But New York-based wrestling journalist Eric Cohen points to two important differences. American footballers play, what, 16 a games a season? And then get half a year off. Wrestlers can be in the ring five to six times a week," he says.
The other difference concerns the activities outside the ring and off the field. Piper admitted taking steroids and cocaine, and drinking heavily while competing as a wrestler. The hope among wrestling fans is that today's crop of superstars will live longer than their predecessors. But the deaths of Roddy Piper and others serve as dark reminders of the journey that professional wrestling has been on.
WWE Talent Wellness. Image source, Getty Images. Because wrestling is scripted entertainment, the issue doesn't receive the amount of attention that other athletic health scandals such as concussions in football and steroids in baseball have received, even though wrestling superstars die young each year.
In general, pro athletes tend to outlive actuarial life expectations. Wrestlers, on the other hand, tend to die much younger than most people. According to Benjamin Morris of FiveThirtyEight, about 20 percent of wrestlers die by the time they hit their mids , which is about double the rate found among the general population. The reasons for this are numerous: wrestlers have no offseason, so their bodies constantly take abuse.
Wrestlers are constantly traveling and have been known to perform in multiple shows per week. They rely on pills and other substances to dull lingering pain, and wrestling is less regulated than other pro sports and steroids became part of the culture. The high-flying moves. The outlandish story lines. The crackpot characters. Chris Benoit was the latest, taking his life at 40 after killing his wife and son in what might be the blackest eye yet for the pseudo-sport already ridiculed as nothing more than comic books come to life, a cultlike outlet for young males to cheer on their freakishly bulked-up heroes.
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 A couple of weeks ago, former women's champion "Sensational" Sherri Martel died in Alabama. She was Many wrestlers have met similar fates in the past two decades. Some died with drugs flowing through their veins.
Others tried to clean up but belatedly paid the price for their long-term abuse of painkillers, alcohol, cocaine, steroids and other substances. Jim Wilson , who parlayed pro football into a ring career, says he was blackballed when he began pushing for a wrestler's union. Since then, he has written a book about his experiences and kept up the push to rein in those who govern the sport.
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