary, Leisner killed himself before police could arrest him.

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