The status of Edouardo Anibal Gonzalez Hernandez (Juventud Guerrera) in World Championship Wrestling is in serious jeopardy following his arrest after going berserk in an apparent drug induced rage on 10/7 at the Marriott Hotel in Brisbane, Australia the morning before the Nitro taping and first show of the tour.
Gonzalez, 24, was arrested after police officers using capsicum spray as he had stripped himself naked and was throwing chairs and screaming obscenities and threatening to kill himself near the hotel restaurant. WCW officials called police when they were unable to control him at about 10:40 a.m. as he was stripping his clothes off at the hotel in front of wrestlers, patrons and autograph seekers while people were eating breakfast at the restaurant hotel, and swearing and yelling at wrestlers and office people including Oscar Gutierrez (Rey Misterio Jr.), Charles Ashenoff (Konnan), Terry Taylor and Glen Gilbertti (Disqo). Several of the wrestlers and WCW officials tried to get him under control, and failing to do so, Taylor called for the police. The situation was said by one official to be scary to the point they were afraid his reaction to the drugs was potentially life threatening based on comments he was making, and they were unable to get him in his hotel room where it wouldn't become a public and media spectacle. There was also some fear even if they got him in his room, he'd try and jump out the window and kill himself. Some put heat on WCW officials who called police, Taylor in particular, as opposed to settling it in quietly, and on everyone involved for not subduing Gonzalez, being that he's not a big guy, but not among those close to the situation. All attempts to control him failed as he was wildly throwing blows at anyone who came near him.
Media beat police to the hotel, and the Ch. 7 news showed police dragging the unclothed 165 pound wrestler out of the building. In what onlookers said was a scene reminiscent of a pro wrestling high spot, when the first three officers were unable to control him physically, one sprayed mace at him, which he ducked, and it went in the eyes of another officer. Several bystanders at the hotel were also affected by the spray.
Gonzalez was violently throwing punches and kicks at three of the six officers who were needed to finally take him to the ground and detain him, including one punch breaking the rib of a female officer.
He was taken to jail and held until a hearing on 10/9. While in jail, police found two green ecstasy tablets in his sock. Those close to the situation attributed his behavior not necessarily to ecstasy as has been publicized in the Australian media, but believe a second drug was actually responsible or it was a reaction of a combination of the second drug with the ecstasy, the latter of which is a popular party drug among some of the younger wrestlers in the company. The belief is because ecstasy doesn't usually send people into violent rages. Because he was so hard to handle, it was speculated something he smoked was unknowingly laced with PCP or acid. Gonzalez himself said he smoked something at a night club a few hours earlier that was given to him by someone, and believed whatever it was, caused him to lose his mind and he was very embarrassed by his behavior. Peter Shields, who represented Gonzalez at the hearing, was able to convince the court to not put a conviction on his record because it would threaten his career, which requires international travel. Shields argued Gonzalez was a Mexican native and the sole provider for his family of a wife and a child and pro wrestling was the only profession he knew. He said Gonzalez was out celebrating with other wrestlers on the tour and had accepted the drugs and described what happened as a severe reaction.
At the hearing, Gonzalez plead guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to two counts of assaulting police and one count each of disorderly conduct, indecent exposure and possession of a dangerous drug. He was ordered to pay $2,050 in fines and pay $1,400 in compensation to the three officers he attacked, which works out to a total of about $1,850 in U.S. currency.
Gonzalez showed up on his own late the prior evening at a night club that at least a half dozen of the WCW wrestlers were at, where he allegedly got whatever it was that he smoked. He went back to the hotel with the group but was out of control that next morning in the hotel lobby.
He was screaming, saying things like, "I'm gonna die. It's my turn to go." He wanted some of the wrestlers with him, including telling Gutierrez and Ashenoff to take their clothes off, which they wouldn't do in a public place. He began stripping, saying, "This is how I came into this world and this is how I want to go out." When the two wrestlers tried to control him, he threw hard punches at both of his best friends in the company, and grabbed both of their glasses and broke them and threw Ashenoff's glasses in Taylor's face when he tried to intervene. David Finlay, a known tough guy, who was on tour as an agent, showed up, but he couldn't control him either.
He was sent home after the court case and there was much speculation he would be fired for his actions, but at press time, nothing was officially said.
It has been almost tradition to have some sort of embarrassing public flare ups on international wrestling tours, due to being away from home and the wrestlers seeing such tours as one giant party. Memorable incidents have included Leon White's (Vader) arrest in Kuwait after snatching a host on a television show, Sid Eudy's (Sid Vicious) violent hotel room brawl with Marty Lunde (Arn Anderson) in England which saw Lunde stabbed numerous times with scissors, and Scott Hall being not allowed to leave England earlier this year by airport authorities causing him to miss a Nitro just six days before a PPV show that he was scheduled to main event.
For Gonzalez, who may be the most talented in-ring performer in the company, this incident could threaten his future, particularly because it can't be dismissed as an isolated incident in a company filled with problems stemming from lack of internal discipline. Gonzalez, who started wrestling professionally at the age of 15 and was something of a child prodigy in the business, goes back-and-forth between Chula Vista, CA and Mexico City as his home base, but is a citizen of Mexico whose father is a Mexican wrestling legend under the ring name and mask as Fuerza Guerrera. Earlier this year it was feared he would be deported from the United States stemming from trying to escape from police in a movie car chase scene after a television taping in State College, PA in a DUI case, but his lawyer was able to argue to allow him to plea bargain to allow him to remain in the country and keep his job. In another incident last year, Gonzalez and Dionicio Castellanos (Psicosis) were driving wildly in a parking lot and accidentally ran into and injured the knee of Robert James Jr. (Brad Armstrong), who required surgery. Ironically, the expected sale of the company may save his job, because new owners would possibly start everyone with a clean slate, especially since Gonzalez is popular among the rest of the crew, and would be very valuable to a company wanting to rebuild based on presenting a quality in-ring product. At the same time, the lack of discipline within the ranks has created the attitude that was one of the reasons the company went down in the first place, and tolerance of things like this for someone who has already had legal trouble sends a dangerous message to the crew about what is considered tolerable behavior within the company on the road.
and 
at same cotdamn time. 
when Dave was on about the cancer thing (I was 
when Bryan explained about the movie) but he never implied the cancer wasn't legit. 
*plays Sonic "Starlight Zone" theme*
