Top 10 Wrestlers Who Turned Out to Be Terrible People

#10: Hardbody Harrison

Hardbody Harrison was best known for his stint as part of the WCW roster between 1995 and 2001. At first, he worked as a jobber but found himself at odds with the company when he was part of a successful multi-plaintiff lawsuit filed by Sonny Onoo, Bobby Walker and several others against parent company AOL Time Warner, alleging racial discrimination. When the WCW was absorbed by the WWF, his contract was not renewed. However, in 2008, he was sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking, after he was found to have eight women living in his house as slaves. He maintained he was training them as wrestlers, but he was also forcing them to engage in sex work and imposing fines for poor behavior.

#9: Tammy Sytch

Tammy Sytch, known as Sunny, became one of wrestling’s trailblazing divas during the mid-90s after outgrowing her original gimmick appearing with her former partner Skip as the “Bodydonnas.” However, as her fame grew, so did her alcohol and substance use disorders. Eventually, she became more famous for finding herself at odds with the law than she did for her talents in the ring. It all came to a head for Sytch in 2023 when her record of domestic violence and disorder arrests were followed by a 17-year prison sentence for killing a 75-year-old man in a DUI driving accident. Her reckless behavior ended up tarnishing her career and legacy.

#8: The Fabulous Moolah

The Fabulous Moolah was a trailblazer in every sense of the word. Between her earliest days right up to the 1980s, she was a dominant force within women’s wrestling. She even retained a presence in the ring, albeit a reduced one, well into the 1990s. In the years that followed, dark truths about some of the protegés she trained came to light… mainly due to the fact that she had exploited nearly all of them financially. She skimmed off the top from everyone she helped in the business to a far greater extent than normal and allegedly then verbally abused and mistreated them behind the scenes. Some claim there was also sexual exploitation. All in all, she was generally considered a lecherous tyrant by many.

#7: Billy Jack Haynes

In his prime, Billy Jack Haynes was a solid and dependable wrestler for the WWF, probably best known for his showdown with Hercules Hernandez at WrestleMania III. He quietly retired from performing in 1996. His only notable moment came in 2016 when he was part of a group of wrestlers who sued the WWE for long-term brain injuries they had sustained. Or at least that would have been the only moment of note if he hadn’t been arrested for the murder of his wife in 2024. She was 85 and suffering from dementia. Haynes, who was 71, mentally and physically abused her and siphoned money from her while she was incapacitated.

#6: Jimmy Snuka

During his career, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka was a revered babyface to the fans, a high flyer whose influence is still felt to this day. However, behind the scenes, things were a lot more complicated. For decades, Snuka dealt with questioning over the mysterious death of his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino, in 1983. He claimed that her death was due to accidental head trauma, but he completely changed the circumstances of his story years later. Autopsy reports suggested she had been hit several times. By the time the authorities started to press Snuka on the details, he had developed dementia and later passed away due to stomach cancer at the age of 73.

#5: Jimmy Savile

You might be surprised to see this notorious British figure ranked on our list, but between the 50s and 70s, Savile claims to have had hundreds of matches. Like everything he said, it’s best to take it with a pinch of salt, but his ties to wrestling and some of his standout matches are well documented. Of course, he was best-known as an English media darling and the presenter of many TV shows on the BBC. However, after his death in 2011, the horrific revelations about his predatory nature came to light - making Savile one of the most despised men of the 20th century. He was a danger to minors for decades, actively abusing his power to maintain his utterly disgusting lifestyle a secret.

#4: Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith

Aurelian “Grizzly” Smith should have had a legacy worth being proud of after a memorable run in the late 50s and 60s. He was also the father of wrestlers Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Rockin' Robin, and Sam Houston. Unfortunately, his reported mistreatment of them puts a horrible stain on it all. Jake The Snake’s mother was still a teen when she gave birth to him. To avoid being charged with myriad unforgivable crimes, Smith somehow married the teenager, which nullified the crime. He then proceeded to mistreat his own offspring. The word ‘monstrous’ doesn’t even begin to describe Grizzly Smith’s actions.

#3: Invader #1

José Gonzalez is a wrestler whose name and chosen moniker, Invader #1, still brings a shudder to most fans who remember the murder of Bruiser Brody. He was a star in Puerto Rico and joined the WWF in 1972, but all of his positive moments were overshadowed by the controversy surrounding one night in 1988. Gonzalez stabbed and killed Bruiser Brody, real name Frank Donald Goodish, in what he claimed was self-defense in the backstage showers. Unfortunately, despite his claims being patchy, the jury believed him and he was acquitted. Some claim that Brody roughed Gonzalez up a little too much in the ring during their match and that the murder was payback, but he never saw the inside of a jail cell.

#2: Chris Benoit

The story of Chris Benoit is probably the most famous case study we’ll feature in this video, at least to modern day wrestling fans. Once seen as one of the hardest working men in the business, Benoit’s reputation was left totally in tatters when he murdered his son and wife before taking his own life in 2007. It was a turn of events that came out of nowhere… and while it did open a discussion over CTE and brain trauma within the sport, Benoit’s crimes are unforgivable. Scans later showed he had sustained so much damage in the ring that his brain resembled an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient. Benoit’s is one of the darkest stories in wrestling history.

#1: La Dama Del Silencio

There are plenty of horrendous people who have stepped into the ring, but none are quite like Juana Barraza, or La Dama del Silencio. The fact that she was a professional lucha libre wrestler is a mere footnote in her story due to the fact that she allegedly murdered as many as 48 elderly women during her life. Estimates place the number anywhere between 42 and 48 victims, one of whom were under the age of 60. Supposedly, her relationship with her abusive mother fueled this desire for revenge. She became a serial killer who spent around a decade and a half on a killing spree. She was charged with 11 of those murders and is currently serving a 759-year sentence in prison.

But what despicable wrestler do you think should have found a spot on our list? Let us know in the comments below?