Why Are so Many Professional Wrestlers Dieing Young?

The recent murders/suicide perpetuated by professional wrestler Chris Benoit of his wife Nancy and their seven year old son surprised the nation. The fact that Benoit had a considerable amount of steroids in his body at the time of his death has added scrutiny to professional wrestling. Nicknamed the "Canadian Crippler," Benoit, died at the respectable age of forty. In the world of professional wrestling, many wrestlers never even make it to that age.

Professional Wrestling has legions of loyal fans and many detractors as well. While not considered a true competitive sport, there is no mistaking that its performers are top notch athletes. Getting slammed on the wrestling mat and taking chairs to the head are not the standard fare that athletes in other sports have to deal with. A good example is former World Champion Mick Foley. Despite having a physique more suited for a Champion hot dog eater, Foley has probably sustained more punishment in his career than most NFL football players. At the age of thirty-four, he retired from wrestling due to minor brain damage. Throughout the course of his career, he sustained many horrible injuries; a broken jaw, broken noses, teeth knocked out, over 300 stitches and losing two-thirds of an ear are just a few of his battle scars. Foley is proof that Professional Wrestling can be a painful occupation.

The Chris Benoit saga is not the first wrestling death to attract national attention. The tragic death of Owen Hart on live television is still remembered by many who saw Hart being attended to in the ring. The 33 year old married father of two died after falling over 50 feet into the wrestling ring after a stunt to lower him went fatally wrong in Kansas City in 1999.

However, the deaths of professional wrestlers from heart attacks, drug overdoses and suicides seem to fly under the radar and never seem to get much mediaplay. Many of these wrestlers die before the age of fifty, some as young as their twenties.

Hidden behind the choreographed performances in the ring, are the debilitating injuries, steroid usage and alcohol/drug addiction combined with the constant on-the-road traveling. These have robbed the sport of many of it's greatest stars. In just the last few years, several high profile wrestlers have had their lives end abruptly. Eddie Guerrero died of heart failure at thirty-eight which doctors believed was caused by prior years of drug and alcohol addiction. Michael Hegstrand, also known as "Hawk" half of the legendary tag team, "The Road Warriors" died at the age of forty-six in 2003. His cause of death was a heart attack due to an enlarged heart. Hegstrand, too had battled alcohol and drug addiction. It is widely believed that both he and Guerrero had also used steroids.

There is one wrestling name that is a tragic example of the problem that professional wrestling has with losing many of it's stars from untimely deaths. The Von Erich Family. At one time the five Von Erich brothers (a sixth brother Jack died in 1959 from an accidental electrocution at the age of six) were the equivalent of rock stars in the wrestling world. With good looks, charisma and athletic ability, they had attracted a large following of female fans that normally would not watch professional wrestling. David Von Erich was the first of the brothers that wrestled to die an untimely death at the age of twenty-five. David died as a result of a severe gastroenteritis which caused an intestinal blockage in 1984. For years, there has been speculation that David Von Erich had died of an accidental drug overdose but this has never been proven. Popular wrestler Ric Flair wrote in his autobiography that a friend of the Von Erich family, professional wrestler "Bruiser Brody" found David Von Erich deceased and disposed of the drugs that caused his death. Sadly the truth will never be known because years later Bruiser Brody was himself killed at the age of forty-two, as a result of being stabbed in a fight with a wrestling promoter in Puerto Rico

David's death started the downfall of the Von Erich wrestling family. Mike Von Erich committed suicide by overdosing on tranquilizers at age twenty-three after injuries caused him to retire in 1987. The Youngest brother Chris committed suicide at the age of twenty-one due to depression in 1991. Middle brother Kerry Von Erich was the only one to win the World Championship but a subsequent injury required that one of his feet be amputated. He was fitted with a special boot and he still continued to wrestle. He eventually developed a history of addiction to pain killers and was arrested for possession of cocaine. In 1993, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart. He left two young daughters fatherless. Only Kevin Von Erich survives from the family of six brothers and is now fifty years old and a grandfather. The Von Erichs (real name Adkisson) had the fame, the money and the adulation of the fans. In the end, they lost the most important thing to them, their lives.

