10 Wrestling Road Stories You Won't Believe
5. The Iron Sheik Gets Busted...
These days, wrestling fans understand that the heated, bitter rivalries they see each week on TV are not an accurate representation of the wrestler's real life feelings for one another. In fact, the best matches and rivalries often occur between close friends. Although this is a generally accepted fact in 2014, it certainly wasn't the case in 1987.
Back in those days, heels and babyfaces were kept separate from one another, even travelling on different buses. If a wrestler turned on his tag team partner, for example, it meant travelling in a different bus or car and possibly even staying at a separate hotel.
Despite Vince McMahons JR's WWF taking wrestling to a more kid-friendly, entertainment-orientated direction in the 1980s, the edict among the wrestlers was still to protect the business at all times. As far as WWF personnel were concerned, everything that happened in the ring was actually happening for real - and it was important to keep this illusion alive.
So you can imagine how surprising it was when American patriot Hacksaw Jim Duggan was pulled over whilst riding with his bitter adversary, the US-hating Iranian, the Iron Sheik.
...To make matters worse, they were both high as motherf*ckers...
Police discovered a vast stash of heroin, coke, marijuana and beer in the car. Of course both men were arrested, which raised a few question marks over the highly publicized grudge match they were on their way to partake in...
Amazingly, the pair actually made bail and finished their match, but once the story got out that the two hated enemies were actually good friends who shared a love of various, erm, extracurricular activities, there was A LOT of explaining to do...