{{short description|Canadian professional wrestler and referee}} '''John Joseph Bonello''' is a Canadian professional wrestler and referee who worked for the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s.
==Wrestling== Bonello started as enhancement talent for Big Time Wrestling. He got a push in 1980 that saw him win the Detroit version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Soloman |first1=Brian |title=Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik |date=2022 |publisher=ECW Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TpJUEAAAQBAJ |access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref> After the promotion closed, he moved to Maple Leaf Wrestling. In 1984, he faced Billy Red Lyons in Lyons’ final match for the promotion.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wells |first1=Jon |title=Mat Men; Part 2 of 3 |work=The Spectator |date=September 26, 2009}}</ref> He also wrestled for Jim Crockett Promotions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Mike |title=7/3 This Day in History: Arrest Leads to WWE Title Change, Heyman Makes UFC Debut, Piper Teams With Wahoo, Hulk vs. Putski, Backlund Turns Evil and Much More |url=https://www.pwinsider.com/article/94762/73-this-day-in-history-arrest-leads-to-wwe-title-change-heyman-makes-ufc-debut-piper-teams-with-wahoo-hulk-vs-putski-backlund-turns-evil-and-much-more-.html?p=1 |website=PWI Insider |publisher=July 3, 2024 |access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref>
==Officiating== After his in-ring career ended, Bonello regularly refereed wrestling shows at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. He refereed at Wrestlemania VI at the SkyDome.<ref name="Arrest" /> He helped train future WWF referee Jimmy Korderas.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oliver |first1=Greg |title=Toronto's Jim Korderas on Life in a Striped Shirt |url=https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2001/07/02/jim-korderas-wwfs-canadian-in-a-striped-shirt/ |access-date=11 August 2024 |work=Slam Wrestling |date=July 2, 2001}}</ref>
==Criminal conviction== On April 15, 1990, Bonello was arrested and charged with counselling to commit first-degree murder. According to police, he offered $5,000 to an undercover officer posing as a hit man to murder his wife, Diane.<ref name="Arrest">{{cite news |title=Wrestlemania referee held in murder bid |work=Toronto Star |date=April 18, 1990}}</ref> He was convicted of counselling first-degree murder, which carried a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. During sentencing, the prosecution asked for a prison term of at least six years. Diane Bonello testified on her husband's behalf, telling the court that her husband's multiple jobs (he was working full-time at McDonnell Douglas and part time as a referee and bouncer) and drug use (he was using marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, and steroids) sent her husband "over the edge." Psychiatrist Dr. Basil Orchard testified Bonello's steroid use likely resulted in a steroid psychosis. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, three years' probation, and 360 hours of community service.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crook |first1=Farrell |title=Former wrestling referee jailed for bid to hire killer |work=Toronto Star |date=April 14, 1992}}</ref> The Court of Appeal for Ontario later increased the sentence to five years, on the grounds that the original sentence "clearly failed to reflect the need for a denunciatory sentence to mark the gravity of the offence and the need to deter others similarly inclined."<ref>{{cite news |title=Court triples jail sentence for contracting out murder |work=The Globe and Mail |date=October 17, 1992}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonello, John}} Category:Canadian male professional wrestlers Category:Professional wrestlers from Ontario Category:Canadian professional wrestling referees Category:People convicted of soliciting murder
Category:Living people
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)