July 1st, 2007
Writing about Benoit and the future of wrestling last week, I said that it wouldn’t surprise me if this was the end of the line for the WWE, the McMahon family, or maybe even pro wrestling as we know it. Here’s a piece I wrote making the case for the necessity of a pro wrestler’s union.
I know, it sounds crazy. But have a look at this outstanding USA Today piece. Between 1997 and 2004, USA Today found that:
about 1,000 wrestlers 45 and younger have worked on pro wrestling circuits worldwide, wrestling officials estimate.
USA TODAY’s examination of medical documents, autopsies and police reports, along with interviews with family members and news accounts, shows that at least 65 wrestlers died in that time . . .
Wrestlers have death rates about seven times higher than the general U.S. population, says Keith Pinckard, a medical examiner in Dallas who has followed wrestling fatalities. They are 12 times more likely to die from heart disease than other Americans 25 to 44, he adds. And USA TODAY research shows that wrestlers are about 20 times more likely to die before 45 than are pro football players, another profession that’s exceptionally hard on the body.
I suspect that if the NHL, NBA, or NFL had death rates like that, Congress would shut them down in a blink. But if pro wrestling is protected from such scrutiny precisely because it isn’t a sport, then the least they can do is have a union to improve working conditions and protect the wrestlers. Even Broadway actors have Equity.
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