Pro wrestlers charged with faking fight

Fight

By: Davy James – Staff Writer
Two professional wrestlers were charged with disorderly conduct after staging a fake fight at a township restaurant during the early morning on Aug. 21.
John Rechner, 38 of Spring Lake Heights, and John Kissell, 45, of South Brunswick, told police they had staged the fight to draw attention to their upcoming match in Perth Amboy.
At 12:30 a.m., police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting a fight at the One South American Grill at 4095 Route 1. Responding officers were advised that one of the suspects displayed a knife before fleeing in a vehicle.
"The fight was staged at the outside area of One South as the restaurant was closing and the crowd started gathering to watch the fight," said police spokesman Sgt. James Ryan. "Most of the people thought it wasn’t real, but then when one of the guys pulled out a knife the 911 calls started coming in."
Officers stopped the two suspects in a vehicle driven north by Mr. Rechner on Route 1 near New Road. At that point, Mr. Rechner told police the fight was staged because they were pro wrestlers trying to draw attention to their match.
Mr. Rechner, who wrestles under the name "Balls Mahoney" and was formerly employed by World Wrestling Entertainment and Extreme Championship Wrestling, told police the knife was still in his vehicle.
Mr. Kissell, who wrestles under the name "The Outpatient," told police Mr. Rechner held the knife during the staged fight but never advanced towards him.
Sgt. Ryan said the two wrestlers had a third person videotape the incident to post on youtube.com. Officers went back to One South and reviewed the restaurant’s surveillance video of the incident and spoke with witnesses.
After reviewing all of the facts, Mr. Rechner and Mr. Kissell were charged with disorderly conduct and released.
"This probably worked out better than they wanted it to because they wanted publicity and there is no greater publicity than getting charged with a crime," Sgt. Ryan said. "But we take this seriously because we had to devote resources to the scene and any of the responding officers could’ve been hurt. We have many concerns about this incident, but I think the two men involved realized that this was a bad plan that got a lot worse."