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WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler was recently arrested on domestic assault charges, and the WWE responded by suspending him indefinitely. Well, until a few days later when the charges were dropped. The whole mess, according to Lawler, was a huge misunderstanding. Still, one has to imagine how frustrating this must be for WWE chairman Vince McMahon. WWE is a publicly traded company, and every time they take two steps towards mainstream respectability, something like this latest incident drags them three steps back.
It’s a long road to escaping the past.
You see, back in the day, especially in the '80s and '90s, WWE let all kinds of behavior fly. Illegal stuff. Despicable stuff. It was a different time, when WWE wrestlers lived a more hedonistic, rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle—lots of coke, lots of alcohol, and lots of sex. Back then, as long as you drew money and could show up for work the following morning, the company allegedly turned a blind eye or pushed the worst of it under the rug.
But things have changed, or so we hope. Here are 10 WWE wrestlers who were accused of some heinous stuff and suffered little to no backlash.
Michael Hayes
Scandal: Racist language, allegedly enabled a recovering alcoholic
Status: WWE Agent/Producer, WWE Hall of Famer, Class of 2016
We’re starting this list with a guy who hasn’t done anything that he could be arrested for, per se; the rest of the entries are much more clear cut. Still, we have to ask ourselves—why hasn’t Michael Hayes been tossed out on his Confederate-loving ear yet? He said to Mark Henry, “I’m more of a n*gger than you are.” He called lead writer David Kapoor a “sand n*gger.” He allegedly went out drinking with Rosa Mendes, after she got back from rehab. And this is just what has leaked to the public.
So let’s compare: Titus O’Neil gets suspended—almost fired—for grabbing Vince’s arm in a playful manner, but Michael Hayes is still gainfully employed? Not a good look, guys. And it’s not like they’re keeping him in a back room somewhere; Hayes is still asked to do commentary on various WWE documentaries, and earlier this year, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Fabulous Freebirds.
Jerry “The King” Lawler
Scandal: Alleged rape and sodomy of a 13-year-old girl
Status: WWE color commentator, WWE Hall of Famer, Class of 2007
Lawler, in addition to being a legendary Memphis wrestler, is one half of the greatest announcing duo in the history of the business. Jim Ross doing play-by-play plus Jerry Lawler doing comedic heel commentary equals absolute gold. At the very least, they enhanced whatever match they were calling. At their best, they were the most entertaining part of their match.
Lawler’s most recent domestic abuse rap is not the first time that the King has been in serious trouble with the law. Back in 1993, Lawler was charged with the rape and sodomy of a 13-year-old girl. And although those charges were eventually dropped, Lawler did plead guilty to harassing a witness in the case—a 14-year-old girl who was going to testify against him.
Initially, WWE suspended Lawler, but let the 2007 WWE Hall of Famer back into the fold after the worst charges were dropped. In recent years, however, it seems like Lawler is being slowly pushed out the door. He was removed from his color commentator post on Raw after 19 years, and even though he still does color commentary on Smackdown, he’s almost non-existent on PPVs. This recent arrest might be the final straw that WWE needs to finally cut ties.
“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka
Scandal: Alleged murder in the 3rd degree
Status: WWE Hall of Famer, Class of 1996
We’ve gone over this pretty extensively, but to put it bluntly: All the evidence indicated that Snuka killed his girlfriend in 1983, and no one, neither WWE nor the Pennsylvania police, seemed particularly inclined to investigate any further. Even despite damning physical evidence and multiple conflicting statements by Snuka himself.
Snuka would continue wrestling for WWE despite the obvious implications, and he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2015, after the suspicions and charges resurfaced once again, Snuka’s profile was removed from the online WWE Hall of Fame. Still, the company was more than happy to make money off him, and proudly associated with him, during all those intervening years.
“Nature Boy” Ric Flair
Scandal: Alleged sexual assault
Status: Currently employed by WWE, WWE Hall of Famer, Class of 2008
This incident took place on the infamous “Plane Ride From Hell,” an alcohol-fueled orgy of debauchery and excess that occurred on a seven-hour flight from Great Britain to the United States in 2002. Brock Lesnar and Mr. Perfect got into a amateur wrestling match on the plane. Michael Hayes and JBL got into a fist fight. Scott Hall was a lecherous creep.
But Flair took the cake. He walked around the plane wearing only his robe, flashing the flight attendants, twirling his penis, and forcing the flight attendants to put their hands on his crotch. WWE settled the attendants’ lawsuit out of court, and they inducted Flair into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.
Fabulous Moolah
Scandal: Alleged corruption, alleged sexual exploitation
Status: WWE Hall of Fame, Class of 1995
The Fabulous Moolah is one of the most celebrated female wrestlers of all time, and is touted by WWE as their greatest champion, having held the women’s title for longer than anyone else in the company’s history. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995. In her latter days with WWE, she was well-known for doing comedy bits with fellow WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.
