10 Pro Wrestling Scandals You've Probably Never Heard Of

In August 2001, William 'The Messiah' Welch, one of Xtreme Pro Wrestling’s biggest stars, was abruptly fired from the promotion. A rising star, he’d held both their Deathmatch and their World title at the same time, and had been considered one of the faces of the company.

The firing didn’t come with an explanation, but rumours at the time had it that XPW’s founder, Rob Black, had sacked one of his top drawing stars because he’d discovered that he’d been sleeping with his wife, the porn star Lizzy Borden.

Although Welch continued to protest his innocence - his version of events was that he was fired because personal issues had caused him to no-show a couple of events - those salacious rumours continued to circulate. It wouldn’t be long before the scandalous gossip reached critical mass, when at an indie show in July 2002, Welch responded to fan chants of “you f*cked Lizzy” with a jeering “and she loved it!”

On 1 August 2002, Welch was the victim of a home invasion, when two men tricked their way past his front door claiming to be friends of his roommate, then proceeded to attack him. Taking him to the floor, one grabbed a chokehold while the other used a pair of gardening shears to cut his right thumb off.

Managing to fend them off, Welch prevented them from going for their next target, which from all appearances was to have been his penis. When they finally fled the scene, they took his severed thumb with them, substantiating the theory that they’d been paid to undertake a maiming hit on Welch in his own home.

Convinced that his two unknown assailants had been paid by Black to exact some form of revenge for the supposed cuckolding he’d received, Welch was fired up. Four weeks after the vicious attack, the Messiah returned to Combat Zone Wrestling in fine style, delighting fans and proving that pro wrestlers are the hardest men and women on earth.