Top 20 Darkest Real Life Wrestling Stories
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most tragic real-life
00:14stories to affect professional wrestling's biggest stars throughout the industry's
00:19history.
00:20If there was a Mount Rushmore for pro wrestling promoters, Garnier would be in contention.
00:33After all, he founded the American Wrestling Association in 1960 until it closed in 1991.
00:40The promotion was a launching pad for many icons including Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund and
00:45Ric Flair.
00:46However, Garnier's circumstances took a downswing in his later life.
00:51In 2009, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he was living at a nursing facility in Bloomington,
00:57Minnesota.
00:58Garnier got into an altercation with a fellow resident, 97-year-old Helmut Gutmann.
01:03The wrestler reportedly picked up Gutmann and slammed him, causing the older resident
01:08to break his hip.
01:09Sadly, he died from complications.
01:12Due to his illness and not remembering the interaction, Garnier wasn't charged with
01:17murder.
01:18Who better than Canyon?
01:21Not many.
01:22Making his name at WCW, Canyon would move to the WWE when they bought out the company
01:27in 2001.
01:29He left the company in 2004 and made sporadic appearances on the indie circuit.
01:34During this time, Canyon came out as gay.
01:45He soon began writing a book about his struggles of hiding his sexuality in the wrestling business.
01:59On top of dealing with that, Canyon was battling bipolar disorder, leading to him admitting
02:04in an interview about the drastic measures he nearly took.
02:08In 2010, after Canyon hadn't been heard from by his family, his brother went to his
02:13home and discovered he'd taken his own life.
02:21Flying back from the pay-per-view insurrection from England in 2002, the journey would go
02:27down in infamy for all the wrong reasons, mostly thanks to the open bar and allegations
02:33of substance use.
02:35On top of practical jokes, Brock Lesnar and Kurt Hennig decided to do some mile-high amateur
02:41wrestling, causing the duo to thump against the emergency exit, which is terrifying.
02:54Michael Hayes and JBL allegedly fought, leading to X-Pac cutting Hayes' hair while he slept.
03:03Allegedly, Scott Hall and Goldust harassed the female flight attendants verbally and
03:12Ric Flair exposed himself.
03:15Several wrestlers left the company in the aftermath, including Hall and Hennig.
03:19In 2004, the flight workers sued the WWE, which was settled out of court.
03:29Known as Razor Ramon, in the then-WWF, before switching to his real name when debuting for
03:37rivals WCW, the bad guy was an underrated treasure in the ring.
03:42However, Hall had his demons, resulting in substance issues, which could be traced back
03:47to a traumatic experience he had in 1983.
03:51Shortly before he debuted as a wrestler, Hall was a bartender in Orlando, Florida, where
03:56he argued with Rodney Turner.
03:58Reportedly, Hall had made moves on Turner's wife.
04:02After Turner vandalized Hall's car, the wrestler confronted him, who then pulled out
04:06a firearm.
04:10Hall managed to take it from him before fatally shooting Turner.
04:15While Hall was arrested for the incident, the charges were dropped.
04:19However, he was still diagnosed with PTSD.
04:26After making her name in WCW, Daphne became one of TNA's best women wrestlers during
04:35her stints there, all while dealing with bipolar disorder.
04:38Sadly, due to injuries, including several concussions, she had to retire from wrestling
04:44in 2011.
04:45Daphne sued TNA for unsafe working conditions and medical compensation, which was settled
04:51out of court in 2013.
04:53In a 2017 book, she detailed her struggles from repeated concussions.
04:58In 2021, Daphne live-streamed on Instagram.
05:02She gave a goodbye speech and requested her brain be studied for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
05:13When the police arrived, they found her body.
05:16The shock ignited a discussion in the industry about mental health after other, similar incidents.
05:22Born in Italy and raised in Canada, Bravo became
05:31one of the Great White North's biggest wrestling stars, especially after he joined the then-WWF
05:37in 1985.
05:39He remained there until 1992, having iconic matches with Randy Savage and The Ultimate
05:45Warrior during his stint.
05:46However, in 1993, Bravo's body was found at his home in Laval, Quebec.
05:52He'd been shot numerous times.
05:54The person responsible has never been found.
06:05With Bravo being the nephew of crime boss, Vincenzo Cotroni, it's believed the wrestler
06:10fell into organised crime and smuggled cigarettes into Canada.
06:14As such, it's speculated the mob had something to do with his murder.
06:28Best known for his various stints at the WWF slash WWE, Jimmy Superfly Snooker won many
06:34titles across multiple promotions throughout his career.
