Wrestlers Who Were Really Weird People

The wacky world of pro wrestling blurs several lines. Quite often the best storylines on screen end up having some basis in reality — to the point that wrestlers argue over who wins in a predetermined sport and real fights break out in the locker room. Let's just say it's a strange profession inhabited by real characters who wouldn't look out of place in a cartoon.

In more than a few cases, it's tough to determine where the persona ends and the actual person begins, as various wrestlers proved to be really weird people — in fact, some of them were wilder outside of the ring than in it. Take someone like the Ultimate Warrior, who decided to legally change his name to Warrior because he could. That's probably the least bizarre thing he did, as he created a comic book series where he decides to beat up Santa Claus. Why? Who knows. Maybe he didn't get a Super Nintendo when he wrote to Saint Nick and asked for one in the '90s.

With that said, let's head back to the past to find out more about famous wrestlers who were really weird people.

André the Giant established himself as a phenom in wrestling, as fans traveled far and wide to see the enormous man in action. For the bulk of his career, André portrayed a friendly giant — a fan-favorite who made people smile rather than cry. Behind the scenes, André's reputation was largely the same, as most of his co-workers loved him. However, André the Giant used to do one thing, which came out after his death, that didn't exactly make him environmentally friendly.

On the "Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw" podcast, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase recalled an incident with André in a Japanese hotel elevator that had everyone gasping for air. DiBiase explained how they were heading down the elevator, and more people filed in on every floor. André turned to DiBiase and winked before he proceeded to let out an almighty and lengthy fart. "I know it's the Giant," DiBiase said, "but how could any human possibly have that much air in their body?" Needless to say, André cleared out the elevator, as everyone ran for the hills on the next floor.

As it turns out, this wasn't an isolated incident where maybe André still had some remnants of bad Taco Bell in him. Cary Elwes, who starred with André in "The Princess Bride," also confirmed that his co-star was a bona fide foghorn. "Somebody timed it," Elwes said on the "LiveKellyandRyan" show. "It was 16 seconds."

When it comes to wrestling's roughest performers, the name New Jack often pops up in debates about who was the most vicious of all time. A stalwart of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) at its peak, New Jack received attention and notoriety for his violent style inside the ring, using weapons and leaving himself and opponents in bloody heaps. New Jack's dangerous persona wasn't a gimmick; it was the real-life personality of the man born Jerome Young.

In the early 2000s, New Jack competed in a match against Vic Grimes that left him injured. According to New Jack's comments on an episode of Vice's "Dark Side of the Ring," Grimes never called him to check up on him. The wrestlers faced off in a Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) match a year later, which was scheduled to see Grimes thrown from the top of a scaffolding through a stack of tables. New Jack sensed a chance for revenge, so he bought himself a taser and used it on Grimes until the wrestler couldn't feel his legs. Then, as New Jack said, "Bombs away." He flung Grimes off the top with no concern for his safety. "I wanted him to hit the floor," New Jack said. "I just didn't throw him hard enough."

Grimes survived the fall, and in New Jack's mind, they were "even." This wasn't the only incident in which New Jack would go off script and attack other wrestlers with the intention to do harm to them.

"Macho Man" Randy Savage portrayed a tough guy with a heart of gold when it came to Miss Elizabeth, who would be both his on- and off-screen wife. In the storyline, Savage would explode into jealous fits of rage if he felt other wrestlers were coming on to her — especially a notable angle that led to a clash between him and his tag team partner, Hulk Hogan, due to Hogan saving Elizabeth.

According to other wrestlers, Savage's intense jealousy wasn't only in character but also a part of the man himself. Hogan revealed on "The Steve Austin Show" how he once helped Elizabeth get into the ring at a show in Paris, France, and Savage reacted in anger, accusing him of touching her inappropriately. They argued throughout their match and they almost exchanged blows in the back, but cooler heads prevailed in the end.

Appearing on "The Hacksaw Hour" podcast, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan confirmed that most of the issues between Hogan and Savage originated because of Savage's intense jealousy. "Macho was extremely possessive of Liz," he said. "He checked the mileage on the car if he'd leave her at home. He was kind of crazy over Liz." Duggan added that it was this type of behavior that eventually resulted in Elizabeth divorcing Savage.

