Admittedly, I’m a fan of pro wrestling.  Ever since I saw Ravishing Rick Rude saunter to the ring with Bobby the Brain Heenan, grab a microphone and admonish the thousands of “fat, out of shape sweat hogs” in attendance, I was hooked (what this says about me remains to be seen).

Not surprisingly, I’ve had to laugh at much of the 24 hour cable news coverage of the Benoit double murder suicide.  Instead of using their power to offer “investigative journalism” and objectively “serve the public”, the coverage on MSNBC Fox News and various other outlets has been quite awful.  It’s been more an avenue to bash pro wrestling and Vince McMahon rather than discuss a mysterious story that has more questions than answers.

The strongest piece of “evidence” that professional wrestling is what NY Post columnist Phil Mushnick calls a “death mill” is the so called “LIST” of professional wrestlers that have died at a young age.  It’s been repeated on Fox News, MSNBC, and even on the Today Show. 

Unbeknownst to the media discussing it, the list is misleading and not 100% true.  But hey, that’s never stopped the 24 hour cable news networks from going bananas and taking things out of context and to the extreme, so I guess I shouldn’t be annoyed and frustrated.

I’d like to point out that although I’m a fan of wrestling, I’m not naïve to the use and abuse of steroids, pain killers, alcohol, and potentially other recreational drugs.  In no way am I saying that a healthy portion of wrestlers past or present abstained from living a reckless lifestyle.  What I am arguing, however, is that the current state of wrestling and more specifically, WWE, is healthier then it once was, and is nowhere near the level the national media is currently painting it. 

I’d also point out that since no one on these “infotainment” news programs seems to do any research whatsoever, certain statistics get regurgitated.  The more they’re repeated, the more absurd they become.  As evidenced by the following:

"Sixty wrestlers under the age of 65 have died since 1985." - Meredith Viera, NBC Today Show

This is the most accurate statement I’ve encountered regarding young wrestler deaths, not withstanding the fact that Meredith fails to mention how any of them died.

"Sixty wrestlers have died in 10 years under the age of 45." * - Debra Marshall, ex-wife of Stone Cold Steve Austin

“Since 1997, there have been 1,000 pro wrestlers 45 and younger.  65 wrestlers died.  25 killed by heart attacks.  5 of 25 deaths from steroid use.  12 deaths from other drugs.” * – MSNBC

This quote is kind of hilarious because a) there have been more than 1,000 pro wrestlers under the age of 45 since 1997.  We aren’t told if it’s just WWE or just North American wrestlers so there is no telling where this group of wrestlers comes from.  Second, while they’ve attacked WWE for trying to divert the media from blaming steroids and “roid rage”, they mention that 5 deaths were directly related to steroid use.  But instead of saying “5 of 65”, they make it worse by lumping it into the “5 of 25” (5 of 25 heart attacks) category.  What’s looks worse: “1 in 5” or “1 in 13”?  Also, medical examiners concluded "steroids might have played a role" in the '5 of 25' deaths.  Finally, MSNBC fails to specifically mention any risk factors other than “steroids” by referring to alternative causes of death as “other drugs”. 

Thanks fellas.

"Look at the record, I mean 60 wrestlers have died in the last 10 years.” * – Steve Adubato, MSNBC Media Critic

"It is absolutely relevant to ask why almost 65 wrestlers under 45 have died in the past 10 years.  That is a disproportionately high number based on what we know and based on what we know about the side effects of steroids." * – Dan Abrams, MSNBC

Once again, we’ve got factually inaccurate and misleading information.   It's unbelievable that these people are reporting the news and shaping the opinions of many uninformed people in the country.

Of the 60, 65 or whatever the number really is that the outlets are referring to, the following wrestlers have died before age 65 since 1985 of causes not related to the “pro wrestling lifestyle”.

* Denotes statistics based on USA Today study from 2004, which fails to list out wrestlers by name.  And in a "coincidence", the study comes out 8 days before the 20th installment of WrestleMania.  Finally, the study is 3 years old, so everyone citing it doesn't have up to date information (including the person writing this.)

