Pro-wrestling, at least up until the early 90s, had quite a sticky image in the mainstream sphere. It was an industry that was stereotyped as a cesspool of drugs, promiscuity and unnecessary violence.
The WWE – the industry’s largest promoter – has tightened up the ship since then by implementing the in-house Wellness Policy and the no-blading rule, apart from attempting to rectify public image through a number of social outreach campaigns.
Today, WWE is viewed as an upstanding athletic endeavour thanks to these efforts, and its Superstars are the last ones who you would associate with criminal activity. However, a fair few of them have been on the wrong end of the same.
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Here then, is a lowdown of 5 WWE Superstars that were victims of heinous acts of crime.
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#5 Wade Barrett
We kick off the list with a former employee of the WWE and one of the Superstars that the company was most guilty of underutilising, Wade Barrett.
The Englishman’s Nexus run could well have ended with the WWE Championship around his waist, but the theme of disappointment that was then sparked off by him jobbing to John Cena would go on to set the tone for the rest of his career in the WWE.
But I digress.
Wade Barrett’s background before he began honing his craft in NXT was one of bare-knuckle fighting in the streets of England and elsewhere in Europe.
During one such ominous expedition to Budapest, Barrett was jumped in an alleyway by an assailant with a knife, in the hope that he could rid the Englishman of the 20k that he had just earned by virtue of rearranging his opponent’s face.
And although the thief gave him an ugly looking scar, stretching from his upper back to right triceps, Barrett managed to stave off the robbery attempt and fought his way out of the situation.
The police weren’t called to the scene later on, but they really didn’t need to be.
In Barrett’s own words, “ If I’ve ended up with a 12-inch scar on my body, just imagine how the other guy ended up looking”.
#4 Perry Saturn
The Perry Saturn story is truly one of the most heartbreaking incidents in contemporary pro-wrestling. He was always an underrated worker when he was in his prime – rarely receiving his due – and to compound matters, his fall from grace has been nothing short of devastating either.
Atlanta, 2004.
Perry Saturn stops two men who were trying to rape a girl but gets shot once in his shoulder and once in his neck for his troubles. In the aftermath of the traumatic incident, his life devolves into meth addiction, and predictably, one unfortunate event leads to the next.
His addiction took a toll on his finances, and he was left homeless, not once but twice in the years following the incident. Unable to cope and maligned by his family, Saturn finally reverted to a Go Fund Me page on January 12th, 2017, seeking assistance to help him get back on his feet.
For those of you who can help him out, here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/perrysaturn
#3 Paige
Although hacking a pro-wrestler’s social media account or private library doesn’t really constitute a ‘serious crime’, the repercussions of this particular transgression were distasteful in the extreme and likely cost Paige her WWE career.
The hacker in question released adult videos of Paige having intercourse with former boyfriend Brian Maddox and prominent member of New Day, Xavier Woods, sparking off a frenzied wildfire where most of the pro-wrestling fraternity was left scrapping to get their hands on the clips before they were taken down.
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It really damaged Paige’s chances of continuing her WWE career, what with her fiancé Alberto Del Rio already at odds with the company following his release.
Most importantly though, from a humanitarian perspective, it was extremely humiliating for Paige, and we can only hope that she would recover in time from the public shaming that she went through after the videos were leaked.
In every sense, a truly unfortunate and distasteful act perpetrated against her.
#2 Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper was one of the finest heels in pro-wrestling history and played a pivotal role in getting Hulk Hogan over with the fans. And unlike now, when almost everyone understands the way in which the industry functions, heels in that era used to engender real heat from the fans.
And when I say real heat, I mean as real as it can get. Piper, for instance, was stabbed by fans no less than three times in his career!
The most devastating and the last of the stabbings took place in Raleigh, North Carolina when a fan’s knife just missed Piper’s heart by an inch! Untimely as his demise was and deeply saddened by it as we all were, we could have lost Roddy Piper much earlier had that fan found his mark.
Gives me the goosebumps to even envision the scenario...and not the good kind either.
Rest in piece, Roddy. You were loved.
#1 Jamie Noble
Half of the infamous J&J security that ensured that the WWE Championship remained with Seth Rollins for the better part of a year, it was quite ironic that Jamie Noble himself was left defenceless when three cowardly men ganged up on him in his front porch in October of 2016.
Initially, only one of the men had accosted Noble, accusing him of driving irresponsibly. Despite receiving an apology, the man attacked Noble, forcing the wrestler to subdue him and take him to the ground. On seeing this, two of his friends joined in and ganged up on the 40-year-old.
One of the assailants had a knife and viciously stabbed Noble, rupturing his lungs with one thrust and barely missing his neck with the other. The attack was broken up when Noble’s girlfriend came out of the house and raised the alarm.
By then, however, his lungs were already filling up with blood rapidly, and he was transported to the hospital. Noble underwent surgery for the next 4 days, in an attempt to get his lungs fully functional again.
Although he has made a recovery since, the details of his attackers are unknown till date, and they are – unfortunately – still at large.
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