Part of the untold truth of the Ultimate Warrior is that the wrestler was really weird in real life. It wasn't only his rambling promos that left everyone baffled about what he was talking about, but he also left everyone wondering what he was doing outside of the ring. Famously, he changed his name from James Hellwig to just Warrior and penned strange and controversial blogs on his website.

One of Warrior's weirdest projects, however, was a comic book series he co-wrote titled "Warrior." In it, he gives himself a superhero origin where he's born on a different planet, then sees a symbol in the sky that looks like his face paint. Somehow, this gives him his mystical "Warrior" powers, and yeah ... every panel is a whole bunch of word salad that only Warrior himself understood.

Yet, the comic book origin isn't even the most bizarre element of the series. In one issue, he beats up Santa Claus, puts on his clothes, delivers presents to the kids, and saves orphans. That's not even the worst of it, because he chains up Santa and does unthinkable things to Saint Nick. Let's say this isn't one comic book that anyone needs in their collection.

In the '80s, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka turned into a major fan-favorite superstar, thanks to his innovative and death-defying high-flying style. His rivalry with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, in particular, became must-watch television for wrestling audiences, as the pair put on a clinic of what makes the soap opera known as pro wrestling so compelling to watch. Despite the 1980s being the peak of his career, Snuka found himself in trouble with the law in 1983.

His 23-year-old mistress, Nancy Argentino, died from an injury determined to be caused by her head striking an object, which occurred at the motel where Snuka and Argentino were staying. According to official documents, Snuka told the officers that he pushed Argentino and she fell, hitting her head; however, he changed his story later, claiming he misunderstood the question and that Argentino had fallen by herself and hurt her head after climbing out of the car. There was a big question mark surrounding the incident and Snuka's version of events, with even a forensic pathologist encouraging the case to be investigated as a homicide.

Thirty years after Argentino's death, the case was reopened and Snuka arrested. However, the court determined that he was not mentally competent to face a trial, so the charges were dropped and he was released, with the case left unsolved. Snuka died of cancer in 2017 at the age of 73.

The Fabulous Moolah forged a Hall of Fame career and remains a legendary name in pro wrestling. Moolah is widely regarded as one of the best women's wrestlers of all time, as well as a pivotal part of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection that took the sport mainstream in the '80s. However, the woman born as Lillian Ellison has seen her legacy tarnished due to disturbing accusations about how she ran her wrestling school.

Several of her former students came out with allegations about Moolah's predatory practices and expressed that she was a wrestler who was also a terrible person. Speaking to SLAM! Sports, Mad Maxine, who once served as Moolah's protege in the then-WWF, called her "evil" and explained how Moolah exploited the students. According to Maxine, Moolah kept her students in a compound and charged them amounts of up to $1,500 to stay there. "The girls went into debt to her and she controlled their lives," Maxine said. "I made sure I had a job so I could have a phone and a car. The others were kind of marooned. It was an environment ripe for abuse."

This is only one of the serious allegations leveled against Moolah, as Maxine stated that Moolah used to send out the ladies to a man based in Arizona. "That was part of Moolah's way of making money," she said. "She was just a bad person. Moolah didn't have a good bone in her body."

When someone looks back on the history of pro wrestling, Dusty Rhodes' name features in the sport's greatest chapters. Not only was the American Dream one of the most charismatic performers to ever lace up his boots, but he also played a vital role as a booker and trainer in his later career. In addition to this, he's the father to both Dustin and Cody Rhodes, two highly celebrated talents who have left their own special marks on rasslin'.

Rhodes was certainly a character, with many other talents having stories about his quirks and personality. However, one of the weirdest tales came straight out of Rhodes' own mouth. For years, a rumor did the rounds that Rhodes and Dick Murdoch had a pet donkey that they kept in their apartment. Speaking to Bleacher Report, Rhodes confirmed the story about the rodeo donkey named Zeb. "He could take a handkerchief off his back leg and untie it," Rhodes said. "He could kneel down and bow."

There was a problem, though: the donkey used the apartment as his own personal bathroom. Eventually, a knock arrived on the door, telling both Rhodes and Murdoch that they couldn't keep a donkey in their apartment. "He said 'Gentlemen, you can't have a donkey in a place like this,'" Rhodes said. "True story. I've got pictures too."