06:37However, in 1983, he was embroiled in a massive scandal, with run-ins with the police before
06:44After Bravo suspected domestic abuse against his partner, Nancy Argentino, officers arrived
06:49at a hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
06:52They found a badly injured Argentino.
06:56Sadly, she died from her injuries, which included massive head trauma, as well as many cuts
07:05and bruises.
07:06Beyond Argentino's parents winning a default judgement against Snooker in 1985, he didn't
07:12face criminal consequences.
07:21That changed in 2015, when he was charged with murder.
07:25However, due to Snooker being declared unfit to stand trial, the case was eventually dropped
07:31shortly before his death.
07:42On the surface, she was a pioneer in wrestling, becoming one of the most influential and famous
07:47women wrestlers to grace the sport in a career that began in 1949.
07:52However, allegedly, she took advantage of this prestige when she opened her own school.
08:05According to her former students, Moolah would take a hefty portion of their booking fees,
08:10even stealing money and claiming that the promoters had paid them little.
08:22She was also accused of sending women to promotions, promising officials intimate services for
08:27her students in exchange.
08:29In 2018, the allegations against Moolah resurfaced when the WWE planned the Fabulous Moolah Memorial
08:34Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, before the company scrapped it based on the backlash.
08:48The father of three professional wrestlers, Jake The Snake Roberts, Rockin' Robin and
08:53Sam Houston, Smith was a wrestler in his own right, working for various NWA territories
08:59and the WWF.
09:00He later became a promoter, and then a road agent with WCW.
09:04However, as detailed by his children, Smith was abusive to them and others.
09:15According to Roberts, his father was dating his grandmother.
09:19Smith allegedly then forced himself on his partner's daughter, resulting in Roberts
09:23being born.
09:24According to the wrestling legend, this traumatic experience was a key contributor to his substance
09:31issues, something we'll get into in the next entry.
09:34Robin also came forward in a documentary to state she was a victim of Smith's abuse
09:39too.
09:48Everyone loves a comeback story, but many wrestling fans seriously doubted that one
09:52Jake The Snake Roberts would ever return from the brink of his personal abyss.
10:00That's because Roberts overcame massive traumatic issues at home to become one of
10:05the business's most respected in-ring technicians, only to fall into the depths of addiction.
10:18It wasn't until linking up with Diamond Dallas Page and getting clean, where Roberts
10:23was able to return to the business he loved.
10:26Jake's struggles were even documented in the film, The Resurrection of Jake The Snake,
10:31where all of his demons were set on full display for all to see.
10:44The Ultimate Warrior was a bodybuilder-turned-wrestler that seemed destined for in-ring stardom.
10:50He had the look and the energy, but he also had an ego.
11:00The man-born James Helwig was so successful during his late 80s, early 90s peak that it
11:06seemed as if nothing could stop him.
11:09But Helwig was his own worst enemy, as conflict with WWE owner Vince McMahon led to his departure
11:15from the company, a second career as a conservative public speaker and warrior criticism for his
11:27homophobic rhetoric, although Helwig did eventually patch things up with the WWE.
11:33Strangely, The Ultimate Warrior died from a heart attack mere days after being inducted
11:39into the company's Hall of Fame, and making a memorable return on Monday Night Raw.
11:49It's called the Von Erich Curse, a string of horrific events that seem to follow the
11:57first family of Texas wrestling.
12:06There are simply no words to describe the electricity conducted by the old Texas stadium
12:12and sportatorium brawls between the Freebirds and the Von Erichs.
12:17But just as crowds cheered on their hometown heroes, so too did they weep as brother after
12:22each Von Erich brother seemed to fall.
12:25Young Jack Jr. was accidentally electrocuted in 1959, Kerry, Chris and Mike Von Erich soon
12:32after ended their own lives.
12:35While David Von Erich passed from enteritis in Japan.
12:42Although Kevin Von Erich and his sons continue on the family legacy, fans have never forgotten
12:47that hard road in the rearview mirror.
12:56Brian Pillman was a natural in the ring, a man seemingly born with everything it took
13:01to be a pro wrestling star.
13:04Charisma, looks, agility and mic skills, the athlete once known as Flyin' Brian, or the
13:10Loose Cannon, was poised for greatness.
13:13However, as is the tragic case with so many professional wrestlers, a hectic travel schedule
13:19and personal demons eventually lead down the road of addiction.
13:25Ultimately, it was a heart attack brought on by atherosclerotic heart disease that caused
13:32Pillman's death on October 5th, 1997.
13:38However, the WWE's decision to interview Brian's widow, Melanie, the next night on
13:44Monday Night Raw, was primetime poor taste at its worst.
13:51It's difficult for many wrestling fans to imagine the career of Owen Hart without
14:05the pain of wondering what he might be doing now.
