We are two weeks from election day and I feel a need to discuss the one candidate whose appearance on the ballot really upsets me. Surprisingly it is not Delaware’s anti-masturbation witch who, in a debate in front of law school students, was unaware that the first amendment provides for the separation of church and state. No, I can actually understand her candidacy. It is Linda McMahon’s senate campaign that troubles me.
Everyone who knows me understands that I am a wrestling fan. At 37 I really shouldn’t admit that publicly but it is true so you would think that I would be overjoyed at the WWE CEO running for senate. The possibility of the Undertaker having a serious role in governmental affairs is enough to make anyone happy. However, the fact is that wrestling’s dark side is very dark and at some point you have to look at the person in charge. But first we need some facts.
So, here is a breakdown of Wrestlemanias 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 in terms of numbers of wrestlers on the cards and the number of those wrestlers who have since died. For the record I picked those cards simply due to the fact that they are round numbers and will give a good sense of the sense of time. I’m also giving age and cause of death for completeness sake.
Wrestlemania 1 (3/31/1985)
Number of wrestlers on card: 22
Number of deceased wrestlers: 5: The Executioner (56, natural causes), Special Delivery Jones (63, stroke), The Junkyard Dog (45, car accident), Andre the Giant (46, heart failure), Big John Studd (47, Hodgkins disease).
Notes: The Executioner was “Playboy” Buddy Rose in a mask for those who are wondering. Andre the Giant died of a heart attack that was mainly due to the disease that caused him to be a giant. It was always my understanding that Andre was told when he was younger that he wouldn’t live to see 40 so the fact that he made it to 46 is pretty impressive. While 5 out of 22 is a high number for the most part I wouldn’t tie all of these deaths to the wrestling culture. You could also note that special guest timekeeper Liberace and special guest ring announcer Billy Martin have also both passed on.
Wrestlemania 5 (April 2, 1989)
Number of wrestlers on card: 38
Number of deceased wrestlers: 8: Hercules (47, heart disease), Big Bossman (41), “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig (44, drug overdose), Owen Hart (as the Blue Blazer) (34, in ring accident), Dino Bravo (44, murdered), Andre the Giant, “Ravishing” Rick Rude (40, heart failure), Bad News Brown (63, heart attack)
Notes: I could also add in Miss Elizabeth (who died of a drug overdose) given that she was the focus of the Hulk Hogan – Randy Savage main event. I’m getting my data from Wikipedia (which is surprisingly detailed when it comes to pro wrestling) and they don’t list a cause of death for the Big Bossman but I thought he had a heart attack. Owen Hart of course fell to his death from the rafters of the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. They say that he still haunts the arena and this is one of those few urban legends where I actually know who “they” are.
Wrestlemania 10 (March 20, 1994)
Number of wrestlers on card: 20
Number of deceased wrestlers: 6: Owen Hart, Bam Bam Bigelow (45, drug overdose), Luna Vachon (48, likely drug overdose), Crush (44, likely drug overdose), Yokozuna (34, heart failure), Earthquake (42, bladder cancer)
Notes: I put down likely drug overdose for Luna Vachon and Crush because it isn’t entirely clear what the actual cause of death was but it seemed readily apparent that drugs played a role. I’m also not entirely sure who wrestled as Doink the Clown on this show as about a half dozen people put on the makeup in that role so he may very well be immortal. “Earthquake” John Tenta’s death was one that has always bummed me out because he was a really great guy and is one of the few people on this list whose death had nothing to really do with the wrestling business.
Wrestlemania 15 (March 28, 1999)
Number of wrestlers on card: 25
Number of deceased wrestlers: 3: Owen Hart, Test (33, drug overdose), The Big Bossman
Notes: Not much, really, other than it is really depressing to write Owen’s name down over and over again.
Wrestlemania 20 (March 14, 2004)
Number of wrestlers on card: 50
Number of deceased wrestlers: 3: Garrison Cade (29, heart failure), Eddie Guerrero (38, heart failure), Chris Benoit (40, suicide)
Notes: It is still insane to note that this card (which was only six years ago) ended with Eddie and Benoit hugging in the ring both holding championship belts and a few years later both would be dead. As everyone knows Benoit murdered his wife and son before committing suicide in a series of events that I don’t think I’ll ever quite understand. Also, 50 wrestlers on a card is way too much. This show could have really used an editor.
Wrestlemania 25 (April 5, 2009)
Number of wrestlers on card: 47
Number of deceased wrestlers: 0
Notes: To my knowledge, the last appearance of a wrestler who is now deceased is Umaga (36, drug overdose) at Wrestlemania 24.
Now people can take this information and spin it a lot of ways but I can only see this as being a surprisingly large number of people who died before they reached fifty. This is made more stunning by the fact that they are athletes and should be in better physical condition than the average person. Obviously, drugs in the form of steroids and others play a huge role and this is why I have an issue with Linda McMahon running for senate.
What few people understand is that wrestlers work as independent contractors. The wrestler is not an employee of the WWE and as a result does not have benefits like health insurance and often has to pay their own way to travel from show to show. They are not in a union even though all sports leagues typically have a union and they are on weekly TV but cannot qualify for the Screen Actors Guild. I know that recently the WWE has at least set up programs to help out with insurance and substance issues but for decades pro wrestling has just churned people through the business and often leaving them broken on the other end.
Linda McMahon is the CEO of the WWE. She is on some level responsible for this list. She managed the work environment, she approved the schedule, she was ultimately responsible for the decision to lower Owen Hart from 90 feet in the air on a flimsy harness. I feel guilty knowing that as a fan I supported the business that caused this. But this was her job and she could have easily helped to correct this.
Her only qualification for being a senator is that she managed a billion dollar organization. It just happened to be an organization in which her main public employees were contractors who have a frightening tendency to die young. That to me is not someone you want in public office.
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