Dead Wrestlers

Wrestler Deaths

In the sensationalized industry of professional wrestling, where acting skill is just as important as athletic prowess, wrestler deaths are not uncommon. While many wrestler deaths are due to natural causes and occur at the end of a long, successful career, an odd proportion of wrestler deaths occur prematurely and at the peak of an entertainer's career. Andre the Giant, born as Andre Rene Roussimoff, was a famous French professional wrestler whose defining trait was his enormous size of close to seven feet tall. In addition to having a successful career in wrestling, Andre dabbled in acting playing Bigfoot in the Six Million Dollar Man and also having a role in Princess Bride. He even turned down an offer to play professional football since he thought he could be financially better off as a professional wrestler. While many recent wrestler deaths are due to various substance abuses, this wrestler's death in 1993 was due to congestive heart failure, very likely a side effect of his excessive hormone production.

Dead Professional Wrestlers

Among the more well-known dead professional wrestlers is Eddie Guerrero, born as Eduardo Gory Guerrero. This dead professional wrestler was born into a Mexican wrestling family. Besides his father and brothers, he also had nephews and uncles that performed as well. Guerrero started his career with World Championship Wrestling, or WCW, and then moved on to World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, and the World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE. He was known for his lying, cheating and stealing tactics to win a match. In addition to suffering from alcoholism, Guerrero was also known to be addicted to pain killers. He died of heart failure in 2005, most likely due to his past substance abuse problems. Guerrero was inducted into WWE hall of fame posthumously

Wrestler Who Died

Another professional wrestler who died recently was Chris Benoit. Benoit was a close friend of Guerrero and many speculate that he suffered from depression ever since the death of Guerrero. Benoit performed in WCW, Extreme Championship Wrestling, or ECW, and then and back to WCW. He finished his career with the WWF/WWE until his untimely death in 2007. Among dead professional wrestlers, Benoit was known to have used steroids throughout his career, as did many a wrestler who died before his time. Benoit was found to have murdered his wife Nancy who was involved in the wrestling industry as well as his seven-year old son. Ongoing investigations have not been conclusive, although Xanax and Hydrocodone were both found in his system at the time of his death. He also had elevated levels of testosterone that are most likely attributed to previous steroid use.

Only as recently as 2005 has the leading wrestling organization, the WWE, instituted a drug policy in which they test performers for steroid use. With this new policy it is hopeful that dead professional wrestlers will reach typical old age rather than dying young.