WEB CHUTNEY

Everyone knows wrestling is fake (if you didn’t I’m sorry to burst your bubble). I’m not saying that wrestling is easy and boring, wrestling is a very demanding sport and no one can say wrestling is boring. Wrestlers throw themselves at each other and punish their own bodies by performing dangerous moves and manoeuvres, some of their moves are so dangerous that they cause career ending injuries and sometimes take lives of people. So wrestling is fake but it is still a dangerous sport.

Below is a list of people who tragically lost their lives while wrestling:

1. Gary Albright

Gary was a wrestling giant in the 1990’s. He competed in Japan and would go on tours with the promotion. On 7th Jan 2000 Gary wrestled in Allentown Pennsylvania against a man named Grimm. Grimm was supposed to lose the match but he hit Gary with a move which he did not get up from. Grimm rolled Gary over him and instructed the referee to do the count; wrestlers and medics came into the ring to resuscitate him but their efforts were unsuccessful. Gary had died of a heart attack. The rest of the show was cancelled.

2. Chris Candico

Chris Candico was recovering from a bad wrestling run at the start of his career. He later found success in the wrestling world after he recovered from his addiction to drugs. He sadly broke his leg during a cage match that turned into a blood clot which then killed him at the young age of 33.

3. Owen Hart

Brother of Bret ‘ The Hitman’ Hart, Owen Hart on May of 1999 was originally booked to rappel down to the ring from a harness line. Unfortunately the harness line snapped and Owen dropped from 78 feet to his death.

4. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero’s career was just kicking off in wrestling; he was becoming famous by the day. He sadly died of a heart disease in 2005 at the age of 38.

5. Bruiser Brody

Bruiser Brody also known as Frank Brodish was a wild wrestler. He was called in to the showers by another wrestler to discuss a match. The two men discussed matters and walked off but moments later they found Bruiser stabbed in the stomach with the other wrestler holding a knife. Bruiser died on the way to the hospital.

6. Dino Bravo

Dino Bravo was rumoured to have been affiliated with an organised criminal group in Montreal. On March of 1993, he was found dead in his apartment, shot seven times. Twice in the head, and there were no signs of forced entry which shows that he knew the people who shot him.

7. Rikidozan

Rikidozan whose real name is Mitsuhiso Momota was one of the biggest Japanese wrestlers of his time. He was a retired sumo wrestler who came into fake wrestling in 1951. In 1961, Rikidozan was stabbed in a night club with a urine soaked knife and died of an infection a year later.

8. Oro

A Mexican lucha libre wrestler, Oro was involved in a six man match. During the match he was supposed to take a bump to the head and continue fighting in the match. When the time came, Oro was clotheslined and landed on his head. His opponent picked him up and realised that Oro had gone limp and put him on the side of the ring. The match continued and people assumed Oro was knocked out. A stretcher had come to take Oro to the hospital but he had died before he could be placed in the ambulance. It was later revealed that he had a brain aneurysm.

9. Chris Benoit

One of the most popular wrestlers of his time, Chris Benoit’s work ethic was second to none. But it was that work ethic which resulted in his brain suffering myriad concussion that induced a form of dementia. It was this dementia that led him to murdering his wife and son and then taking his own life by hanging himself with a weight machine cord.

10. Randy Savage

‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage was a famous wrestler of his time and had also appeared in the first Spider-man movie. He was driving on May 2011 and suffered a heart attack causing the car to swerve and smash into a tree. His wife was in the car who only suffered minor injuries while Randy Savage was declared dead at the scene.

11. Mal ‘King Kong’ Kirk

A British wrestler in the 80’s who was sold as an unbeatable man and a tyrant who was actually a gentle giant outside of the ring. He died on 24th August 1987 in front of 1500 fans. He executed his signature big splash move which wasn’t a dangerous move at all, but after executing it Mal didn’t get up. It was later revealed that Mal had a pre-existing heart condition and died in the ring.

12. Pedro Aguayo Jr.

Pedro Aguayo Jr. collapsed mid match. He was hit with a flying kick to the neck and shoulder, and collapsed on the ropes during a match. He suffered from spinal trauma caused by a whiplash when he fell on the ropes. He died in the ring.

13. Plum Mariko

Plum Mariko was one of the original members of Japans Women’s Pro-wrestling. While wrestling over a few weeks, Mariko started noticing things weren’t right with her, she would forget wrestling moves and how matches were supposed to end. She also complained about terrible headaches but never missed matches. On 15th August 1957 she performed a move and didn’t get up. Usually wrestlers have to act like they are knocked out but Mariko was snoring. Mariko fell into a coma and passed away the next day.

14. Mitsuharu Misawa

A Japanese wrestler who was as famous as Hulk Hogan in Japan had created his own wrestling promotion. In the match where he decided to retire, Misawa teamed with his protégé in a tag team match. Misawa took a belly to back supplex which he could have taken a 100 times but this time he did not get up. He died in the ring.