The Associated Press picked up the story of the death of Steve Bisson over the weekend. The 32 year old was found dead in a parking lot in Manchester, NH this past Thursday. He was better known as Mofo Steve Bradley to New England wrestling fans. Steve was signed to the WWE for a while back in 1998 and wrestled non-televised matches. However, he was used in their training facilities to work with current stars such as Kurt Angle.
Thankfully, there was no reported foul play in regards to his death. Steve was known to have many drug problems throughout his life, so unfortunately, it could be related to that. What does this have to do with anything else in this blog so far? The AP article says how he was indicted on heroine posession charges last month. It almost seemed like the AP HAD to report on that. If there is something remotely negative attached to the death of a professional wrestler, it has to be mentioned. And that continues the trend of the bad view most people have on wrestling and the people associated with it.
There has been a lot of untimely deaths in the world of professional wrestling. There was the Owen Hart accident where he fell to his death during a pay-per-view, Bruiser Brody who was stabbed to death in Puerto Rico, Brian Pillman who died of a heart condition, Eddie Guerrero who died of heart failure in his hotel room, and one of the most famous ones, Chris Benoit, who killed himself and his family. There are way too many more to list, many of them having resulted of drug issues. It's so unfortunate that there is that common link between so many deaths in wrestling. Whether it be an issue like Steve Bradley had with heroine, the Miss Elizabeth incident with pills, or the thought that steroid use can have a long time effect on the body that can later lead to health issues (part of the Chris Benoit thing).
It's almost like its apart of the lifestyle. To get by, so many guys mask their physical pain with different types of drugs. Or maybe they do it for no reason. The Chris Benoit death was an AWFUL awful situation, making the WWE look bad and the entire nature of the business look bad. As a fan, as the year goes by, it's so sad that you almost wait to see who the next one to go is, no matter if it's on the national level or the smaller level, like Steve Bradley. I don't mean that on an insensitive level at all, but you have to just know that it happens all the time. And it gets to a point where you're waiting for it to be someone you know. Now, the AP picks up even on smaller wrestler deaths and casts an even bigger shadow on the business. Early wrestler deaths due to drugs, the lifestyle of the business, and such will be something that will never end, unfortunately.
I didn't know Steve Bradley, but I know people who were extremely close to him; looked up to him as hero because of the impact he made on their life. RIP.
http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=35090&p=1
1 comment:
Since I don't know much about wrestling I had no idea that so many of them passed away each year. It is so sad to think that these young men turn to deadly drugs to stay in their profession.
Post a Comment