In the 1980s he was part of one of the most legendary WWE shows, now Billy Jack Haynes is facing murder charges: He allegedly shot his wife, who was suffering from dementia
Suspicion surrounding a WWE star of the 1980s: Ex-wrestler Billy Jack Haynes is facing charges for the alleged murder of his wife, who suffered from dementia.
The 70-year-old was arrested in his home town of Portland on Thursday for allegedly shooting his wife of 15 years, Janette Becraft. According to local media reports, the police were alerted to the sound of gunshots and Haynes is said to have barricaded himself in for hours before turning himself in.
Haynes is currently still in hospital for treatment for undisclosed reasons, according to a police statement, after which he will be transferred to prison and charged. The further background is unclear.
Biggest appearance at WWE Megashow
Haynes (real name: William Albert Haynes), who learned wrestling in Bret Hart’s father Stu Hart’s legendary “Dungeon”, was part of the then WWF between 1986 and 1988.
The hugely muscular heavyweight with the action star look had borrowed his character from the western series “Billy Jack”, he had been introduced as a challenger to the dazzling icon “Macho Man” Randy Savage, who held the Intercontinental title of the league at the time.
Haynes played his most famous match at the mega-event WrestleMania III in 1987, in the shadow of the big duel between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. He faced the prematurely deceased Hercules Hernandez in a duel of musclemen.
Haynes was a convinced steroid user
Haynes, who retired from wrestling in 1996, enjoyed a reputation in the scene as an unpredictable figure. He cemented this reputation after his career with so-called “shoot interviews”, in which Haynes told wild anecdotes from his life as a wrestler, which often contradicted each other. He also made abstruse statements and theories about events such as the Chris Benoit murders
Haynes built up his muscle look with the help of steroids and defended the abuse, which was proven to be endemic in wrestling at the time, with conviction. “95 percent of wrestlers take steroids – the other 5 percent are idiots,” he said in an interview in 2006.
After his career, Haynes suffered from health problems: in 2013, he was hospitalized due to complications from a severely enlarged heart artery and damage to his liver and kidneys, and he was later part of an unsuccessful class action lawsuit against WWE for consequential head injuries.
