Another Pro Wrestler Dies Young: Conflicting Stories on What Happened

Chris Candido, a wrestler working for the TNA promotion passed away this morning at the age of 33. He had suffered an injury at a pay-per-view on Sunday and had surgery on Monday to correct the problem. It’s not clear what happened to him after that.

Pro wrestling has had a major problem for a long while: their wrestlers, while bigger and stronger than any of the previous generations, use steroids and other drugs that cause heart attacks and major health maladies. They also take more chances in and out of the ring too.

As a result, today’s stars die younger than the previous generations of stars before them.

Here’s an incomplete list of well-known wrestlers/managers that have died before their time (not in any particular order & which North American promotions they made their names in are included in parenthesis):

• Chris Candido, 33, cause unknown (TNA)
• Road Warrior Hawk, 34, heart attack (NWA, AWA, WCW, WWF/WWE)
• “Mr. Perfect” Curt Henning, 44, cocaine-induced heart attack (WWF, WCW)
• Chris Adams, 46, murdered (UWF, WCW)
• Renegade, 27, suicide (WCW)
• “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer, 32, heroin overdose (NWA)
• Bruiser Brody, 42, murdered (Many promotions)
• Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy, 40, heart failure (WCCW)
• “Crash” Holly, 32, suicide (WWE)
• Brian Pillman, 35, heart attack (WCW, WWF)
• Yokozuna, 34, heart failure (WWF)
• Eddie Gilbert, 33, heart attack (Mid-South, UWF, WCW)
• Miss Elizabeth, 42, drug overdose (WWF, WCW)
• “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith, 39, heart attack (WWF)
• Gino Hernandez, 29, suicide (NWA, WCCW)
• Dino Bravo, 45, murdered (AWA, WWF)
• Hercules Hernandez, 47, heart attack (Mid-South, NWA, WWF)
• “Ravishing” Rick Rude, 40, heart attack (WCCW, NWA, WWF, ECW, WCW)
• Owen Hart, 34, died in ring from 78-foot fall off of ceiling (Stampede, USWA, WWF/WWE)
• Pitbull II, 36, oxycontin drug overdose (ECW, NWA)
• Russ Hass, 27, heart attack (MCW Southern)
• David Von Erich, 25, drug overdose (WCCW/NWA)
• Mike Von Erich, 23, suicide (WCCW)
• Chris Von Erich, 21, suicide (WCCW)
• “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich, 33, suicide (WCCW, NWA, USWA, WWF)

There were others. When one considers how few pro wrestlers there are, the incidence of deaths from "other than natural causes" or "cancer" is alarmingly high. It's much higher than many other professions.

It’s very sad to see so many wrestlers that I grew up with dying so young. The Von Erichs kept killing themselves; that was hard to believe. Die-hard fans were heartbroken over all the Von Erich brothers but one (Kevin) going to their graves. Wrestling’s “first family” was gone forever.

Wrestling needs to clean up its act and get their talent away from drugs that are killing their best and brightest stars. Steroids are dangerous and they are illegal. The wrestlers don’t need watermelon-sized muscles to be excellent performers. Many of the performers above were top-card draws for the promotions; why aren’t the promotions being stricter on drug testing?

This is why pro wrestling isn’t fun to watch anymore. Too many heart attacks and drug overdoses and the resulting devastation to the wrestlers' families, friends and fans. The message that the promotions send to their young fans is too raunchy as well; that needs to be substantially changed.