Top 20 Darkest Real Life Wrestling Stories

If there was a Mount Rushmore for pro wrestling promoters, Gagne would be in contention. After all, he founded the American Wrestling Association in 1960 until it closed in 1991. The promotion was a launching pad for many icons, including Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, and Ric Flair. However, Gagne’s circumstances took a downswing in his later life. In 2009, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he was living at a nursing facility in Bloomington, Minnesota. Gagne got into an altercation with a fellow resident, 97-year-old Helmut Gutmann. The wrestler reportedly picked up Gutmann and slammed him, causing the older resident to break his hip. Sadly, he died from complications. Due to his illness and not remembering the interaction, Gagne wasn’t charged with murder.

“Who better than Kanyon?” Not many. Making his name at WCW, Kanyon would move to the WWE when they bought out the company in 2001. He left the company in 2004 and made sporadic appearances on the indie circuit. During this time, Kanyon came out as gay. He soon began writing a book about his struggles of hiding his sexuality in the wrestling business. On top of dealing with that, Kanyon was battling bipolar, leading to him admitting to an interview about the drastic measures he nearly took. In 2010, after Kanyon hadn’t been heard from by his family, his brother went to his home and discovered he'd taken his own life.

Flying back from the pay-per-view “Insurrextion” from England in 2002, the journey would go down in infamy for all the wrong reasons, mostly thanks to the open bar and allegations of substance use. On top of practical jokes, Brock Lesnar and Curt Hennig decided to do some mile-high amateur wrestling, causing the duo to thump against the emergency exit, which is terrifying. Michael Hayes and JBL allegedly fought, leading to X-Pac cutting Hayes’s hair while he slept. Allegedly, Scott Hall and Goldust harassed the female flight attendants verbally and Ric Flair exposed himself. Several wrestlers left the company in the aftermath, including Hall and Hennig. In 2004, the flight workers sued the WWE, which was settled out of court.

Known as Razor Ramon in the then-WWF before switching to his real name when debuting for rivals WCW, “The Bad Guy” was an underrated treasure in the ring. However, Hall had his demons, resulting in substance issues, which could be traced back to a traumatic experience he had in 1983. Shortly before he debuted as a wrestler, Hall was a bartender in Orlando, Florida, where he argued with Rodney Turner. Reportedly, Hall had made moves on Turner’s wife. After Turner vandalized Hall’s car, the wrestler confronted him, who then pulled out a firearm. Hall managed to take it from him before fatally shooting Turner. While Hall was arrested for the incident, the charges were dropped. However, he was diagnosed with PTSD.

After making her name in WCW, Daffney became one of TNA’s best women wrestlers during his stints there, all while dealing with bipolar disorder. Sadly, due to injuries, including several concussions, she had to retire from wrestling in 2011. Daffney sued TNA for unsafe working conditions and medical compensation, which was settled out of court in 2013. In a 2017 book, she detailed her struggles from repeated concussions. In 2021, Daffney live-streamed on Instagram. She gave a goodbye speech and requested her brain be studied for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. When the police arrived, they found her body. The shock ignited a discussion in the industry about mental health after other similar incidents.

Born in Italy and raised in Canada, Bravo became one of the Great White North’s biggest wrestling stars, especially after he joined the then-WWF in 1985. He remained there until 1992, having iconic matches with Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior during his stint. However, in 1993, Bravo’s body was found at his home in Laval, Quebec. He’d been shot numerous times. The person responsible has never been found. With Bravo being the nephew of crime boss Vincenzo Cotroni, it’s believed the wrestler fell into organized crime and smuggled cigarettes into Canada. As such, it’s speculated the mob had something to do with his murder.

Best known for his various stints at the WWF-slash-WWE, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka won many titles across multiple promotions throughout his career. However, in 1983, he was embroiled in a massive scandal. With run-ins with the police before for suspected domestic abuse against his partner, Nancy Argentino, officers arrived at a hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania. They found a badly injured Argentino. Sadly, she died from her injuries, which included massive head trauma as well as many cuts and bruises. Beyond Argentino’s parents winning a default judgment against Snuka in 1985, he didn’t face criminal consequences. That changed in 2015 when he was charged with murder. However, due to Snuka being declared unfit to stand trial, the case was eventually dropped shortly before his death.

