RIP The Ultimate Warrior

[SpacemanSpiff]

Even if you only know 'rassling by names, this one's a surprise. He was at WrestleMania XXX this past Sunday being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Age 54.

http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/w ... -54-040814

[silverscreenselect]

If the pictures at the bottom of the obit notice were recent, he definitely appeared to be ill. Unfortunately, a lot of the junk that those wrestlers put in their bodies (both body building and recreational) has some severe health consequences down the line.

[silverscreenselect]

Nate Silver's Fivethirtyeight site ran statistics of WWE/WWF pro wrestlers who had appeared in televised matches over the last quarter century and their mortality rates compared to what would be expected for people of their age and sex based on Social Security Administration statistics. The results are sadly staggering. The WWE/WWF mortality rates (admittedly based on smaller samples) are 3-5 times higher in the lower age ranges than the normal (I'm sure drugs, legal, steroids, and other illegals substances had a lot to do with this, as did the general wear and tear on bodies caused by the acrobatic stunts they engaged in over the years).

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/are- ... sual-rate/

For those who haven't looked at this site since it returned last month (Silver is now connected with ESPN), I strongly recommend it. It's got lots of fascinating insights, not just on politics, but on sports, and a variety of general interest subjects as well.

[Bob Juch]

Nate Silver's Fivethirtyeight site ran statistics of WWE/WWF pro wrestlers who had appeared in televised matches over the last quarter century and their mortality rates compared to what would be expected for people of their age and sex based on Social Security Administration statistics. The results are sadly staggering. The WWE/WWF mortality rates (admittedly based on smaller samples) are 3-5 times higher in the lower age ranges than the normal (I'm sure drugs, legal, steroids, and other illegals substances had a lot to do with this, as did the general wear and tear on bodies caused by the acrobatic stunts they engaged in over the years).

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/are- ... sual-rate/

For those who haven't looked at this site since it returned last month (Silver is now connected with ESPN), I strongly recommend it. It's got lots of fascinating insights, not just on politics, but on sports, and a variety of general interest subjects as well.

I'll bet pro football players are also.

[SpacemanSpiff]

I know the "top end" WWF 'rasslers probably did more than their fair share of pharmaceuticals (primarily for the muscles and such), but stop and think of what they put their bodies through.

I just saw a little snippet on YouTube of an interview with Len Rossi, a local ("Mid-South" - Tennessee/Mississippi/Alabama circuit) wrestler of the late 1950s to the early 1970s, until he had a bad auto accident that messed a leg up to the point of no return. He now runs a health food store in suburban Nashville.

Shows pretty much every day and, in those days, often two-out-of-three-falls matches; driving yourself everywhere - Birmingham one night, Paducah the next, then Nashville, Huntsville, Memphis, Jackson, etc.; general life on the road in no-star accommodations. Throw in the wear-and-tear from the physical nature of the activity, it's a wonder that any of them make it to old age.

[Buffacuse]

I used to be way into professional wrestling--this is one of the reasons I eventually stopped watching. The human body is not designed to absorb this much punishment on a daily basis, and the common coping method of the heavy use of pain killers has been one reason cited in many of these deaths. Other factors include excessive weight (Yokozuna) and musculature that outstrips the capacity of the cardiovascular system, along with the probable long-term use of steroids and HGH by many. It's a bad combination all around.

The McMahon family has reacted angrily to allegations they've ignored/profited from this for years--Vince once famously knocked a clipboard out of Bob Costas' hands during an interview where Costas suggested as much. One wonder how much longer these guys are going to keep dying before someone takes action--the list is staggering:

Yokozuna
Rick Rude
Curt Hennig
Kerry Von Erich (suicide)
Chris Benoit (murder/suicide)
Brian Pillman
Ultimate Warrior
British Bulldog
Miss Elizabeth

There are many more--you could run a good federation with the men and women we've lost. Maybe it needs to stop.

[silverscreenselect]

One wonder how much longer these guys are going to keep dying before someone takes action--the list is staggering:

Yokozuna
Rick Rude
Curt Hennig
Kerry Von Erich (suicide)
Chris Benoit (murder/suicide)
Brian Pillman
Ultimate Warrior
British Bulldog
Miss Elizabeth

There are many more--you could run a good federation with the men and women we've lost. Maybe it needs to stop.

In the Fivethirtyeight article, they mention WrestleMania 6 in 1990. Of the 36 wrestlers who participated, 12 are now dead (not including Miss Elizabeth, who also took part in the event):

Andre the Giant (this was Andre's last big televised event)
Earthquake
Hercules
Bad News Brown
Randy Savage
Sapphire
Sensational Sherri
Dino Bravo
Big Boss Man
plus the aforementioned Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, and Ultimate Warrior

[silverscreenselect]

I'll bet pro football players are also.

In response to a lot of letters and e-mails like that, Fivethirtyeight did a followup today comparing WWE deathrates to those in the major sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL). The results were that all the other leagues had death rates below actuarial average, even NFL offensive linemen, who were 4% below actuarial averages. Wrestlers, who aren't paid as well as the others for the most part and don't get as good medical care, are way above average.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/comp ... o-leagues/