Book Exposes Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of DeathRandy Shawbyline‚ Nov. 05‚ 2009When we think of the most dangerous jobs for young men, professional wrestler does not come to mind. Since wrestling matches are staged, and there is a history of stars like Freddie Blassie and Lou Thesz performing into their 60s, the assumption is that while wrestlers break bones and incur great pain, that the job itself is not life-threatening. But as Irv Muchnick shows in his new book, Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide & Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of Death, successful careers in wrestling today often require the ingestion of a dangerous, and often fatal, level of steroids that would never be tolerated in a normal business. Wrestling impresario Vince McMahon, however, has built perhaps the nation’s only billion-dollar entertainment industry that is unregulated, which means that there is no public entity to prevent wrestlers from taking drugs that lead to their own deaths and even the lives of others. 21 wrestlers died before the age of fifty in 2007 alone, and Muchnick’s book is a powerful call for action. |