6 WWE Stars Who Got In SERIOUS Trouble With The Law

One of the most notable post-boom period wrestling tragedies from an era overflowing with them, the 2003 death of Elizabeth "Miss Elizabeth" Hulette was a dark and deeply depressing end to a life that had so often been presented as angelically bright.

For a long time (four years, but it was the 1990s, so an eternity), it felt as though she'd left professional wrestling behind. A 1992 divorce from Macho Man Randy Savage took her off the road, off screens and off the industry's radar. All until she made a surprising return to screens in early 1996 following Randy's move to WCW. In a startling creative twist that was shocking to the point of feeling outright impossible, she turned heel just weeks later, initially linking up with Ric Flair before joining the New World Order and becoming a remarkably impactful run-in merchant for the group. Savage, in particular, worked well with and against her during the highs and lows they shared within the group. 

Back married to the job, she ended up divorced again, having separated from second husband Cary Lubetsky along the way. This paved the way for a real-life relationship with Lex Luger, mirroring their on-screen partnership as the company entered its long spiral down the drain starting in late-1998. It ultimately proved fatal, following a series of increasingly ugly incidents that preceded her tragic death. In April 2003, Cobb County police charged Luger with battery after a domestic dispute left Elizabeth with two black eyes and a cut lip. The couple found themselves in legal trouble again only days later when Luger rear-ended another vehicle while driving under the influence, with an intoxicated Elizabeth riding as a passenger. The horizon looked bleak, and so it came to pass just a fortnight late. 

Hulette was pronounced dead at 42 following, per police, "acute toxicity" thanks to a lethal combination of vodka and painkillers. Luger's heart-wrenching and frantic 911 call actually made it to WWE television via its shamelessly exploitative use on short-lived magazine show Confidential. The sad aftermath of her untimely death only deepened the sense of cruel tragedy. 

Police reportedly found several prescription medications in the home she shared with Luger, and the case became part of what was now felt like an out-of-control problem of substance abuse within professional wrestling. Not that it can be considered the case that helped stem the tide - alas, there were many more deaths to come before the business at long last found itself under untenable scrutiny following the murder of Nancy and Daniel Benoit by their respective husband and father Chris. Luger's legal troubles didn't go away, even though the death had been ruled as accidental. He pled guilty to drug possession charges, earning a fine of $1000 and a five year probation spell that included periodic drug tests. Two years into that time, he was found to have violated his probation - alongside Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell, he got in bother for causing acts of disturbance on a Canadian airplane. Alongside the incident itself, Luger hadn't obtained legal permission to the leave the country, and was given four months in a Cobb County jail.