Ok folks, sorry for the delay, but since nickb03 has not responded yet, I'm going to go ahead and get my opening statement in.
Is it a danger to the wrestlers themselves when they want to stay in the limelight by any means necessary?
It is my belief that more harm than good comes from overstaying your welcome. Wrestling is a high impact, physically stressful profession, and the tolls that it takes get harder and harder as time goes on. Many performers work themselves into the ground, and often an early death, with very little to show for it. Some chase the glory days past in their old age, desperately trying to be as relevant and as popular as they may have been in their prime. Others are simply just trying to find any work they can, with little to no regard for their long term health. While I feel a Paul Heyman-esque age limit is short sighted and foolish, I feel that older workers need to be more aware of the risks they take and the tolls of chasing that dragon.
1.
Injuries get more severe and happen more often to older workers.
Plenty of research has been done on the effects of sports and athletic related injuries in old age.
John E. Morely said:
Another important issue for older athletes is that of injury. Statistically, older athletes are much more likely to injure themselves than younger athletes who are doing the same sport.
These effects include decreased lung and heart performance, decreased and weakened muscle mass, a slower nervous system which in turn causes slower reaction times, joint damage, and loss of bone mass and flexibility. As one gets older, the length of time required to properly heal from injury increases. The longer one stays in the ring, the more they do permanent damage to their bodies, not only decreasing their reputation and value in the ring, but also bringing about a quicker death.
2.
As injuries pile up, the risk of addiction and dependency on pain killers increases. This leads to dangerous health complications.
Scott Hall recently made news with his failing health condition and his persistant drug and alcohol abuse problems. These problems were in no way helped by his repeated attempts at reviving his career on national television, all of which ended in failure and early dismissal. He is now getting long overdue help on the WWE's dime. If Scott Hall had hung up his boots in the early 2000's and if promoters had looked beyond the possibility of wringing a comedic storyline out him to see the very real risk to his health that continued use brought upon him, it's quite plausible that Hall would not be in nearly as bad shape as he is now. His addictions, not only to drugs but to the limelight, are responsible for his current situation.
3.
Old wrestlers can do less and less as time goes on. Fans don't want to see dried up husks of legends, and this hurts the reputation not only of those past their prime, but of the promotions who utilize them.
Nostalgia is a huge part of wrestling, and playing up the past is common place in today's national promotions. However, while big names of the past draw a small measure of credibility and prestige, overuse and dependency on aging stars turns off most viewers. The proof is a little company called TNA. TNA cut its way up from small internet based company to the first new nationally televised wrestling promotion in the modern era with a mixture of established stars of the past and exciting new stars developed in house. While never a runaway success, TNA built up a sizable following over the years. However, the highly publicized introduction of over the hill stars like Hogan and Flair, followed by a change in direction to focusing on those two for a majority of each show for months brought increased scrutiny, criticism, lower ratings, and damage to the brand's reputation. TNA has already worked to shift focus from Hogan and Flair to other, slightly younger stars such as the current stable of former ECW performers (which in and of itself is also over exposure of "past their due date" talent), but the damage done is still evident in their falling ratings. Even WWE has taken criticism for focusing too long on aging stars of its past instead of developing newer talent, and this is blamed as part of the reasons for their own problems such as sagging PPV buys and disappointing stock performance. In an era where a majority of critics and viewers express desire to see better development of younger stars, constant pushing of older talent only hurts the reputation of the performer and the public image of the brand.
There comes a time to bow out gracefully. And there are ways of being involved in the industry in a productive manner than can both bring recognition and financial stability for a performer (such as a road agent, creative, promotional, or training personnel). But each time they lace up their boots for another match is another risk to their careers and their lives.
