KingHodor said:
A lot of pro-wrestlers live on an intense diet of 'roids, benzos, GHB and most of all coke, and it's especially the latter that tends to go to your heart. Still, you've got to give them credit for risking their health like that to be able to entertain the masses.
I'm just not comfortable with blanket statements like this. This might sound naive to some people, but based on my experiences with pro wrestling, I can't say that cocaine is all that prominent. It was during the 80's, sure, if you were a big enough star or making enough to get your hands on it. It was the eighties, if you had money/fame then you likely had access to coke. Before and after the 80's, you hear little if any mention of it, especially among average pro wrestlers. I would also submit that the majority of pro wrestlers likely aren't on performance enhancing drugs. If you only look at the WWE within the last 30 year time frame, that doesn't sound right, but if you take into account the last 60 years and broaden the scope beyond the WWE, you find that most wrestlers simply don't have body builder physiques.
With Lawler, he has the career outliers for heart problems.
He was a big star during the 80's, which increases the likelihood that he used dangerous drugs during his full time wrestling career, which ended in the early 90's, and his family has a history of heart problems. I just genuinely hope that this one man's condition is not seen as indicative of the entire industry.
Vault101 said:
Dags90 said:
Andy Shandy said:
While admittedly I wasn't as shocked as when I saw the title (I thought it was somebody wrestling at the time at first), it's still a shocking thing to happen on air.
TBH, at 63, he's lived quite a long life for a professional wrestler. A lot of them don't live to see their 50[sup]th[/sup] birthday.
this whole thing reminds me of "the wrestler"
life imitates art....
You mean the movie where Mickey Rourke plays a retired pro wrestler who saved his money and got a sweet gig doing commentary, likely making more than some active wrestlers half his age doing it, who's still famous despite not having wrestled a full schedule in more than a decade ONLY to suffer a heart attack likely by no fault of his own?
piinyouri said:
Jack the Potato said:
piinyouri said:
I know they were trying to push this feud with CM Punk and Lawler, and I say this with respect, but maybe they shouldn't have had the 63 year old man wrestling in the ring?
For the record, I don't think Ric Flair, Hogan, or anyone of that age should be doing it anymore. I realize sometimes life twists your wrist, and you do what you got to do but I just wish there was another way.
My condolences go to Lawler and hope he has a quick and painless recovery.
Most pro wrestlers absolutely love the business, and have a very hard time letting it go. Can't say I blame them, it really seems like a dream career. Lawler is old, that is true, but fans still love to see him do the occasional match to prove he's still got it, and I think I can safely say he loves to do them as well. Sometimes you do things that don't make sense in order to be happy and have fun, yea?
I was watching RAW when it happened, and it was pretty eerie. I was touched by Michael Cole's very extreme concern for Lawler, given that in-character they're supposed to hate each other. I'm glad he's stabilized, and I hope to hear how he's doing from his own mouth very soon.
Oh believe me, I know.
I know he's just doing what he loves.
It just..honestly hurts me to see my favorite wrestlers put their lives in jeopardy this way.
The movie The Wrestler got it pretty much right on the head as far as wrestler's lives and careers go, and not being able to leave.
I'd still say that The Wrestler exaggerates circumstances in some cases for dramatic purposes. Usually the guys that end in Rourke's position weren't typically main eventers. It's entirely possible, and there are a number of wrestlers who had their zenith in the 80's who then fell on hard times. Still, there are plenty of stories where wrestlers turned out just fine in the end. Brad Rheingens saved his money, bought a cottage on a lake, and trained Brock Lesnar. Rick Steiner sells real estate. Karl Gotch lived to the age of 82, and taught early MMA leagues in Japan. Things just aren't anywhere as dismal for the industry as The Wrestlers, unfortunately, leads people to believe.
Dags90 said:
Andy Shandy said:
While admittedly I wasn't as shocked as when I saw the title (I thought it was somebody wrestling at the time at first), it's still a shocking thing to happen on air.
TBH, at 63, he's lived quite a long life for a professional wrestler. A lot of them don't live to see their 50[sup]th[/sup] birthday.
As per the responses above, you would be genuinely surprised how many actually do see their 50th. There are over 13,000 pro wrestlers listed on the Internet Wrestling Database, and that's taking into account that (in the course of a massive re-design) they haven't yet added wrestlers whose names begin with N. I know plenty of wrestlers who don't have articles on there yet who are definitely trained and licensed. IWD also doesn't list nearly as many Mexican Luchadors as the Luchwiki (around 3000, btw). Or any of the wrestlers from the developing world, such as Rwanda. There are just too many, and there's no reliable way to keep track of them all. Many of the wrestlers who have died before the the age of 65 in the last two decades were almost always stars of the 80's, most of whom subscribed to a fitness routine closer to the needs of a body builder than to those of a high impact athlete.
S#$& be complicated, yo.
