Over 25% of the performers from Wrestlemania VII have died

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Over-25-percent-of-the-performers-from-Wrestlema?urn=top-wp132

Mon May 23 02:27pm EDT
Over 25 percent of the performers from Wrestlemania VII have died

By Chris Chase





Over one-quarter of the performers who took part in 1991's Wrestlemania VII have died, a wrestling website noted in the wake of the death of "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
The Wrestling Observer newsletter discovered that 14 of the 51 performers at the event have died in the past 20 years, with many of the deaths attributed to drug use (link is subscription only).
The list of wrestlers who have died since 1991 include some of the biggest stars in the sport like Savage, Andre the Giant, Miss Elizabeth and The British Bulldog. Causes of death include suicides, murder and heart attacks, some the result of years of anabolic steroid use. Savage died last week after suffering an apparent heart attack behind the wheel of his truck. His ex-wife, Miss Elizabeth, passed away after overdosing on a variety of drugs in 2003.
Looking at the list is a sobering reminder of the realities of a make-believe sport like professional wrestling. Not all of the men and women listed played a part in their own demise; referee Joey Marella was the victim of a car crash that occurred when he was driving home from a match.




As wrestlinginc.com points out, none of the 44 starters from the Super Bowl played in 1991 have passed away and only two of 44 boxers who held a championship belt that year are gone.
At 58, Savage made it nearly a decade longer than some of his deceased colleagues.

This is the life they choose, they know the risks involved going in.

FWIW, WWE is way safer now. I'm not a big fan of their product anymore but it is way safer to be a wrestler now.

Wellness policy, chartered flights, some guys have their own buses. A lot different than car pooling on the road and doing roids/painkillers nonstop from the 80s/90s

You probably could have taken roll call at any 'hard-core' bodybuilding gym in 1991 and gotten roughly the same results. I personally knew several guys in this age range keel over from heart attacks/strokes from excessive steroid/illegal drug usage. My guess is we'll be seeing a lot of early checkouts with the 90's baseball guys as they start to hit their 50's as well.

As for the list, some of these guys were huge, like 400 pounds+ huge, (Andre, Earthquake, and Bossman) so they have a shorter life span to begin with. Most were pushing 300 pounds. Bravo was competing with the mob in the distribution of black market cigs, so that one had nothing to do with wrestling. Marella was a ref- Monsoon's son killed in a car wreck (fell asleep at the wheel or something). The Von Erich's were just plain cursed.

PatsFan1283 said:

FWIW, WWE is way safer now. I'm not a big fan of their product anymore but it is way safer to be a wrestler now.

Wellness policy, chartered flights, some guys have their own buses. A lot different than car pooling on the road and doing roids/painkillers nonstop from the 80s/90s

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I agree, with their policy against steroids and no more chair shots to the head the wrestlers hopefully don't be dying in their 40s anymore. However, they still take great risks in the ring and still have an insane travel schedule. I'm not a fan of wrestling anymore but glad to see the top promotion WWE making things better for their profession.

Gil Renard said:

You probably could have taken roll call at any 'hard-core' bodybuilding gym in 1991 and gotten roughly the same results. I personally knew several guys in this age range keel over from heart attacks/strokes from excessive steroid/illegal drug usage. My guess is we'll be seeing a lot of early checkouts with the 90's baseball guys as they start to hit their 50's as well.

As for the list, some of these guys were huge, like 400 pounds+ huge, (Andre, Earthquake, and Bossman) so they have a shorter life span to begin with. Most were pushing 300 pounds. Bravo was competing with the mob in the distribution of black market cigs, so that one had nothing to do with wrestling. Marella was a ref- Monsoon's son killed in a car wreck (fell asleep at the wheel or something). The Von Erich's were just plain cursed.

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I don't really see baseball players beginning to die early in droves because of the roids. Sure you'll have a few but it won't be anything compared to wrestling. It isn't just the roids with these guys, its the insane 300 day a year travel schedule, the painkillers, the pounding on their bodies, drinking, etc that was so prevalent in 80s/90s wrestling.

Also as much as guys were juicing in baseball I doubt the consumption was nearly as gluttonous as in wrestling.

PatsFan1283 said:

It isn't just the roids with these guys, its the insane 300 day a year travel schedule, the painkillers, the pounding on their bodies, drinking, etc that was so prevalent in 80s/90s wrestling.

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That's very true. Some of these guys wrestled 300 times plus a year back in the heyday, without health insurance. As independent contractors, they had to pay for all of their hotel bills, etc. It's tough to blame them for the lifestyle that they lived. Hell, I would have been coked up most of the time as well.

Gil Renard said:

You probably could have taken roll call at any 'hard-core' bodybuilding gym in 1991 and gotten roughly the same results. I personally knew several guys in this age range keel over from heart attacks/strokes from excessive steroid/illegal drug usage. My guess is we'll be seeing a lot of early checkouts with the 90's baseball guys as they start to hit their 50's as well.

As for the list, some of these guys were huge, like 400 pounds+ huge, (Andre, Earthquake, and Bossman) so they have a shorter life span to begin with. Most were pushing 300 pounds. Bravo was competing with the mob in the distribution of black market cigs, so that one had nothing to do with wrestling. Marella was a ref- Monsoon's son killed in a car wreck (fell asleep at the wheel or something). The Von Erich's were just plain cursed.

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Gil, don't you think you could probably take that some roll call now and see similar results at bodybuilding gyms.

PatsFan1283 said:

Gil, don't you think you could probably take that some roll call now and see similar results at bodybuilding gyms.

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Not sure it would be 25%, but I think it would be fairly close. Just had a friend of the family die a few months back. I think he was about 60, and his heart basically exploded due to heavy steroid usage over the years. During the past several years, two guys I knew have OD'd on illegal drugs, some died in motorcycle/snowmobile accidents, and a handful died of natural causes, heart attacks, cancer,etc. Though I can't say all were steroid users, all of them frequented the local gym back when I was going there about 20 years ago and would be in the 40-65 age range that these wrestlers would be in. I think that weightlifting/pro wrestling in general attracts the 'alpha male' types who are more likely to take risks. Many of these guys liked the party lifestyle as well, (as did I). Obviously, the travel aspect of pro wrestling made it even more dangerous.