Wrestling is a brutal sport. It is the home of wounds, torture—both physical and psychological—addiction, drunkenness, and several other vices. At least, that was the case up until WWE started to take the situation seriously.
But aside from that, independent wrestling continues to flourish virtually unregulated throughout the world, putting wrestlers at risk. Thankfully, they are becoming more cautious now. The 1980s and 1990s’ intense partying scene has almost completely disappeared. Wrestlers typically consider long-term to safeguard their health, with concussions and even minor injuries receiving rapid medical attention.
The leading cause of death among wrestlers, according to Wrestlerdeaths.com, is heart disease brought on by years of drug usage. But some of them have passed away during matches or as a result of difficulties thereafter. In wrestling history, murders and suicides have also happened frequently. The four wrestling fatalities that rocked the business to its core are listed below.
1) Chris Benoit: A double murder-suicide
When Benoit passed away in 2007, the company experienced shock. As a result, WWE reinforced its talent wellness policy, began to take concussions and head injuries more seriously, and finally upgraded the programming from TV-14 (in 2008) to PG.
Benoit murdered his wife Nancy on June 22 and his son Daniel, age 7, on June 23. Then, on June 24, he hanged himself. Even now, more than a decade later, it’s unknown why he did it, but many believe the 40-year-old wrestling veteran had sustained numerous concussions over the year that went untreated. Benoit had suffered brain damage as a result of this and one of his signature moves, the diving headbutt, in which he would leap from the top turnbuckle and strike the opponent’s shoulder with his forehead. The brain of the deceased wrestler resembled that of an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, according to an autopsy.
There may have been conflicts within the family. According to many, Benoit was profoundly affected by the passing of his close buddy and fellow wrestler Eddie Guerrero 19 months earlier. Whatever the case, the horrific event fundamentally altered how the wrestling industry functions. WWE specifically renounced the wrestler and took any references to him offline. Additionally, it outlawed actions that targeted the head and neck area (like chair shots). Benoit was one of the best wrestlers ever, but his reputation has since been damaged.
2) Eddie Guerrero: Heart failure
Guerrero’s untimely death in November 2005 was unquestionably a sad development for the wrestling business. He was one of the most well-liked wrestlers of the day and was discovered dead in a hotel room by his nephew Chavo. Guerrero had suffered from heart failure, according to the postmortem results. The use of steroids became a factor, and later in 2006, WWE implemented its wellness programme to stop wrestlers from using illegal narcotics.
Undoubtedly, the wrestler, who was 38, passed away too soon. Despite this, Guerrero has left such a lasting impression on the profession that he has and continues to inspire innumerable others to work in it. He was hailed as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time by legends like Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, and Kurt Angle. The wrestler not only possessed skill and was a master of his trade, but he was also entertaining. Chavo continues to make his uncle proud by competing in the US-based promotion Lucha Underground while he is still very much alive in people’s hearts.
3) Owen Hart: In-ring accident
One of the worst incidents in the history of wrestling is Hart’s. At the WWE pay-per-view in May 1999 one of the best technical wrestlers ever, Over the Edge, perished when the apparatus failed and he plummeted from the arena’s rafters.
The Godfather and the 34-year-old were scheduled to compete for the Intercontinental Championship. He was scheduled to make a theatrical entrance by being lowered into the ring using a harness and grapple line. He hit the top rope chest-first after falling 78 feet. Later, it was revealed that he had died from internal bleeding brought on by blunt force injuries. WWE made the contentious decision to keep airing the programme even though it hasn’t been offered since then.
Later on, Martha Hart’s lawsuit against WWE was settled. The Canadian superstar was never honoured in the WWE Hall of Fame because she still holds the organisation responsible for her husband’s passing. Martha founded the Owen Hart Foundation with the $18 million she got from the settlement.
4) Bruiser Brody: Murder
Backstage at a wrestling event in Puerto Rico on July 17, 1988, Jose Gonzalez (who appeared as Invader 1) murdered the 42-year-old Brody with a knife. While there were other witnesses to the incident, Tony Atlas and Dutch Mantell provided the most compelling testimony (also known as Zeb Colter).
Gonzalez approached Brody in the locker room to conduct business while Atlas and Brody were still there. A short while afterwards, Brody screamed and fell out of the shower area, his abdomen bleeding profusely. His lungs had been perforated by Gonzalez. When the paramedics didn’t show there for another 40 minutes, panic broke out. Brody bled to death following two operations. Atlas claimed that he had been clutching a picture of his son when he died.
Gonzalez was detained but ultimately freed on the grounds that he had acted in self-defense. The witnesses didn’t get the subpoenas issued to them until after the trial was ended. The fact that Carlos Colon, the father of former WWE star Carlito, owned the promotion that had hired Brody and Gonzalez made the situation even more contentious. Colon kept praising Gonzalez as a hero after the incident, even including it into wrestling plots. The absence of police involvement in the case and Gonzalez’s deliberate disregard for the law led to rumours that Colon was responsible for the murder.
According to rumours, Puerto Rican wrestlers would frequently become envious when American performers would take their places. Additionally, Brody was renowned for his crazy, illogical wrestling style. Maybe he had pressed Gonzalez’s buttons too much? At the age of 72, the former is still unhindered, while Colon has been enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame.