It’s time now to look at the uglier side of pro wrestling. Despite what we may think, professional wrestlers, especially WWE Superstars, are not superhuman. They’re prone to the same kinds of bad choices that regular people are.
And this, unfortunately,includes the ugly realm of domestic violence.
The 5 wrestlers on this list are the most recent cases of WWE superstars that embroiled themselves in domestic violence controversy.
#1 Drew McIntyre
He’s moved on and is making quite a name for himself on the indy circuit, but former WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre (now wrestling as Drew Galloway), is probably best remembered for his time in WWE.
Initially pegged as “The Chosen One”, handpicked by Mr. McMahon as a future World Champion, Drew’s once promising career took a turn for the worse when word got out that he had been involved in a domestic violence incident with his then-wife Taryn Terell (former WWE Diva Tiffany).
Despite what you might think, McIntyre was not the aggressor, but the victim. In August of 2010, Taryn was arrested following an alleged fist fight with her then-husband and suspended indefinitely by WWE.
While the couple would split and she would be released by the company, Drew hung around though his career was never the same. His reputation seemingly tarnished by the whole thing, Drew would spend the rest of his days in WWE as a low-card worker, both in singles competition and as a member of jobber faction 3MB.
Vince surely couldn’t have been too happy about that!
#2 Ric Flair
If there’s one thing Ric Flair is known for, aside from being the most prolific professional wrestler to have ever lived and being a 16 time World Heavyweight Champion, it’s his complicated love life.
Flair has been married, divorced, and engaged more times than the law should allow. With the wild party boy image that he’s never shied away from, it’s no surprise that eventually, a case of domestic violence came out of the woodwork as well.
In what might be a relief to fans of the Nature Boy, like Drew McIntyre, Flair was not the aggressor in his particular incident, but the victim. In February of 2010, Flair’s then-wife Jaqueline Beems, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly beating up her then-husband.
Flair, who was just about to turn 61 at the time, suffered minor injures and refused treatment at the scene. The pair divorced not long after.
#3 Rosa Mendes
Known for her fiery personality and for being the former manager of Primo and Epico (back when they were a halfway serious tag team), Rosa Mendes has found herself at the center of quite a bit of controversy during her tenure in the WWE.
That controversy came to a head in August of 2012, when she filed battery charges against her then-fiance Andy Slocum (Former WWE Superstar Jackson Andrews).
Slocum, who was later busted for being engaged to both Mendes and another woman at the same time, would be released from WWE (having not been anything more than Tyson Kidd’s on-screen bodyguard), while Mendes would allegedly seek to enter rehab.
There’s a belief amongst many backstage in WWE that the incident may have been fabricated, though Mendes was photographed by San Antonio police with scratches and bruises on her body.
#4 Adam Rose
One of the two most recent domestic violence incidents in WWE involved former WWE Superstar Adam Rose.
Rose, a hard working wrestler who consistently struggled to gain any sort of momentum after being brought to the WWE main roster, was already serving a 60 day suspension for violating the company’s hard-nosed Wellness Policy for the second time when he was arrested in May of this year.
He was also charged with tampering with a witness and battery as a result of a confrontation with his wife. Rose was accused of grabbing her face and screaming at her in the midst of a heated row.
Already in the doghouse, WWE upped Rose’s 60 day suspension to an indefinite suspension due to the company’s zero tolerance policy for domestic violence. While the charges against Rose (real name Raymond Leppan) have been dropped, he requested, and was granted, his release from the WWE.
His wife and him have since gone on to reconcile with one another and the case has been dropped.
#5 Jerry “The King” Lawler
The most recent domestic violence issue WWE is dealing with involves legendary pro wrestler and color commentator, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler. King and his fiancee were both arrested for a domestic violence incident that each party blamed on the other.
While the details are still being sorted out, Lawler claims his fiancee was intoxicated, scratched him across the face, kicked him in the groin and was threatening to kill her, while the fiancee in question, Lauryn McBride, claims Lawler hit her in the head and pushed her against a stove.
Both parties, as of this writing, have been ordered to stay away from each other and Lawler will not be on WWE TV for the foreseeable future, if ever again, depending on the outcome of the dispute.
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