The Tampa, Florida area has been the site of a startling number of professional wrestler arrests in recent years, especially in the case of DUI-related infractions in the past eleven months. The latest DUI arrest out of the Tampa area comes courtesy of WWE developmental wrestler Michael Brendli, formerly of the Spirit Squad, who was charged on Sunday night. Since last July, there have been a total of six professional wrestler DUI arrests in the area, an average of about one every two months.
Former WWE/WCW star Dan “Waylon Mercy” Spivey, now 55, was booked in Tampa’s Orient Road Jail this past summer for a DUI arrest. Former WWE star Andrew “Test” Martin, live-in boyfriend of ECW Diva Barbara “Kelly Kelly” Blank, has been arrested for DUI twice within the past nine months in the area. He was booked at Orient Road last September and at another nearby jail this past March. As many of you all know, recent WWE call-up Ted Dibiase, Jr. was booked for DUI in mid-February. And let us not forget Santino Marella, who was booked in the very same jail one month ago.
In another past Tampa DUI arrest, former WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero was booked at Orient Road Jail after crashing his car into the gate of an apartment complex. Guerrero subsequently lost his job with WWE as a result. Following his release from his WWE developmental contract, Hulk Hogan’s nephew Horace Hogan was booked on two occasions (fall 2002 and March 2003) for Driving under the influence.
The Tampa wrestler arrests aren’t only related to DUI infractions. Former WCW/WWF star Chris Kanyon was arrested and booked at Orient Road Jail in October 2005 for “disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence” at an area nightclub. Kanyon publicly claimed he did nothing wrong and was ultimately vindicated when the case was thrown out of court. And last but not least, the late Mike Awesome was booked in the same jail due to a domestic dispute with his wife in May 2006.
