Is Wrestler's Rescue A Scam?

In the autumn of 2008, former wrestling valet - Dawn Marie - set up a charity titled Wrestler's Rescue. Its mission was to help retired wrestlers who were in need of aid.

The charity seemed like a good cause. I had heard of fundraisers taking place and had even read that Steve Williams was given a voice box when he was battling the cancer which eventually killed him.

Or so I thought.

News broke this week - via the Hit the Ropes radio show - that Wrestler's Rescue was being investigated by the FBI. It is alleged that Dawn Marie, and the people associated with her charity, have failed to help anyone other than themselves.

Mike Aldren, editor of The Wrestling Globe Newsletter, in an email correspondence with Irv Muchnick wrote that former friends of the valet claim she uses the money from the charity to fly herself across the world to appear at fan conventions and, as she has paid her own flights, asks for a free vending table.

Aldren was sent legal wording from Dawn Marie's lawyers but Aldren - who writes for The Sun newspaper - shot back asking for evidence that Wrestler's Rescue was a registered charity.

It isn't.

I wrote a few years ago about the essay writing scam that Terri Runnels was pulling when she was offering her house to the winner. Of course, the small print read that each contestant had to pay $200 per entry and there had to be five thousand essays for the competition to open.

When this competition failed to generate the number of entries needed, refunds were meant to have been issued minus a $20 'administrative fee'.

I'm not going off in a tangent. There is a reason why I am bringing up the 'Make the World Write' scam as Terri Runnels is alleged to have been involved with Wrestler's Rescue as well.

The charity seems dodgy but should we be surprised?

Professional wrestling has had a long history of being associated with con men and fraudsters.

Wrestler's Rescue seemed like a genuine cause and I would hate to think that a lot of people have handed over their money believing they are helping their heroes when, in reality, they were sponsoring an alleged con artist using the dark, post-career fate of many as a hook.

With that said, the evidence against Wrestler's Rescue is strong.

Too strong.