10 Unique Ways Wrestlers Were Convinced To Lose Matches
1. Paul Varelans Is Offered Oral Sex?
You're reading that correctly.
It's important to note that this is a rumour, albeit one pushed by none other than Missy Hyatt in her 'First Lady Of Wrestling' book (published in 2001). She claimed that ex-UFC fighter Paul 'Polar Bear' Varelans was teased with the prospect of oral sex if he agreed to lose a fixed fight to Taz at ECW's Hardcore Heaven 1996 event.
Varelans had disputed this story in various shoot interviews over the years before his untimely passing earlier this year, but it's curious that Missy included such a tale in her autobiography. It's possible that this was an inside joke taken too far, or that Paul was flirting with Hyatt and things got ridiculous.
There's obviously no way ECW could have solicited sexual acts into any match contract. Maybe Missy was wrong, was just looking for another salacious story for her book, or maybe the men involved in the carny days of wrestling really were a bit rank. Since Heyman was heavily rumoured to have...suggested it - "evidently" is the word Meltzer used in his January 25 obituary - that last guess is probably it.
For the record, Varelans did lose on ECW's show. Only those there know what happened backstage after that.
What other unique ways were wrestlers convinced to lose? For more WWE, check out WWE Money In The Bank 2021: 10 Things That Must Happen and 10 Worst WWE PPV Matches Of 2021 (So Far)!