Tom Billington, aka the Dynamite Kid, attracted attention for his impressive in-ring ability as one half of the British Bulldogs tag team. While the Dynamite Kid didn't reach the pinnacle of pro wrestling, no one disputed his talent when he stepped in between the ropes. Watch any modern wrestling nowadays, and his influence runs deep in the ring.

A back injury impacted his ability to perform in the ring — something that Bret "Hitman" Hart led to his professional and personal life spiraling out of control. On the "Confessions of the Hitman" podcast (via Wrestling Inc.), Hart claimed that the Dynamite Kid possessed a nasty temperament, stating how he saw him shooting at animals in his yard and how problems escalated between the Dynamite Kid and his wife, Michelle Smadu.

Smadu confirmed how bad things had gotten between her and Dynamite Kid on an episode of "Dark Side of the Ring." After continuous fighting, a pregnant Smadu handed the Dynamite Kid a one-way ticket to England and asked him to leave their home. According to Smadu, he attacked her in front of their children before he went to the basement to retrieve his shotgun. He pointed the weapon at her, telling her to leave or he would shoot her. After a back-and-forth discussion, Smadu packed her bags and left with their children.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Not a single person can dispute that Roddy Piper lived a rowdy life. Whether it was as the best bad guy in the wrestling business in the '80s or as a Hollywood actor, Piper left a lasting impression on anyone who ever met or watched him in action.

Piper didn't experience many boring moments, that's for sure. In fact, the wrestling icon shared one of the wildest true-life stories that anyone is likely to ever hear. Speaking to SLAM! Wrestling, Piper discussed the time in which he went alligator hunting with fellow wrestling personalities Kevin Sullivan, Wally Dusek, and Bill Alfonso, because he wanted a pair of alligator boots.

As Piper explained, they found an alligator, so Piper shot the creature. The alligator moved back into the water where it remained still, and Piper and the crew threw stones at the alligator for several minutes, attempting to see if it would move. Eventually, Sullivan told Piper to go into the water and grab the alligator. "So I took my pants off and went into the swamp, and as I went to waist level, this alligator dove underwater and half a second later, I was on the hood of the car," Piper said, as he revealed that everyone laughed at what happened.

Harry Fujiwara, aka Mr. Fuji, featured both as a wrestler and manager in pro wrestling for over three decades. Unquestionably, most fans remember him best for being the manager of Yokozuna and the Demolition tag team.

Fuji was also renowned for his outstanding cooking ability; however, it's unlikely that anyone would want to go over to his place for a bite after hearing a shocking story about the secret ingredient in his "bow wow teriyaki." According to former WWE wrestler Al Snow, the infamous — and quite frankly, crude — wrestling angle where the Big Boss Man fed Snow his own dog was inspired by Fuji. "That was inspired by Mr. Fuji, who had in real life apparently did that to a neighbor's dog he didn't like," Snow told Wrestling Inc. "Art imitates life."

According to Hillbilly Jim's recollection on Hannibal TV, the story was that someone owed Fuji money. After the man dodged Fuji for so long, Fuji invited him over for a teriyaki dinner. The man complimented Fuji on the dish, to which Fuji revealed to him that he had fed the man his own pet dog as revenge.

In the ring, there was no one else quite like Luna Vachon. From her distinct look to her gravelly voice and aggressive style, she's someone who stood out whenever someone tuned in to the program. According to former WWE wrestler David Heath, aka Gangrel, Vachon's high intensity didn't stay confined to the squared circle.

Appearing on "Dark Side of the Ring," Heath explained how scared he became of her when he first met her at Florida Championship Wrestling, where she walked in and growled like her character on screen. His friend Tom Nash knew her, though, and asked if she could travel with them to training, but Heath was hesitant because of her intensity. Nonetheless, he conceded. "I'm driving," Heath said. "And then she crawls over, and she starts hitting me. Like, 'Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me?'"

When they arrived at their destination, Heath claimed that Vachon launched onto his back and bit him. As he complained to another person about her actions, the individual replied, "That's Luna, you idiot." Heath not only forgave Vachon for biting him, but they also got married.

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