Atlanta – Everything is planned. The high-flying moves. The outlandish story lines. The crackpot characters.
One thing isn’t in the script: the staggering number of pro wrestlers who die young.
Chris Benoit was the latest, taking his own life at age 40 after killing his wife and son in a grisly case that might be the blackest eye yet for the pseudo-sport already ridiculed as nothing more than comic books come to life, a cult-like outlet for testosterone-ragin’ young males to cheer on their freakishly bulked-up heroes.
But the tenacious, grim- faced grappler known as the “Canadian Crippler” was hardly alone in heading to an early grave.
The very same weekend Benoit killed his family, the body of old tag-team partner Biff Wellington (real name: Shayne Bower) was found in his bed, dead at 42.
A couple of weeks ago, former women’s champion “Sensational” Sherri Martel passed away at her mother’s home in Alabama. She was 49.
And on it goes.
Mike Awesome (Michael Lee Alfonso in real life) was found hanged in his Florida home in February, the apparent victim of a suicide at 42.
“Bam Bam” Bigelow was 45 when a lethal cocktail of cocaine and benzodiazepine, an anti-anxiety drug, stopped his already ailing heart in January.
And on it goes, dozens and dozens of wrestlers meeting a similar fate over the past two decades.
Some died with drugs flowing through their veins. Others tried to clean up but belatedly paid the price for their long-term abuse of steroids, painkillers, alcohol, cocaine and other illicit substances.
How many more must pass through the morgue before everyone stands up and shouts: Enough’s enough?
“From my 17 years in the business, I know probably 40 to 45 wrestlers who dropped dead before they were 50,” said Lance Evers, a semiretired wrestler who goes by “Lance Storm” when he’s in the ring. “It’s an astronomical number.” Then, he added in a voice tinged with anger and sadness, “I’m sick and tired of it.”
Union could be useful
Over the years, there have been numerous proposals to put wrestling under some sort of oversight, at the state or federal level. Those ideas usually have fallen on deaf ears, largely because the powers-that- be, be it the old-time regional promoters or WWE owner Vince McMahon, the guy who largely controls the sport today, don’t want the government telling them how to run their business.
Jim Wilson, who parlayed pro football into a ring career, says he was blackballed when he began pushing for a wrestlers union.
Since then, he has written a book about his experiences and kept up the push to rein in those who govern the sport.
Although Wilson’s battle often has been a lonely one, he said Benoit’s death might reinvigorate the cause.
A union could be a useful tool for cleaning up the sport. It might lead to a pension plan, improved benefits, more stringent health and safety guidelines and a revamped pay structure that would allow wrestlers to spend more time at home without risking a pay cut.
Now, most top wrestlers get a guaranteed salary, but the bulk of their income is based on how often they compete.
That leads some to feel they must get in the ring while injured, often with the aid of painkillers and other numbing chemicals.
And much like rock stars, plenty of wrestlers have fallen victim to excessive partying, alcohol and drug dependency, and marital problems during grueling stints on the road.
“My longest run was 79 days in a row without a day off,” said Joe Laurinaitis, the wrestler known as “Road Warrior Animal” and father of Ohio State football star James Laurinaitis. “It’s not as bad now. They’ve got good guys running the WWE.
“Still, we need to take a look at it when things like this (the Benoit murder-suicide) are happening. Guys are still overworked.”
That’s why Wilson’s calling for Congress to hold hearings on the wrestling industry, much like it investigated doping in professional sports and just this past week heard from ex-NFL players who believe they’re being shortchanged on their pensions.
“In those other sports, they aren’t dropping like flies like they are in the wrestling business,” Wilson said.
