Beyond the glitz and glamor, beyond the ring, and beyond the lockerroom doors, the world of professional wrestling is much, much more than just high-risk moves, blasting theme music, gimmick matches, and Superstars who we've grown to love and adore. Marks, as we call them, have believed for decades that "wrestling is fake," and that it's all "scripted," but professional wrestling is a business that matches up to no other. While legendary Superstars in Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and a handful of others have graced us and made our jaws drop with their incredible talent, amazing comebacks and title reigns, and their sheer will for more and more pain, each one of them have had their share of controversies and scandals. Some have been involved in more than others, some have been bystanders to these controversies and scandals, and, some it seems, have had their lives torn apart, or even ended, due to these differences, lawsuits, and tragendies. It is not often that one is able to or even allowed to go there, but the legends who have, say that, "Beyond the mat," wrestling is much more real than anybody could ever imagine.

Below are in-depth summaries, original news articles, and fan tributes relating to these controversies, lawsuits, and tragedies. For the lawsuits, I have linked to the official court papers of these cases. Just click on the scandal that you want to read more about.

Tragedies

• Bruiser Body is Murdered by Fellow Wrestler Jose Gonzalez: Biography 1,2, SLAM! Wrestling's Bruiser Body Editorial, Fan Tribute Website

• Brian Pillman Is Found Dead In His Minnesota Hotel Room: Pillman Found Dead In Minnesota Hotel Room, Bret Hart's Full Slam! Wrestling Brian Pillman Tribute Column, Did A Heart Attack Kill Brian Pillman?, Pillman's Autopsy Reveals Nothing, More Tests To Be Done, Pillman Will Be Missed, The Hart Family Pay Their Respects, WWF's ENTIRE Video Tribute To Brian Pillman (3.1 MB), PillmanShow.com - The Official Website of the Brian Pillman Memorial Event, Brian Pillman Fan Tribute: 1,2, Pillman Articles, Brian Pillman Biography, SLAM Wrestling's ENTIRE Brian Pillman Tribute Section w/ TONS of Archived News Stories, Photos, Multimedia, & more on Brian

• "The Rocket," Owen James Hart Falls To His Death On A Live Pay-Per-View & In Front of A LIVE Audience: Owen Hart Falls To His Death, WWF.com's Official Statement on the Death of Owen James Hart (May 23, 2001), WWF.com's Official Owen Hart Tribute Website, Fellow WWF Superstars Pay Their Respects The Next Night on WWF RAW, Owen's Fans Speak Out, Owen Hart Biography, Owen's Career Highlights, Owen Hart Photo Gallery, An EXTENSIVE Fan Tribute To "The Rocket," Owen Hart, Bill Apter's Memories of Owen, Owen's SLAM! Wrestling Obituary, SLAM! Wrestling's ENTIRE Owen Hart Tribute Section w/ TONS of Archived News Stories, Photos, Multimedia, & more on Owen, WWF Over the Edge PPV Results: Owen Passes Away

• The Von Erish's Family Tragedies - 5 out of 6 sons of Fritz & Doris Adkisson Die Untimely Deaths: Von Erich Family Biography (WrestlingMuseum.com), FadedGloryTheVonErichStory.com - The Official Website of the Von Erich's Biographical Video, KayfabeMemories.com: The Von Erichs, Another Family Bio, SLAM! Wrestling's Obituary of Fritz Von Erich (The Father), WrestlingPerspective.com: The Von Erich Story

• WWF Performer D'Lo Brown Messes Up A Running Powerbomb, One of His Trademark Moves, And Drops His Opponent, Droz (real name: Darren Drozdov) On His Neck, Paralyzing Him From The Waist Down. Droz Is Thankfully Able To Talk And Is MUCH Better Than Most Would Think: Darren Drozdov's Weekly WWF.com Column, "Droz' Two Cents," Three RARE Photos from the Match That Droz Was Paralyzed in, Including One Of The EXACT Move That Caused The Injury(!!), An Interview Done w/ Darren Drozdov In His HOSPITAL BED (Droz Discusses The Injury, How He's Doing, and More!), KnowYourNews.com Droz Biography

