The incidents of pro-wrestlers dying in early age have risen alarmingly in recent years! Isn't this a serious.?

It IS a serious issue. This isn't like the "rock star" lifestyle where the "rock stars" over-indulge in drugs and alcohol just because it's readily available and is expected of them.

Pro wrestling has become so ultra-competitive (for spots on the roster), due in large part to Vince McMahon Jr destroying the "territories" and putting dozens of promotions out of business, thus limiting the amount of "spots" that are available, that the boys have resorted to taking dangerous amounts of steroids to unnaturally enlarge their bodies, hoping to "stick out" when the "now hiring" sign goes up.

The fans have demanded increasingly more difficult and dangerous stunts from the boys in the ring, resulting in more (and more severe) injuries, requiring more surgeries and more powerful painkillers. The boys have to get back in the ring sooner than they should for fear of losing their "spots" and not being able to live off of no income (most promotions don't pay wrestlers unless they can perform). The boys are having to rely on powerful painkillers (and in some cases, alcohol) just to dull the pain enough to get in the ring and perform. That, coupled with the brutal road schedule and being away from their families, has turned them into machines. When something "breaks" they get repaired and put back into service, generally far too soon, becoming addicted to painkillers and/or alcohol in the process.

The wrestling business (and the ever-demanding fans) are using up these performers and they are dropping off at an alarming rate, more so than in any other form of entertainment, even the rock & roll industry. This decade alone has seen more pro wrestlers dying young and unnaturally than all of the previous decades combined. And that can be directly attributed to steroid and painkiller abuse.

WE, the fans, demand that these guys perform dangerous stunts on a nightly basis (proof of that is painfully clear; when the boys wrestle chants of "boring" break out until they start doing their stunts, which are cheered). WE, the fans, with our demands for these dangerous stunts, are causing these injuries. Then WE, the fans, climb on our high-horses and condemn those same performers for becoming addicted to those highly-addictive powerful painkillers they take just to climb back into the ring to perform more dangerous stunts for us.

It's a vicious cycle that is killing the boys. Vince McMahon has taken a stand and has outlawed and eliminated most of the very risky and highly dangerous stunts. As a result, the injury-level (and severity of the injuries) in the WWE has been reduced. The consequence of that stance? The fans condemning the WWE for it's "limited move sets" and boring "kiddie show". The fans WANT the blood, the weapons, the dangerous stunts, the ultra-violence that started the whole damn thing, not caring that the boys are paying a dear price for this.

The wrestlers who are busted for using illegal "recreational drugs" should be held accountable as this is a lifestyle choice and not part of, or a result of, their jobs.

But anyway you look at it, steroids and drugs ARE killing the boys at an alarming rate. Something NEEDS to be done about it. Vince McMahon's outlawing the more dangerous stunts, and for instituting his "wellness policy", should be applauded and supported by the fans. ALL wrestling promoters should follow his lead in this.

This is a serious issue that does need to be tackled somehow...

But the question about that is: how do you approach it? The lifestyles of many in Professional Wrestling of the past and present, including Umaga, are not the most admirable, and with habitual drug use, the harshness of Professional Wrestling on the body, and the lack of good nutrition while many of these Professional Wrestlers are on the road does make for an impact in the whole ordeal. But if you look at the profession as a whole, not many Professional Wrestlers are expected to live long lives, especially those that are considered morbidly obese and due to the fact that a lot of them take extremely hard hits to the back.

In Umaga's case, there were drug and weight problems to consider into this whole thing, and we know little about how he lived his life outside of that.

This definitely is a serious issue, and it has been for quite a few years now.

Wrestling has always had some sort of drug use behind the scenes as far as I know. But I believe it was during the 80's that drugs became a really serious issue with wrestlers passing away as a result of drugs, or a connection to drugs.

During the 80's, steroids started becoming big, with wrestlers, especially in Vince Jr.'s WWF, wanting to get big and overly muscular for their look and on camera appearance...thanks to WWF driving by on the image of a wrestler.

During that time, the Von Erich brothers were known as drug users, and who's to say that the drug use they did, didn't lead to the emotional instability that caused a couple of those brothers to commit suicide? There were plenty of the wrestlers in the 80's that were drug users, whether it was steroids or just illegal drugs to get a high.

The 90's had plenty of this as well, and it was in the 90's that some of these wrestlers that were doing drugs in the 80's started passing away...until the 2000's and these past recent years.

Besides some tragic circumstances like Owen Hart, a lot of these deaths were in some sort drug related. It's unfortunate that wrestling, and it's promoters tended to, and might still do til this day, turn the blind eye towards wrestlers that might have drug problems...in order for the wrestler to keep doing what they do, and in turn make the wrestling company money.

It wasn't until just a couple of years ago that the wellness policy for WWE started getting talked about and then put into place...and that wasn't until there was some government involvement that the wellness program became a serious thought. It's a baby step, since the wellness policy in WWE isn't perfect, but at least it's a baby step forward towards helping the wrestlers that might have drug problems.

Umaga was released simply because WWE knew he had a drug problem, WWE wanted Umaga to go to rehab, and Umaga refused. They released him, but sometimes a wrestler with a drug problem being released because of his problem isn't really going to make the wrestler do anything to better themselves. But WWE did what they could, go to rehab or don't work for the company, so obviously Umaga never went to rehab and his drug problem continued, and now he's passed away unfortunately.

All of pro wrestling should be paying more attention to a wrestler's health, and if that wrestler has any drug problems through drug testing. But most of the time it seems pro wrestling just wants to make money and don't pay attention to a wrestler's well being.

This is a serious issue, yes, and it's been for a few years now..it's taking way too long for wrestling to help lower the amount of deaths of wrestlers at a pretty young age, a drug policy like WWE's is a small step forward, but more needs to be done to continue to make things better.

Maybe just releasing a wrestler because of drugs isn't enough...maybe it might take a court ordered rehab or something to the like. If it's going to benefit a wrestler's health in the long run, it is something that needs to be added to pro wrestling...whether it be every wrestler taking at least a month or two out of the year off just to rest and rehab their body, or any better ideas anyone within the pro wrestling industry can come up with..because yes, this is a serious issue...and as far as it looks, it will continue to be in the near future.

I think this might go to a lot of athlete and not just pro wrestlers..

This is of course a serious issue, a hell lot of wrestlers have died from a young age, and the blame should go to both them and the promotion they work for IMO, but i do blame the wrestlers more, since it's their decision in the end, Umaga could have went to rehab.. but he decided not to.

Either way, i don't see the need of wrestlers taking roids, the wrestlers in japan do not take roids, it's their pure streng and "will" that gets them trough matches, i was told it's against the law to use them anyway, and u don't see any huge japaneese wrestlers.

Some Abuse Steroids Other's Die For other reasons...

Steroids should stay ot of wrestling!

2005- Eddie Guerrero

2007- Chris Benoit

2008- Test

2009- Umaga

Future- Batista

They're dieing because this generation now has DRUGS and if you look at wrestlers that died young you can see they had a drug history for example, benoit, eddie and umaga. So I think they're dieing because of DRUGS.

It is up to that particular person.If they want to get ahead in the business they might have to take steroids or some kind of other illegal drugs that will catch up with them later in life.

Its a serious issue.

the responsibility falls on the wrestler and no one else