Jay Youngblood - 30 ruptured his spleen in a match and had a series of heart attacks when rushed to the back, where he died.

Joey Marella - 30 car accident

Chris Candido - 33 - blood clot complicated from surgery to repair broken ankle

Adrian Adonis - 34 car crash

Yokozuna - 34 - massive heart attack (he was 600+ pounds)

Marianna Komlos - 35 breast cancer

Mark Curtis - 38 stomach and bowel cancer

Johnny Grunge - 39 sleep apnea complications

Vivian Vachon – 40 Car accident

Brady Boone - 40 car accident

Randy Anderson - 41 cancer

Bruiser Brody - 42 murdered

Earthquake - 42 bladder cancer

Nancy Benoit (Woman) - 43 murdered

Dino Bravo - 44 murdered

Junkyard Dog - 45 car accident

Andre the Giant - 46 growth hormonal problem (acromegaly)

Big John Studd - 46 liver cancer, Hodkin's Disease

Giant Haystacks - 55 cancer

The Spoiler - 56  leukemia

Moondog King - 56 Bell's Palsy, heart problems, car accident breaking two bones in his neck and pinching a nerve in his spinal cord

Shohei Baba - 61 cancer

Wahoo McDaniel - 63 complications related to diabetes

Also, who is to say a few of the names on lists of wrestler deaths didn’t die from heart attacks stemming from natural causes?  Dusty Rhodes’ former WWF manager “Sapphire” is listed as dying at age 61 due to a “heart attack”.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Sweet Sapphire died of natural causes and not because of “steroids”.  Look at her picture for Lord’s sake.

On one list of wrestler deaths, the following wrestling organizations were at one time, places of employment for some of the dead wrestlers:

AAA, All Japan, AWA, CWA, ECW, EMLL FILL, GWF, IPW, IWA, MECW, MSW, New Japan, NWA, NWCW, NWF, Pacific Northwest Wrestling, OWW, PWF, SOW, Stampede Wrestling, SWCW, TCW, UCW, USWA, UWF, WCCA, WCW, WWA, WWE, WWF, WWWC

If you didn’t do the counting, that’s 32 organizations which various wrestlers on the list previously wrestled.  If you were to include 32 professional organizations of any field, and then lump it into something general (i.e. “WWE” or “wrestling”), don’t you think the number of premature deaths would begin to creep up?

Another thing to consider is this: the WWE is cleaner now than it was in its original golden age in the mid to late 80s.  In 1993, they fired Sensational Sherri, after she failed 3 drug tests.  She died one week before the Benoit tragedy, and yet MSNBC discussed her under the TV heading of “Another WWE death.” 

Not exactly an accurate presumption.

Last summer, WWE suspended one of their top stars for smoking a little ganj in the bathroom, Rob Van Dam was stripped of the WWE title after being pulled over on suspicion of marijuana, and WWE came to terms on the release on one of their biggest stars, Kurt Angle, with rumors suggesting his failure to stay clean was a main factor. 

The point is, while I don’t blame people for failing to take Chris Benoit’s “negative” drug test from April 10th of this year seriously, the WWE and Vince McMahon are at least doing something. 

Could more be done?  Probably.  Is it possible that some of the above mentioned names attained cancer of some kind as a result of the "pro wrestling lifestyle"?  Surely.

And are there still too many wrestlers dying young?  Yes; but it’s not the misleading picture the national media paints.  Moreover, it’s a decision made by each individual to ingest or inject.  Vince McMahon and wrestling as a whole is not responsible for one man abusing steroids, pain killers or alcohol, or for murdering a wife and son.

It’s called accountability.

Unfortunately, the national media doesn’t see it that way – nor do they have any themselves.

In Defense of Wrestling was written by Pat Imig.  He'd like to give the Stone Cold Stunner to everyone at MSNBC.  Email him at patrick@joesportsfan.com

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