10 terrible deaths of WWE Superstars

The Professional Wrestling business is not about the sunshine and rainbows, it was always about men and women going to the limits just to make the fans cheer their name or just go wild seeing them.

Though the business brings in fame and superstardom for most of the wrestler who tried their luck, one thing that comes along with those advantages is the tragedies. Ever since its inception, professional wrestling has been synonymous with tragedy at various points leaving the wrestler in a traumatic dilemma.Despite being faced with such grief dangers, these wrestlers usually gets dragged into the pleasure of being hurt themselves and ends up giving their life as the price.

The number of wrestlers dying over the past few decades has been very high with Nelson Frazier Jr. being the latest addition into that list. So let’s take a look at ten names  who started their career dreaming of being the best professional wrestler and ended up as the tragic lessons for the generations to come.


10- Test (Age- 33)

Test

The fans who have been following WWE from the attitude Era days might’ve not forgotten the name Test that easily.

Though he wasn’t a big name like many others in the list, Test was someone who was stuck in between the gap between upper midcard and main event. The pushes that he had never really clicked and he was left floundering down the card despite having the skills to top the charts.
Apart from WWE, Test even had spells in some independent promotions and TNA before retiring from in ring action.
However, he didn’t have much time to spent retirement as Test died due to an overdose of oxycodone just three days before his 34^th birthday. It was then later revealed that he was suffering from a chronic brain injury which was caused by blows to the heads which might’ve happened while wrestling.



9- Umaga (Age- 36)

Umaga

After starting off his career as part of various tag teams in the WWE, Eddie Fatu finally found his footing in the business with the character, Umaga.

His new character gave new dimensions for him as a superstar and Umaga soon found himself entangled in the WWE picture with big names like John Cena. he also was a focal point of the WrestleMania show off between Donald Trump and Vince McMahon as Umaga was the handpicked representative to McMahon.
But after that he was relegated into the intercontinental title scene and soon left the company. in 2009, Umaga was found dead with blood coming out of his nose which was later declared as a heart attack. It was later revealed that Umaga clearly violated many of the WWE talent wellness policy and were using many drugs which eventually contributed to his death.




8- Curt Henning (Age-44)

Curt Hennig

For the new fans he might be the father of Curtis Axel but for the ones who witness his rise as a superstar, Henning was a name which had the potential to be one of those big fishes in the business.

Mr. Perfect had his unique style and charisma inside the ring which gave him the tag of “one of the best in ring technicians of his generation”. After the wrestling career, Henning stayed relevant in the business by taking up the manage and color commentator roles before being dragged back into the ring by Ric Flair.
The match between the two blew off well with the fans and soon Henning started jumping ships. He had spells in WCW and TNA as well.
Henning was found dead in 2003 due to a cocaine intoxication and reports also suggested that steroids and painkiller added to the death.  Henning was later inducted into the Hall of Fame and his legacy still remains in the company in form of Curtis Axel.


7- Randy Savage (Age- 58)

Randy Savage

Keeping Hulk Hogan apart, Randy Savage is arguably one of the few superstars who found their way into the main stream culture during the latter stages of the golden era. Savage was known for his trademark costumes and raspy sound along with the in ring charisma that he possessed.
He even went on to land a role in the Spider man film making it more clear that his career wasn’t restricted to wrestling only.
Though Savage was almost out of the wrestling business by the time of this death, the popularity and the name that he made during his time in the ring made everyone go crazy hearing the news of his death.
Savage died from a heart attack at the age of 58 and caused a whirl wind of reactions from all around the wrestling community which made his death among one of the most impactful ones in the wrestling history.


6- Brian Pillman (Age-35)

Brian Pillman

The evolution of Pillman from a cruiserweight into a credible character only required under a decade of time, in that time he made the loose cannon gimmick a famous one in the wrestling business but none would’ve seen such a career being shortened by the clutches of death.
Pillman was allegedly an alcoholic and had drug usage well beyond the prescribed limits. And from the reports those habits contributed to his early demise. Dying at an age of 35, Pillman still had a lot to contribute to the wrestling world it wasn’t for his mistimed death.
His passing away was a big blow for Vince McMahon who saw a regular pay-per-view performer just going like that gaining all the bad attraction from around the world. This wasn’t the first wrestlers to die in this way but Pillman was a big name who easily made everyone buzz about the company’s drug policies.