Moolah and her husband, Buddy Lee, ran a school for female wrestlers decades ago, and anecdotal accounts tell a dark story. For a time, Moolah took a black female wrestler named Sweet Georgia Brown under her wing, and in an article written for the Free Times, Brown’s children aired out a ton of dirty laundry. Among the allegations: Brown was raped and drugged on the road in an effort to control her. The article heavily implied that Moolah stiffed Brown’s family on their mother’s earnings. Moolah, in her defense, denied any wrongdoing. But former WWE wrestler and valet Luna Vachon corroborated that Moolah was a shady person. According to Vachon, when Vachon was sixteen years old, Moolah sent her to take pictures for an older male cardiologist. They were non-nude pictures, but still, the incident comes off as shady to say the least.
The British Bulldog
Scandal: Alleged spousal rape, alleged domestic abuse
Status: WWE Legend
Alright, prepare to be horrified. The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith, is a beloved icon of WWE thanks in part to his connection to the Hart family—he trained in Stu Hart’s famous Dungeon and married into the family by way of Stu’s daughter (and Bret and Owen’s sister), Diana Hart. In 2001, Diana wrote a book called “Under The Mat,” and it revealed some terrible dirt. Here’s an excerpt:
“Florida is where Davey starting drugging and raping me. Davey told me a Florida wrestler named Duke "The Dumpster" Droesse figured out how to make GHB liquid. The recipe is easy to obtain now, but in those days it was just coming into vogue.”
Here’s another excerpt:
“At the time all I knew was that unusual things were happening to me. I developed really bad hemorrhoids and woke up with my posterior burning and sore. I felt something had happened to me during the night, but couldn't understand what. I thought maybe I was losing my mind. Part of being married is being able to trust the person you are married to. I never dreamed Davey was slipping me this drug in my nightly glass of orange juice in order to violate me. It just never even occurred to me.”
And here’s one more:
“I bit my lip. “After taking the orange juice Davey gives me at night, I'll wake up in my bed and not remember how I got there. Davey tells me not to worry. He says, "I took care of you."
I covered my face in my hands. “And sometimes he'll say, “You were really cute last night." And I'll ask him, “What do you mean?" He'll answer, “Oh, you were really cute, you looked really pretty last night," almost as if we'd had incredible sex or something. But I have no idea what the heck he's talking about."
The book was later pulled from shelves, after Martha Hart, wife of the late Owen Hart, filed a lawsuit. Many members of the Hart family have come out against the book, calling it a pack of lies. Even Diana has distanced herself from it. But since Davey Boy is dead, she is the only one who can completely disavow it.
Goldust
Scandal: Alleged domestic abuse
Status: Currently employed by WWE
Goldust, real name Dustin Runnels, has been a loyal employee of WWE for over 20 years. That time, however, has not been continuous, and while working the independent circuit in 2005, Runnels struck his girlfriend and sent her to the ER.
Even worse, he did so in front of his daughter, who he conceived with former valet and ex-wife Terri Runnels. Ten years later, Goldust is clean and sober, and he’s a well-respected veteran in the locker room. But things could have gone a much different way, especially if they had occurred in today’s WWE.
Haku
Scandal: Alleged assault
Status: WWE Alumnus
The locker room is unanimous on this point: Haku is one dangerous, crazy dude. He’s a man whose actual exploits live up to his legend. For years, rumors circulated that Haku had bitten off a man’s nose in a bar fight. When asked about this incident in a shoot interview, Haku confirmed its truthfulness. He and the man were at the Baltimore airport in a hotel bar, and a man had the unfortunate impulse to tell Haku, to his face, that wrestling was fake. Haku, in his own words:
“And I reached over without thinking—there are four other guys there—grabbed his face, and bit his nose off. Then the fight started. Me and Siva kind of cleaned house there and left. I'll never forget it.”
Let’s do a comparison. If you have an out of date prescription for painkillers in today’s WWE, you get a 30-day suspension. But if you bit off a civilian’s nose off back in the day, you were a living legend. Consistency!
The Big Show
Scandal: Alleged indecent exposure
Status: Currently employed by WWE
The Big Show is one of WWE’s top big men. That’s made all the more impressive by how long he’s been in the business. Usually, a man of his size loses his mobility after over 20 years of hitting the ropes. But still, Show is out there, doing his thing and starring in multiple PPVs per year.
Back in 1998, Big Show was arrested for a particularly embarrassing charge—exposing himself to a motel employee. The charge was eventually dropped, however, due to insufficient evidence. At the time, Show was employed by WCW. WWE hired him the following year, and he’s lucky that they gave him a chance.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
Scandal: Alleged domestic abuse
Status: Podcaster on WWE Network, WWE Hall of Famer, Class of 2009
If there’s anything on this list that the WWE wishes never happened, or prayed would just go away, it’s this one. Ex-wife and former WWE valet Debra accused Austin of physically beating her while they were both employed with WWE. In an interview with Sean Hannity in 2007, Debra claimed that not only did WWE employees know about the abuse, but they were actively complicit in covering it up. They didn’t want anyone to know that their top money-making star was a wife beater.
Their measures allegedly ranged from concealing the bruises on her face to placing a gag order on her so that she couldn’t talk about what happened. Today, Debra is no longer employed by the company, and Austin is a WWE Hall of Famer with a regular show on WWE Network.