Controversies

• Probably the GREATEST Scandal In the ENTIRE History of Professional Wrestling - WWF Survivor Series 1999 (11/09/97) PPV: Vince McMahon Screws Bret "The Hitman" Hart: A 14-PAGE, DAY-BY-DAY Extensive, IN-DEPTH, Timeline of the Pre-Math of the Incident (Going back a while before it happened) AND the After-Math. Written by one of the greatest Pro-Wrestling Internet Writers of ALL-TIME, David Meltzer, Bret's SLAM! Wrestling Biography, Bret Hart Fan F.A.Q. - Part 1,2 (Incident, After-Match/Thoughts, & More Talked About In Both Parts of Interivew!), Bret's SLAM! Wrestling Column Archive, BretHart.net - The Official Website of Bret "The Hitman" Hart, BretHartVideo.com - The Official Website of "Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows," a video shot during the FINAL days of Bret Hart's WWF CAREER. Go BEHIND THE SCENES and see the after-match of the incident, Conversations Bret had with Vince McMahon via a hidden tape recorder just HOURS before the Montreal match, EXCLUSIVE interviews w/ the Hitman, himself! Completely UNSCENSORED! Bret is known as one of the few professional wrestlers of today that does not actually swear and shoot on others, but, have you ever wanted to hear Bret refer to WWF employees as "B*ST*RDS!?" He DOES in this video! Bret's emotions, feelings, anger, bitterness, EVERYTHING comes out on this video as you watch this documentary! CLICK HERE to order the video! I've seen it and WOW, it's like no other video of it's kind! David Meltzer describes it as, "Both the inside nature and honesty ... makes it easily not only the most accurate but also the best wrestling movie ever produced." As he was filming this video during the VERY LAST DAYS of Bret Hart's WWF career, little did he know that he would stumble upon the BIGGEST controversy, scandal, double-cross, whatever in the HELL you want to call it, in the HISTORY of professional wrestling! A MUST-SEE for ANY pro wrestling fan, and ESPECIALLY, a fan of Bret Hart!, StampedeWrestling.com - The Official Website of the Wrestling Promotion Run By Bret's Father, Stu. Wrestlers Who Trained w/ Stu: Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, British Bulldog, Chris Benoit, Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, & tons of other superstars! Enrollment info, general info, & more!, WWF Survivor Series 1997 Results: The BIGGEST Double-Cross In the HISTORY of Professional Wrestling Takes Place! (SLAM! Wrestling), Bret's SLAM! Wrestling Column Just Six Days After The Screw-Job

