List of premature professional wrestling deaths

Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s According to a 2014 study by Eastern Michigan University examining professional wrestlers who were active between 1985 and 2011, mortality rates for professional wrestlers are up to 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider United States population.

[1] A 2014 report by John Moriarty of the University of Manchester and Benjamin Morris of FiveThirtyEight also found that the mortality rate for professional wrestlers was significantly higher than that of athletes in other sports.

[2][3][4] Experts suggest that a combination of the physical nature of the business, no off-season, and potentially high work load (with some wrestlers fighting more than 100 and even 200 matches per year), along with the drug culture in wrestling during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s contributes to high mortality rates among wrestlers.

[10][11] Many promotions employ performers as "independent contractors" and do not offer company-sponsored group health insurance coverage in most instances.

[15] The concept of the untimely deaths of professional wrestlers was a frequent topic of discussion on the Opie & Anthony show.