5- David Von Erich (Age-25)

David Von Erich

The Von Erich family is quite arguably the most controversial and talked about wrestling families in the history of the business for all the wrong reasons and one prominent reason among that was David.
Back in the territory days of wrestling in 1980s, a particular promotion name WCCW in Dallas was catching attraction for bringing breakout shows for the fans. ran by Fritz Von Erich, the main feud in that promotion was the one involving Fritz’s sons. From the three sons he had, David was the most talented, he was even touted to be the next NWA World Champion after being groomed heavily at WCCW.
However, tragedy soon struck the Erichs as David was found dead in a hotel room due to intestinal enteritis which was because of the drug overdose that he had.
Kerry and Mike, David’s brothers, also passed away in a span of 6 years after David’s death and the promotion soon began to slip into the abyss. It never reached the levels that it was enjoying back when David was alive and soon the NWA decided to leave their hand from WCCW which proved to be the final nail in their coffin.



4- Bruiser Brody (Age- 42)

Bruiser Brody

Brody had a luxurious career that spanned almost two decades which saw him establish himself as the greatest brawler that United States has ever seen till then. However, outside the ring he was known as a family man who had a nice eye for getting an extra dime whenever possible.

He often had the worst relationship with his promoters because of this business minded approach and soon it cost him his life as Jose Gonzalez, a promoter in Puerto Rico stabbed Brody to death in the locker-room after an argument broke out between the two.
The murder soon turned out to be a black mark in the Puerto Rican promotions as none of the American wrestlers were ready to work there. Along with this, it also marked a legacy of wrestlers keeping their guards up even in the locker rooms because after what happened to Brody you never know.


3- Eddie Guerrero (Age-38)

Eddie Guerrero

Before finding his way into WWE, Eddie was known to be among the wrestlers who bought technical skills into a hardcore based promotion like ECW.
He then soon rose from there and went through WCW before finally ending up in Vince McMahon’s yard. Eddie soon turned out to be a fan favorite there also with both the heel and face alignments and even went on to win the WWE title and headline WrestleMania.
Known for his incredible charisma and special in ring skills, Guerrero had no trouble fitting into anything which was thrown at him. The guy was also known for fighting out the personal demons and rising to rule the hearts of fans by documenting a spectacular comeback story.
But unfortunately, Eddie passed away at a young age of 38 years due to an acute heart failure. The drug problems that he had at some points before his death were blamed for the incident and Eddie’s death still leave a big void in the business which is yet to be filled.


2- Owen Hart (Age -34)

Owen Hart

One of the most gifted wrestlers from the Hart Family, Owen had a great career ahead of him if it wasn’t for the WWE’s decision to make him slide down into the ring from an awkward height, Bret Hart might’ve not been the biggest name from the Hart Family.Hart fell to his death from a height of 78ft while making his entrance in the Over The Edge pay-per-view of 1999. The show went on despite his death and the company later gave a two hour tribute show for the late great with the storyline paused for paying homage.
One of the greatest highlight of Hart’s career was the heel turn which he pulled off perfectly against his brother Bret and this lead to an epic match between the two at WrestleMania X which still reminds the fans of what they lost.
Hart later went on to be known as a great person rather than a wrestler which is quite an achievement in a business like professional wrestling.

1-      Chris Benoit (Age-40)

Chris Benoit

You knew this was coming didn’t you? How can this list full of tragedies be complete without the name of Chris Benoit?
Personally speaking Benoit was one of those wrestlers that I grew up watching and had a great impact on me. The way he won the Royal Rumble, the moment he cried when he won the WrestleMania match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels, his crippler cross face, those jumps from the pods of Elimination Chamber, the way he collapsed after Eddie’s death all still remains in the head as memories of this great wrestler.
Though it was concluded that he murdered his family and committed suicide it’s yet to be proven with credible evidence. Keeping that tragic climax apart, the life of Benoit as a wrestler is one that could be inspiration for everyone out there. And even know wrestler like Daniel Bryan and many more follow the style for which Benoit was known for.
It was one of the shocking losses to the professional wrestling world as well and every time his name comes across, I always imagine what WWE would’ve looked like if he was still in the roster.