Piper on deaths

[Lee]

As much as I think the Sun newspaper's a pile of rubbish, I read an interview with Rowdy Roddy Piper just there.

Spoiler: Article...credit to the sun newspaper

WWE WrestleMania star Rowdy Roddy Piper has given an insight into how badly wrestling stars of his generation have been affected by the deaths of their peers.

Over the last decade over 100 grapplers have died at young ages, often due to steroid, painkiller, drug and/or alcohol abuse.

They include ‘Mr Perfect’ Curt Hennig, Crash Holly, Eddie Guerrero, ‘Big Boss Man’ Ray Traylor and, most recently, Andrew ‘Test’ Martin.

And Roddy – who headlined the first ever WrestleMania and will fight Chris Jericho this year at WM25 – says it was Mickey Rourke’s film The Wrestler which really brought things home to him.

He told Canada’s SLAM! Wrestling: “As someone who has been in the business for a long time, I don't mind saying that the movie really got to me.

“The thing that probably grabbed me the hardest was the way it ended. All my brothers are dead, man.

“So, at the end, it caught me because it just went to black, and that's how it happens in our world.

“Look at Curt Hennig – he was the picture of health.

“And boom! Black. Not fade to black, just black.

“I've been to so many funerals."

Since the deaths of Guerrero and Chris Benoit – who murdered his wife and young son – the WWE have enforced a strict drug testing policy where independent monitors watch grapplers give urine samples on an almost weekly basis.

Boss Vince McMahon has offered to pay for all former stars to have rehab, no matter how long they worked for him or why they left. Rival group TNA are also testing their wrestlers.

But Piper says he still feels some sort of outside help is needed for the wrestling industry to fully put the past behind it.

He added: “Thinking about the friends, the brothers I've lost, makes me feel lonesome.

“I lived with these guys, literally. I wonder why no-one on the outside catches on to what's happening?

“I guess it's because they don't care.

“Can you imagine what would happen if four Manchester United players died, all in separate instances?

“Or if a soccer player killed himself, how much attention it would get? People would wonder what on earth is going on, and there'd be an investigation.

“But there's no investigation for these guys.

“When a professional wrestler dies, sure, they do an autopsy, but then they shuffle them on.”

That got me thinking about whether there should be an outside investigation...initially I thought no, and then he points out that if it was in another sport or industry it would've been investigated. Imagine 100 former NFL stars all died young in a ten year period, I am pretty sure there would be an investigation.

It also makes you feel sorry for him, and other guys of that generation who have lost so many friends/colleagues etc especially when he says he's been to "so many funerals." This is a big problem that I feel needs to be looked into.

Thoughts?

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Wow, Lee, great thread here.

It's sobering. It's amazing how the lifestyle of a professional wrestler goes unnoticed by anybody except those who are in the business and those of us who follow so closely.

But he's right. There's a double standard. Look at what baseball has had to go through with steroids lately. It's been insane, but it's been a far bigger problem for far longer in pro wrestling, and the fatalities are mounting. Life expectancy is not terribly high.

Here's the question - are fans willing to accept the consequences of fixing this? Pro Wrestling can't really have an "off-season" with regards to storyline continuity. And vacations for guys are tricky because they have to write storylines in advance. It's such a three-headed monster.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There's always been a bit of a double standard when it comes to professional wrestling. Even though wrestling was one of the cornerstones upon which the entire industry of television was built, more "mainstream" television programs or entertainment news programs have always kind of looked down on it. I can recall a few times in which such programs have featured stories about wrestling and it's not really treated with any degree of seriousness.

The only reason that the mainstream media gave a shit about the Chris Benoit incident was because there was something controversial to report and something even more tragic than someone's death. Since the Attitude Era, the only time you see anything about wrestling in the so-called mainstream media is when wrestling is portrayed, or attempted to be portrayed, in a negative light. It has to be something that makes wrestling look awful or they're not interested. It always me laugh disgustedly whenever I hear someone say about how fake wrestling is and then mention how many wrestlers have died in the same sentence.

I remember a while back, Anderson Cooper had a special on about wrestling and I was hoping that a respected journalist might honestly try to portray the industry as it is overall, but I was mistaken. Basically, he drug the business through the mud even more so than other reporters have. An interview with the Dynamite Kid was featured and he basically blamed wrestling for all the problems he had in his life and refusing to accept any responsibility for any of his self-destructive behavior.

 

[gd]

This certainly a sad what is happening. I agree that wrestling is not being treated on the same level as other sports. Nearly every other American professional sport has been called up to Congress to discuss the issues of drugs in their sports, and it has actually helped, even if just slightly.

But, professional wrestling hasn't received the same attention because it's not "real" so why should anyone care? Well, the wrestlers are real people and their health is a very real concern. This makes be think that Congress has only been investigating sports so that there is a "fair and level playing field" and not because of their concern for the actual atheletes health.

In the end, it is each individual's own fault if they fall victim to substance/alcohol abuse, but there certainly could be more done to try to help them/prevent this from happening. Ultimatley, I think it has a lot to do with the culture of professional wrestling, and that will take a LONG time to change.

 

[Scott Free]

Pro Wrestling is never treated as a "real" sport, mostly because it isn't. Sure, it features some incredible athleticism and the performers are indeed trained athletes, but when it comes down to it, it is entertainment, the film industry is more similar to pro wrestling than sports like baseball and football, take the Jackie Chan films for instance or any of John Woo's films, very action oriented entertainment with real athletes performing on screen, even stuntmen are athletes, it is no coincidence that the WWE also has a film division. Once you accept the comparison, you need to take a closer look at the mortality rate and drug addiction in acting, and you will discover a startling similarity, Heath Ledger comes to mind right off the bat. However, actors have more protection from getting abused on the job, and this is because of SAG. Wrestlers do not have any union or guild to prevent inhuman scheduling or being forced to perform stunts beyond their skills. I do think a union or guild would help in reliving some of the pressure that forces some of them to go on painkillers or other drugs because of bad working conditions, but when it comes down to it, it is a personal choice. Recently, Kevin Nash wrote that Scott Hall is going through rough times and is in a bad way, Hall has been through the WWE sponsored rehab program several times, and relapsed yet again, Nash stated that Hall is on a path to self destruction that only he can prevent, I could not agree more.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I mean. What is there to investiagte?? People do drugs and steroids, and fucking die. not ONE person EVER has claimed they were forced to do any of this shit. I mean, I feel sympathy for Piper watching his friends go into the ground, but dude, maybe they shouldnt have snorted coke and injected horse hormones into their buttocks. I dont know who or what needs to be investigated when autopsies and toxicolgy tests prove the things I am saying.

 

[Zeedeevel]

You are completely correct NorCal nothing needs to be investigated, its just a matter of the Wrestlers taking care of themselves and not being stupid when it comes to medication and to not use drugs

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Let's be honest, we only really care when important wrestlers die. Those wrestlers are few and far between. To partially quote Marie Antoinette, ''Let them do drugs''. It makes the forum more intresting and it gives some wrestlers the career bump they never got in life.