It is not only the male performers that are dieing at a young age. Nancy Benoit was a wrestling valet and manager for many years. At one point she was teamed up with another popular valet, "Miss Elizabeth". "Miss Elizabeth," (who at one time was married to Randy "Macho Man" Savage), died at 42 from a drug overdose. Another female wrestling valet, "Sensational" Sheri Martel passed away months ago from what is believed to be natural causes at the age of 49.

What is causing so many professional wrestlers and performers to die young and in some cases take their lives. It is a known fact that many professional wrestlers take steroids. Two of wrestling's bigger names, "Hulk Hogan" and Dewey "The Missing Link" Robertson have acknowledged their use of steroids. Hogan testified in a court trial in the mid-nineties while Robertson explains in his autobiography called, "Bang Your Head," that he became destitute, suicidal and homeless from his use of steroids, marijuana, and alcohol. Former Wrestling Champion "Superstar" Billy Graham acknowledges that steroid usage caused him to have two hips replaced as well as having a liver transplant.

Steroid usage in Professional Wrestling is a problem but in my opinion it is not the main reason that wrestlers are dieing at such untimely ages. The bigger problem is drug addiction to painkillers and stimulants.

Wrestlers are expected to continuously perform despite the pain and injuries they put themselves through each night. Missing matches can cause these wrestlers to be demoted and even fired. Sometimes these wrestlers are so pumped up with painkillers they become lethargic and very unresponsive. To counteract this effect, some turn to drugs such as cocaine and other stimulants. When the matches are finished, some wrestlers need to take tranquilizers to relax. This creates not only drug addiction but a dangerous cocktail of medication that can have fatal consequences. Add to that long stretches on the road in various hotels in different cities over 300 days a year. They are away from family, and living a lifestyle of boredom, isolation, and pain. These factors easily allow depression and other psychological ailments to creep in.

Better drug testing is needed in professional wrestling as well as proper drug and psychological treatment for these athletes. In addition professional wrestlers should not be forced to compete over three hundred days on the road. Athletes that compete in physical sports such as Football and Hockey have lengthy offseasons to recuperate both physically and mentally. Since wrestling does not have an offseason, these athletes should not have to work themselves to an early death. Competing four or five times in a week should be prohibited. Wrestlers do not have a union, the main wrestling promoters make sure of that. There needs to be more regulation of the major promoters to prevent the wrestlers from being taken advantage of and dieing too young. Unions could provide health benefits and counseling to the wrestlers long after they retired, when many would need it most. If Football or Baseball had the amount of stars die like Wrestling, there would be a national outcry for congressional intervention in these sports. Why not Wrestling?

A List of Professional Wrestlers that died prematurely in the last 30 years.

Buzz Sawyer - Heat Attack Age 32.

"Ravishing" Rick Rude - Heart Failure from overdose of medication Age 40.

Jay Youngblood - Heart Attack from ruptured spleen during wrestling match Age 30.

Bam Bam Bigelow - Cocaine Overdose and Heart Problems Age 45.

Mike Awesome - Suicide Age 42.

Gino Hernandez - Cocaine Overdose Age 29.

Christopher Adams - Homicide by Gunshot Age 46.

Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig - Possible Cocaine Overdose Age 44.

"The Big Boss Man" - Heart Attack. Age 42.

Crash Holly - Overdose of Painkillers. Age 32

Dave Smith "The British Bulldog" - Heart Attack due to an enlarged heart. Age 39.

"Quickdraw" Rick McGraw - Heart Attack. Age 30

Rodney Anoa'i "Yokozuna" - Heart Attack Age 34.

André René Roussimoff "Andre the Giant" - Heart Attack. Age 46

"Big" John Studd - Liver Cancer and Hodgkins - Age 47.

Junkyard Dog - Car Accident after falling asleep at the wheel. - Age 45.

Adrian Adonis - Drowned in a car accident with two other professional wrestlers after their vehicle tried to avoid hitting a moose and veered into a lake. Age 34.

Dino Bravo - Homicide by Gunshot. Age 42.

"Bad Bad" Leroy Brown - Heart Attack - Age 37.

Rob Van Dam - Pneumonia - Age 34.