On the surface, she was a pioneer in wrestling, becoming one of the most influential and famous women wrestlers to grace the sport, in a career that began in 1949. However, allegedly, she took advantage of this prestige when she opened her own school. According to her former students, Moolah would take a hefty portion of their booking fees, even stealing money and claiming that the promoters had paid them little. She was also accused of sending women to promotions, promising officials intimate services from her students in exchange. In 2018, the allegations against Moolah resurfaced when the WWE planned the “The Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal” at “Wrestlemania 34,” before the company scrapped it based on the backlash.

The father of 3 professional wrestlers, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Rockin' Robin, and Sam Houston, Smith was a wrestler in his own right, working for various NWA territories and the WWF. He later became a promoter and then a road agent with WCW. However, as detailed by his children, Smith was abusive to them and others. According to Roberts, his father was dating his grandmother. Smith allegedly then forced himself on his partner’s daughter, resulting in Roberts being born. According to the wrestling legend, this traumatic experience was a key contributor to his substance issues, something we’ll get into in the next entry. Robin also came forward in a documentary to state she was a victim of Smith’s abuse, too.

Everyone loves a comeback story, but many wrestling fans seriously doubted that one Jake “The Snake” Roberts would ever return from the brink of his personal abyss. That’s because Roberts overcame massive traumatic issues at home to become one of the business’ most respected in-ring technicians… only to fall into the depths of addiction. It wasn’t until hooking up with “Diamond” Dallas Page and getting clean where Roberts was able to return to the business he loved. Jake’s struggles were even documented in the film “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake” where all of his demons were set full-on display for all to see.

The Ultimate Warrior was a bodybuilder turned wrestler that seemed destined for in-ring stardom. He had the look and the energy… but he also had an ego. The man born James Hellwig was so successful during his late ‘80s/early ‘90s peak that it seemed as if nothing could stop him. But Hellwig was his own worst enemy, as conflict with WWE owner Vince McMahon led to his departure from the company. A second career as a conservative public speaker earned Warrior criticism for his homophobic rhetoric, although Hellwig did eventually patch things up with the WWE. Strangely, The Ultimate Warrior died from a heart attack mere days after being inducted into the company’s hall of fame, and making a memorable return on “Monday Night Raw.”

It’s called the “Von Erich Curse,” a string of horrific events that seemed to follow the First Family of Texas Wrestling. There are simply no words to describe the electricity conducted by the old Texas Stadium and Sportatorium brawls between The Freebirds and The Von Erichs, but just as crowds cheered on their hometown heroes, so too did they weep as brother after each Von Erich brother seemed to fall. Young Jack Jr. was accidentally electrocuted in 1959, Kerry, Chris and Mike Von Erich soon after ended their own lives, while David Von Erich passed from enteritis in Japan. Although Kevin Von Erich and his sons continue on the family legacy, fans have never forgotten that hard road in the rearview mirror.

Brian Pillman was a natural in the ring, a man seemingly born with everything it took to be a pro wrestling star. Charisma, looks, agility, and mic skills: the athlete once known as “Flyin’ Brian” or “The Loose Cannon” was poised for greatness. However, as is the tragic case with so many professional wrestlers, a hectic travel schedule, and personal demons eventually down the road of addiction. Ultimately, it was a heart attack brought on by atherosclerotic heart disease that caused Pillman’s death on October 5th, 1997. However, the WWE’s decision to interview Brian’s widow Melanie the next night on “Monday Night Raw” was prime-time poor taste at its worst.

