Another former WWE talent, "Umaga" Edward Fatu, passed away at age 36 on Friday at a Dallas-area hospital.
He had been battling a lot of the same demons that have claimed other professional wrestlers and was suspended by World Wrestling Entertainment in June after failing a drug test.
I still don't think that these wrestling organizations are doing enough to change the culture that says that their athletes have to have huge muscular bodies in order to be considered "successful" and that drug abuse, in any form, is bad for their employees, and bad for business. WWE has moved forward with it's Wellness Policy, but it doesn't account for the damage that many of these wrestlers had done to themselves years ago.
Look at Eddie Guerrero; the former WWE great had undergone major struggles, but conquered his demons and had been drug and alcohol free for years; but the damage had already been done and he passed away at age 38.
Road Warrior Hawk is another example. He had turned his life around too, but the damage had been done years before and it caught up to him. Hawk passed away at age 45.
These wrestler deaths seem to come in clusters. I hope this isn't the start of a new one.
May he rest in peace.
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