• Legendary WWF Commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler Leaves his Job When His Wife, Fellow WWF Character Stacy "The Kat" Carter, is "suddenly" FIRED because of, what was said as being a "BAD ATTITUDE": KingLawler.com: Jerry and Stacy's OFFICIAL Website, Featuring Picture Galleries (Stacy Practically NUDE!), Up-to-Date News, Official Statements, Multimedia (Video Clips), and TONS More!, A WrestleBoard.com Newsboard Post the SAME day of Lawler and Kat's Release, Wrestling.IGN.com's BREAKING NEWS Newsboard Post of the Couple's RELEASE from WWFE (Features EXCLUSIVE Comments from Jerry Lawler's Official Website), SLAM! Wrestling's Newsboard Post That Extreme Championship Wrestling Owner PAUL E. HEYMAN Would Be ANNOUNCING In PLACE Of Jerry Lawler On The First WWF RAW is WAR Television Episode After Jerry Lawler's "sudden" and "unexpected" EXIT from the WWFE!, The COMPLETE DOWNLOADABLE Video of UPN 9's EXCLUSIVE Interview with BOTH JERRY "The King" LAWLER & STACY "The Kat" Carter! Lawler and Carter Discuss How One WWF Wrestler Who Telephoned Them at Their HOUSE Are Having Their Jobs THREATENED By WWFE OFFICIALS(!!!!!!!!!!), How They STILL Don't Understand Why Stacy Was Released, WHY Lawler LEFT WWFE, What They're Doing Now That They've Left Their WWFE Jobs, EXACTLY What JIM ROSS Told Lawler When He Let Him Know That Stacy Was Released, ssHow PLAYBOY MAGAZINE Won't Let Stacy POSE In PLAYBOY MAGAZINE Because She Isn't An Official Member of WWFE, & How WWFE and Vince McMahon Will Probably Be Absolutely FURIOUS That They're Even Doing This Interview for UPN 9 News at 10! (Window's Media is needed to download this video), A Written Tribute to Jerry "The King" Lawler From TheWrestlingReview.com, The VERY Man Who Told Jerry Lawler That His Wife, Stacy, Had Been Released From WWFE, JIM ROSS, Speaks About Lawler & Kat's Release, Paul Heyman's Job as Filling In For Him, Fan E-Mail's, Ross' FRIENDSHIP w/ Lawler, How Lawler & Heyman's Announcing Styles Differ, & More in His Weekly WWF.com Column: "The Ross Report!", KingLawler.com's Section Devoted ENTIRELY To What Lawler's FANS Are Saying & What THEY Think About His & Stacy's "Sudden & Unexpected" Release from WWFE!

• Although It Was Later Discovered to Be a Shoot that Turned Into a Work, Jerry "The King" Lawler's Hatred for Actor/Comedian Andy Kaufman Was Definitely Entertaining, Funny, & Violent: A COMPLETE, Word-for-Word, Chat Transcript of the Night That BOTH Lawler AND Kaufman Appeared on "The Letterman Show." Includes Transcript Highlights of their WRESLTING Match!, An In-Depth Summary of What Happened Before, During, & After Their Legendary Feud, "The Memphis Flyer's" Article on the Feud, NYRock.com's Article On the Feud, Jerry "The King" Lawler's Biography, KingLawler.com: The OFFICIAL Website of Jerry "The King" Lawler!, A RARE Pic of Lawler SUPLEXING Kaufman

• WWF Performer Shawn Stasiak Fired When He Records Fellow Wrestler's Conversations As Just Joke Turns Into A Deal. He Never Gets A Second To Explain To McMahon Face-To-Face: Summary of Story (SLAM! Wrestling), Stasiak Extensive Biography (Talks About Incident), Shawn Stasiak YAHOO! Club, Shawn Stasiak Shrine (Fan Site)

• WWF Sex Scandal: Extensive Story on Scandal

Lawsuits

• Rena "Sable" Mero Files A SEXUAL HARASSMENT Lawsuit Against the WWF, and Also Sues Them For Her FULL Release From the Company AND the Rights to the Name, "Sable": A Copy of the OFFICIAL Court Papers & Files of the Court Case!!, Articles on Story: 1 (SLAM! Wrestling),2 (YAHOO! News)

• WWF Sues WCW: A Copy of the OFFICIAL Court Papers & Files of the Court Case!!

• WWFE Sues the Parents Television Council (P.T.C.): A Copy of the OFFICIAL Court Papers & Files of the Court Case!!, News Story (Wrestling.IGN.com)

• Vince Russo Verbally Trashes Hulk Hogan in Un-Scripted Profane Shoot Promo at "WCW Bash At The Beach 2000" PPV & Incident Results In Hogan Filing a Defamation Lawsuit: Articles on Lawsuit: 1 (The Atlanta Journal),2 (People Magazine Online),3 (WOW Magazine), Hulk Hogan Comments on the Occurence Just ONE Night After It Happened, WCW Great American Bash 2000 PPV Results: Russo Verbally TRASHES Hulk Hogan!