Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
This is the 501st 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.
Hart Burn Baby Burn
On the February 25, 1999 edition of WCW Thunder, Bret Hart took on ‘The Disco Inferno’ in a routine match. During the course of the contest, Hart called for his submission move ‘The Sharpshooter’…which Disco complied with. While in the submission maneuver, the referee told Disco not to submit, because the match was to go on another 10 minutes. Disco listened to the referee and refused to tap out. Bret released the hold and was visibly upset. Hart then grabbed Disco and performed a suplex..dropping Disco Inferno on the back of his neck. Luckily, Disco avoided any serious injury.
When the match ended, Disco returned backstage and was met by Scott Hall (Who already had heat of his own with Bret Hart) and asked Disco…”What the F— happened out there?!?” Disco explained the situation and when Hart came to the back himself, Hall stared down Hart and was greeted by Bret cursing and walking away. Nothing else came of the situation.
Japan’s Not Ready For Asuka
WWE star Asuka ripped into the Japanese media and Joshi scene (Japanese women’s wrestling) by claiming that when she was wrestling in Japan, the media hated her because she was very vocal and outspoken about the business. Asuka claims it was because of that, the media tried to have her blackballed from several Japanese promotions and wrote derogatory information about her. She said that because of all the negativity towards her, she was forced to work as a freelancer for a majority of her career in Japan because no promotion wanted her long term.
In 2009, Asuka wrote a long manifesto trashing the state of Joshi wrestling that caused her heat with several promoters and fellow wrestlers. Some wrestlers came out and complained that Asuka (Then known as Kana) worked a very stiff, dangerous style and nobody wanted to work against her. Asuka formed a group with fellow WWE wrestler Io Shirai (Iyo Sky) and Io’s sister Mio Shirai called ‘Triple Tails.’ Together, the trio worked independently and freelanced together. When the Japanese Joshi promotion ‘Stardom’ offered Io and contract and signed her….there was heat between her and her fellow stablemates (Asuka and Mio) for a brief time.
Asuka continued that when she signed with WWE, the Japanese media did everything within their power to make Asuka look weak and unworthy of the opportunity. Asuka wrote on social media…“The media could not bring me down when I came to America. “They must have really wanted me to fail. I am used to it because I have been fighting my critics alone since my days in Japan. But now that I am here, I have comrades in arms. Charlotte, Becky, HHH and… I’ve walked alone in the wilderness all my life, and here I have an oasis. To the Asuka antis, I say, beat me up on the Internet all you want. I grab everything.”
Purple Pain
Ellis Bashara was a former amateur wrestler and football player from the University of Oklahoma who turned professional wrestler in 1933. Bashara was nicknamed ‘The Purple Flash’ and competed the majority of his career as a heel. Bashara once recalled a riot that broke out during one of his matches in Galveston, Texas in 1936.
After the match ended, a group of spectators charged the ring to attack the villain Bashara. He said he started punching the fans away, until he said local police rushed the ring. He thought the police were coming in to the ring to protect him, but Bashara claimed that two officers held his arms behind his back and that allowed fans to smash a total of five wooden chairs over his head. The result was Bashara suffering a fractured skull and a broken nose. Bashara never commented on if the two police officers in the fracas were punished in any way.
Husband and Strife
Carmen ‘Cha Cha’ Monge was a female pro wrestler who competed during the late 1960’s into the 1970’s. She was married to a fellow pro wrestler named ‘Irish’ Pat Clancy. In September of 1970, Clancy was arrested after getting into an argument with his wife Monge in their car. Clancy threw several punches at Monge leaving a number of bruises on her head and face. Despite Clancy’s arrest, the couple remained married and both took a year off from wrestling to deal with legal issues and to reconcile.