A Dark Side of Wrestling story with a happy ending of sorts.
David Schultz was a big deal in wrestling in the late 70s and early 80s. The wild redneck who took the art of the heel seriously.
Schultz would not break Kayfabe. He loved people to hate him. There is a segment where he is being interviewed by Vince McMahon in his home. He lets off a shotgun and is mean to his wife and son.
A few days later the police visit McMahon as they are concerned about the safety of Schultz's wife and son. It was all a set up. It was not Schultz's house or wife or son.
When reporter John Stossel showed up on a WWF backstage show to expose wrestling as fake. Schultz slapped him hard twice and the WWF were subsequently sued.
Later Schultz made himself come across as difficult to handle as he got in a ruck with Mr T. He became unemployable in wrestling but later got new found respect as a renowned bounty hunter.
Schultz was unhappy that McMahon made him look like a scapegoat. He claims he was just following McMahon's orders. When golden boy Hulk Hogan later injured Richard Selzer, then a chat show host. Hogan survived the controversy. Presumably Selzer munched on the payout from McMahon.
I have no doubts that Schultz just did what was asked of him by McMahon, he could had seriously injured Stossel if he wanted to.
I found that Stossel came across as a bit deceptive. Even in the early 1980s most people were aware that professional wrestling was fixed. The expose would had gone nowhere but for that incident with Schultz.
It was notable that Stossel's hearing later improved after the financial settlement with the WWF.