Deaths in ‘07 Shows Wrestling Epidemic

By Dave “Large” Larzelere
Recently I wrote our year-end obituaries piece for No Mas where we go back and look at some of the lesser-known figures from the world of sports who died in 2007.
While researching that piece, I started to notice something that at first was creepy and then slowly became downright mind-blowing. With a little research I confirmed my findings – as many as 21 former professional wrestlers who were under the age of 50 died in 2007 (here’s the definitive list).
A few of these deaths made the mainstream news – Bam Bam Bigelow (because of his fan-base) and Chris Benoit (because he killed his wife and kid before killing himself).
Most of these deaths flew under the radar, however, despite the fact that they all shared a single murder suspect – roids. The steroid epidemic in wrestling has been written about for years now, but 21 premature deaths in a single year is absolutely off the charts. Can you imagine what the media uproar would be like if 21 former major leaguers died prematurely in one year and all of them were suspected steroid abusers? One has to wonder if someday we’ll find out the answer to that question.
(Below, ole Bam Bam in better times, tangling with the Undertaker in ’93.)

↵