14:08That's because the life of this incredibly influential performer was cut short on May
14:1323rd, 1999, when he accidentally fell from the Kemper Arena rafters to the ring below.
14:26Hart was preparing a ring entrance that required a quick release drop, only the mechanism let
14:32go too soon, leaving the fans watching at home and in the arena stunned.
14:37A lawsuit followed, with the WWE eventually settling with the Hart family for $18 million,
14:43but it was little comfort for the void Owen's loss left behind.
14:55Sometimes the line between character and performer can be incredibly blurry, while other times
15:01they couldn't be more different.
15:03Bruiser Brody was an absolute madman in the ring, coming across as unhinged during the
15:08incredibly violent encounters with contemporaries like Abdullah The Butcher.
15:13However, the man born Frank Goodish was actually a devoted family man with a wife and young
15:18son, the complete opposite to the protected character of The Bruiser.
15:23However, his time as a squared circle superstar was cut short on July 16th, 1988, when he
15:30was attacked in the shower by a fellow wrestler, Jose Juarez Gonzalez, aka Invader Juan.
15:42Medical response was slow to arrive, Brody succumbed to his injuries, and Gonzalez was
15:47acquitted of the crime in controversial fashion.
15:56She was the ninth wonder of the world, an absolute phenomenon in the world of WWE's
16:01women's division, and a pioneer for female professional wrestlers around the world.
16:06Her name was Chyna, and she deserved better.
16:09Chyna's in-ring career was well regarded during her heyday of the late 90s into the
16:14early millennium, despite the WWE being largely concerned with objectifying women than raising
16:20them up during this time.
16:22Despite this, her exit from the company was complicated due to her former romantic involvement
16:27with current company COO Triple H, while Chyna's personal life devolved into addiction, reality
16:34television appearances, and an eventual career in adult films.
16:38She passed away after an accidental overdose on April 17th, 2016.
16:51For many, the world of professional wrestling is largely about the major leagues of WWE
16:56or AEW, but there also exists the vibrant world of indie wrestling, and somewhere deep
17:05below that world lies the subculture of deathmatch wrestling.
17:09One king of this deathmatch style is Nick Gage, an absolutely brutal competitor in a
17:15world that applauds the most violent and unhinged antics imaginable.
17:20That said, Gage's personal life has seen painkiller addiction and homelessness in its
17:25rearview, while the hardcore icon even spent time in prison for robbing a bank in 2010.
17:35Today however, Nick Gage is a free man, although still as vicious and unpredictable as ever.
17:49Our third pick was cut from a similar cloth as Nick Gage, an absolutely authentic slide
17:55of pro-wrestling counterculture who was as dangerous as they come.
18:02He once told the documentary crew for the 1999 film, Beyond the Mat, that he had four
18:08justifiable homicides, he critically injured multiple opponents during his hardcore wrestling
18:13career, and he was unapologetic to the very end.
18:19New Jack was New Jack to the very end, take it or leave it.
18:23He also competed to the very end as well, despite failing health and a history with
18:28painkillers.
18:30New Jack suffered a heart attack on May 14th, 2021, leaving behind a complicated, but compelling
18:36history of violence.
18:50Known for buying the WWF from his father and turning the company into the wrestling juggernaut
18:55that is WWE, McMahon balanced his promoting works with a villainous on-screen character.
19:06Apparently, art was imitating life, only in a far more sinister way.
19:11In 2022, it was discovered he had falsified accounts to use millions of the company's
19:16finances to pay several women for non-disclosure agreements.
19:21McMahon briefly retired from the WWE as a result.
19:36The same year, former wrestling referee Rita Chatterton issued a lawsuit against him for
19:42assault from 1986, which was settled out of court.
19:46In 2024, former WWE employee, Janelle Grant, issued a lawsuit against McMahon and other
19:52officials, including John Laurinaitis and Brock Lesnar, for trafficking and abuse.
20:16It's difficult to come to terms with the amazing career of Chris Benoit, and the horrifying
20:27fall from grace that was the man's personal life.
20:35Although he was once an in-ring mainstay, Benoit committed the unthinkable crime of
20:39murdering his wife and son, before taking his own life on June 24th, 2007.
20:46It's important to note that concussion protocols weren't the same during Benoit's day as
20:50they are now, and images of Chris' brain showcase the toll that countless bouts of
20:55head trauma had on the wrestler.
20:58Of course, this changes nothing about the final outcome, but it offers a disturbing
21:03view into how the life of a wrestler can change someone from family man to madman.
21:15Are there any other dark wrestling tales we missed from the list?
21:19Let us know in those comments below.