"Well, if you have an athletic background and have been around sports for a while, you know there's only one way to do that. "Somebody says you need to put 25 pounds on your upper body," said Larry DeGaris, who teaches sports marketing at the University of Indianapolis and moonlights on the independent wrestling circuit as "The Professor" Larry Brisco. Steroids and other muscle-building drugs long have been an accepted part of the wrestling culture, allowing the biggest names to pump up to proportions that wouldn't be possible through natural means. It's a health issue that's appropriate for us to discuss, regardless of the profession." "The issue is anabolic steroids, which are a significant problem and are known to cause significant difficulties. "I'm not going to start speculating on federal regulation of wrestling," he said. Isakson said his main concern is steroid abuse. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who instructed his staff to begin gathering information on the issue to determine if a hearing before the Health Committee might be warranted. "Now is the time to push for legislation nationally." "In those other sports, they aren't dropping like flies like they are in the wrestling business," Wilson said. That's why Wilson's calling for Congress to hold hearings on the wrestling industry. Still, we need to take a look at it when things like are happening. "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. 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. Since then, he has written a book about his experiences and kept up the push to rein in those who govern the sport. Jim Wilson, who parlayed pro football into a ring career, says he was blackballed when he began pushing for a wrestler's union. 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. Over the years, there are been numerous proposals to put wrestling under some sort of oversight, be it at the state or federal level. "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. Others tried to clean up but belatedly paid the price for their long-term abuse of steroids, painkillers, alcohol, cocaine and other illicit substances. Some died with drugs flowing through their veins. "Bam Bam" Bigelow was 45 when a lethal cocktail of cocaine and benzodiazepine, an anti-anxiety drug, stopped his already ailing heart in January.Īnd on it goes, dozens and dozens of wrestlers meeting a similar fate over the past two decades. 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. A couple of weeks ago, former women's champion "Sensational" Sherri Martel passed away at her mother's home in Alabama. 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. One thing isn't in the script: the staggering number of pro wrestlers who die young.Ĭhris 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.īut the grim-faced grappler known as the "Canadian Crippler" was hardly alone in heading to an early grave.
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