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Partial credit for this piece goes to the Post Game Staff, thanks for your contribution.
The recent death of the Ultimate Warrior was the latest grim reminder that professional wrestlers continue to drop dead from something other than old age at an alarming rate.
The pinnacle of the Warrior’s career was WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990, at SkyDome in Toronto. Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan in the main event to win the WWF championship. Warrior is the 12th wrestler who competed at WrestleMania VI to have died.. That makes one-third of the card’s 36 person working roster. The oldest of the bunch was just 63.
As a point of reference, of the 44 starting players from that year’s Super Bowl between the 49ers and Broncos, only ONE has died: Denver defensive end Ron Holmes, who was 48 when he passed away in 2011 from diabetes and coronary issues.
Reasons for wrestlers’ dying early include grueling travel schedules, painkiller abuse, steroid use, other drugs, have been well-documented. The passing of the Warrior at age 54 from what was suspected to be a heart attack just days after his induction to WWE’s Hall of Fame only underscores the issue.
Let’s take a look at those we’ve lost…
1. The Ultimate Warrior appeared on the WWE ‘Raw’ TV program Monday in New Orleans just a day after WrestleMania XXX. His speech on ‘Raw’ foreshadowed his death, telling fans, “Every man’s heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe their final breath. And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them believe deeper in something that’s larger than life, then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized by the storytellers — by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him, and make the running the man did live forever.”
2. “Macho Man” Randy Savage was 58 when he died of a heart attack in 2011. At WrestleMania VI, Savage and Sensational Sherri Martel lost a mixed tag-team match to Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire.
3. Andre the Giant was 46 when he died of heart failure in 1993 credited largely to his gigantism disease. At WrestleMania VI, Andre and Haku lost the WWE tag-team championship to Ax and Smash of Demolition.
4. ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude was 40 when he died of heart failure related to an overdose in 1999. At WrestleMania VI, Rude defeated Jimmy Snuka.
5. Known as Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig was 44 when he died from “acute cocaine intoxication” in 2003. At WrestleMania VI, Hennig lost to Brutus Beefcake.
6. Known as Earthquake, John Tenta was 42 when he died in 2006 from bladder cancer that spread to his lungs. At WrestleMania VI, he defeated Hercules.
7. Ray “The Mighty Hercules” Fernandez was 47 when he died in 2004 from heart disease. At WrestleMania VI, he lost to Earthquake.
8. Known as Bad News Brown, Allen Coage, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, was 63 when he died in 2007 of a heart attack. At WrestleMania VI, he had a double countout in his match against Roddy Piper.
9. “Sensational” Sherri Martel was 49 when she died of an overdose in 2007. At WrestleMania VI, she and Randy Savage lost a mixed tag-team match to Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire.
10. Dino Bravo was 44 when he was gunned down in 1993, a murder that some believe was linked his alleged involvement in a cigarette smuggling ring. At WrestleMania VI, he lost to Hacksaw Jim Duggan.
11. Known as the Big Boss Man, Ray Traylor was 41 when he died of a heart attack in 2004. At WrestleMania VI, he defeated Akeem.
12. Known as Sweet Sapphire, Juanita Wright was 61 when she died of a heart attack in 1996. At WrestleMania VI, she and Dusty Rhodes won a mixed tag-team match against Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri.
It’s an eerie feeling to know that 12 of the 36 wrestlers (or 33%) who competed in the ring that night as part of the PPV event have now passed away. This does not include the likes of valet Miss Elizabeth (overdose) aged 42, Referee Joey Marella (auto accident) aged 31, and his father, wrestling announcer Gorilla Monsoon (heart failure/diabetes) aged 62, who have also passed away in an untimely manner since the event.
It’s hard to argue that the rough road schedule, the wear and the tear on the body, and plenty of ‘extracurricular’ partying played a part in many of these deaths. In one of my favorite eras, and one of my favorite events of said era, it hurts to look back and know so many have left us. We can only hope others have learned from their mistakes.
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WrestleMania 7 is worse if you include the announcers and referees in addition to the wrestlers.
Those who say steroids should be legalized should look at this!
It said because almost all of them died at the age of 40 as a result of drugs. I believe WWE can control their drug usage in order to protect the athletes.