To the WWE’s credit, the freakish “larger than life” superstars we remember from the 80s and 90s no longer seems to be the norm. Wrestling journalists including Dave Meltzer have pointed out loopholes in the program, including part-timers like Brock Lensar not being required to partake in drug testing. If the wellness policy was simply a PR move to cover their asses when the next wrestler dies is still up for debate amongst fans. His death was largely ignored by the company. More vigorous drug testing takes place thanks to a Wellness Program introduced in 2006 after the sudden death of Eddie Guerrero. As a publicly traded billion dollar conglomerate, they can’t risk the scandals of yesteryear. The negative health effects of steroid use and their contribution to WWE deaths is still being studied, but today, the company seems to be cleaning up its act. He was eventually acquitted, although many of the surviving wrestlers from the 80s and 90s eras admit to taking steroids by their own willingness, including top billed talent like Hulk Hogan. If we take a look back to the early 90s, WWE owner Vince McMahon stood trial for various steroid-related charges. Steroid scandals and their contribution to wrestler deaths The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NBA have the luxury of an off-season. The fact is that professional wrestlers don’t have an easy job in the ring, or a forgiving lifestyle outside of it. Warrior died from a heart attack at age 54. Pictured here, The Ultimate Warrior in 1989. In the early 90s, WWE owner Vince McMahon was under scrutiny for various steroid-related charges. Substance abuse, often leading to heart issues, being a major factor in all three of those wrestler deaths alone. It’s a deadly formula that continues to contribute to WWE deaths to this day. While drug and alcohol abuse wasn’t the unfortunate formula responsible for all wrestler deaths, it’s still a pretty alarmingly consistent formula – especially for the various WWE deaths we saw in the 2000s and later throughout the 2010s. When you’re pressured to physically work through injuries, numbing yourself with drugs and alcohol shouldn’t exactly be a surprisingly scenario. The end or decline of a wrestler’s livelihood. What happens when you’re an injured wrestler and can’t perform? You risk “losing your spot” – industry jargon for your storyline being scrapped by the creative team. This can often be the decline, or end of a career. Outsiders are quick to dismiss wrestling with the ever so popular claim that makes wrestling fans everywhere cringe: “It’s fake!” Choreographed with pre-determined outcomes, sure, but “fake” tends to dismiss the unbelievable bumps that can end in real-life injuries or occasionally, wrestler deaths. Thankfully still with us today, here Sid suffers a compound fracture mid-match during his WCW run. Someone please go tell Sid Vicious that wrestling is fake. But wrestling is fake, right? The rough life inside and outside the ring A dark side of wrestling surely exists, or at least existed, and every year we’re seeing the aftermath with more and more WWE deaths. We can’t blame the media for only reporting on the dark side of wrestling. But are these headlines surrounding deceased wrestlers warranted? Most mainstream media attention surrounding wrestler deaths was overwhelmingly negative. When a wrestler dies, the headlines too often seem to include steroids, drug abuse, early heart attacks, or worse. Like him or not, journalist Phil Mushnick hit the nail on the head in 1997 when he said “sadly, the early deaths of professional wrestlers is treated much like the deaths of cartoon characters – ‘they can’t be real people, so they can’t die real deaths’.” WWE deaths were not looked at in the same light as those in the NFL or MLB. Another wrestler dies and the news would practically be swept under the rug. Unlike other major sports, it wasn’t until the last decade or so that wrestler deaths were even acknowledged by mainstream media. Most of the tribute websites I found lacked information, or were sorely outdated. I grew up watching the WWF in the 90s, and it always blew my mind how many wrestlers seemed to die at a young age. Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon, a popular duo in the early 90’s – both dead before age 50.
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