It’s difficult for many wrestling fans to imagine the career of Owen Hart without the pain of wondering what he might be doing now. That’s because the life of this incredibly influential performer was cut short on May 23rd, 1999 when he accidentally fell from the Kemper Arena rafters to the ring below. Hart was preparing a ring entrance that required a quick-release drop, only the mechanism let go too soon, leaving the WWE pay-per-view at home and in the area stunned. A lawsuit followed, with the WWE eventually settling with the Hart Family for eighteen million dollars, but it was little comfort for the void Owen’s loss left behind.

Sometimes, the line between character and performer can be incredibly blurry, while other times they couldn’t be more different. Bruiser Brody was an absolute madman in the ring, coming across as unhinged during the incredibly violent encounters with contemporaries like Abdullah the Butcher. However, the man born Frank Goodish was actually a devoted family man with a wife and young son, the complete opposite to the protected character of “The Bruiser.” However, Brody’s time as a squared circle superstar was cut short on July 16th, 1988 when he was attacked in the shower by a fellow wrestler, Jose Huertas Gonzalez, aka Invader I. Medical response was slow to arrive, Brody succumbed to his injuries, and Gonzalez was acquitted of the crime in controversial fashion.

She was “The Ninth Wonder of the World,” an absolute phenomenon in the world of WWE’s Women’s Division and a pioneer for female professional wrestlers around the world. Her name was Chyna, and she deserved better. Chyna’s in-ring career was well regarded during her heyday of the late nineties into the early millennium, despite the WWE being largely concerned with objectifying women than raising them up during this time. Despite this, her exit from the company was complicated due to her former romantic involvement with current company COO Triple H, while Chyna’ personal life devolved into addiction, reality television appearances, and an eventual career in adult films. She passed away after an accidental overdose on April 17th, 2016.

For many, the world of professional wrestling is largely about the major leagues of WWE and AEW, but there also exists the vibrant world of indie wrestling. And, somewhere deep below that world lies the subculture of Deathmatch Wrestling. One king of this “deathmatch” style is Nick Gage, an absolutely brutal competitor in a world that applauds the most violent and unhinged antics imaginable. That said, Gage’s personal life has seen painkiller addiction, and homelessness in its rearview, while the hardcore icon even spent time in prison for robbing a bank in 2010. Today, however, Nick Gage is a free man, although still as vicious and unpredictable as ever.

Our third pick was cut from a similar cloth as Nick Gage, an absolutely authentic slide of pro wrestling counterculture who was as dangerous as they come. He once told the documentary crew for the 1999 film “Beyond the Mat” that he had four justifiable homicides, he critically injured multiple opponents during his hardcore wrestling career, and he was unapologetic to the very end. New Jack was New Jack to the very end, take it or leave it. He also competed to the very end, as well, despite failing health and a history with painkillers. New Jack suffered a heart attack on May 14th, 2021, leaving behind a complicated but compelling history of violence.

Known for buying the WWF from his father and turning the company into the wrestling juggernaut that is WWE, McMahon balanced his promoting works with a villainous on-screen character. Apparently, art was imitating life, only in a far more sinister way. In 2022, it was discovered he had falsified accounts to use millions of the company’s finances to pay several women for nondisclosure agreements. McMahon briefly retired from the WWE as a result. The same year, former wrestling referee Rita Chatterton issued a lawsuit against him for assault from 1986, which was settled out of court. In 2024, former WWE employee Janel Grant issued a lawsuit against McMahon and other officials, including John Laurinaitis and Brock Lesnar, for trafficking and abuse.

It’s difficult to come to terms with the amazing career of Chris Benoit and the horrifying fall from grace that was the man’s personal life. Although he was once an in-ring mainstay, Benoit committed the unthinkable crime of murdering his wife and son, before taking his own life on June 24th, 2007. It’s important to note that concussion protocols weren’t the same during Benoit’s day as they are now, and images of Chris’ brain showcased the toll that countless bouts of head trauma had on the wrestler. Of course, this changes nothing about the final outcome, but it offers a disturbing view into how the life of a wrestler can change someone from family man to madman.


Are there any other dark wrestling tales we missed from the list? Let us know below.