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Did you know? Premature death dominate wrestling

By Scott Sloan ssloan@herald-leader.com

The premature deaths of professional wrestlers have dominated headlines in recent years since former WWE champion Chris Benoit killed his family and then himself.

Just last week, former WWE wrestler Andrew "Test" Martin, 33, was found dead. The cause of his death has yet to be determined.

Some of the many deaths are drug- related, but others are suicides, and some link to the stress on their bodies.

With Legends of WrestleMania premiering next week, the Manifesto has chosen some of the best wrestling games of the past to check out the percentage of the rosters who have died.

■ WWF WrestleMania (1988, NES): 33 percent (two of six) dead. They are André the Giant (46, congestive heart failure) and Bam Bam Bigelow (45, heart problems and drugs).

■ WWF WrestleMania Challenge (1990, NES): 38 percent (three of eight). They are Ray "The Big Bossman" Traylor (42, heart attack), Ravishing Rick Rude (40, heart failure caused by medication overdose) and André the Giant.

■ WWF WrestleFest (1991, arcade): 42 percent (five of 12). They are "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig (44, acute cocaine intoxication), John "Earthquake" Tenta (42, bladder cancer), Brian "Crush" Adams (43, overdose of painkillers), Michael "Road Warrior Hawk" Hegstrand (46, heart attack) and Traylor.

■ WWF In Your House (1996, PlayStation, Saturn and PC): 20 percent (two of 10). They are "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith (39, heart attack) and Owen Hart (34, fell to his death at a pay-per-view after equipment used for a ring entrance from the rafters malfunctioned).

■ WWE Survivor Series (2004, Game Boy Advance): 11 percent (two of 18). They are Eddie Guerrero (38, heart failure) and Benoit.

■ WWE Legends of WrestleMania (2009, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3): 24 percent (10 of 42). They are Big John Studd (46, liver cancer and Hodgkin's disease), Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter (45, car accident), "Yokozuna" Rodney Agatupu Anoa'i (34, heart failure), André the Giant, Bigelow, Traylor, Smith, Hegstrand, Hennig and Rude.