Steroids, alcohol, and the psychiatric drug Xanax can be a very deadly combination. As reported in the Charleston Post and Courier Part of a series, more at the link
The news Monday that yet another professional wrestler had died at a relatively young age made headlines across the country.
But to Marc Mero, who has led an effort to clean up the business, it was just another name on a morbid list of wrestlers who have failed to reach the age of 50.
That's not to say Mero wasn't saddened to hear about the passing of Brian 'Crush' Adams, who was found dead at his home in Tampa, not that far from Orlando where Mero runs a high-end gym. Mero had talked to Adams a couple of weeks earlier, and the 6-6, 300-pounder sounded in good spirits, asking to come down and see Mero's facility.
The cause of the 44-year-old wrestler's death remains a mystery, and further tests have been ordered following an autopsy.
Mero hastened that it would be too early to speculate, but he couldn't help but wonder if his friend had fallen victim to a disturbing trend in the wrestling profession.
'Who knows how he died, but it seems to be the typical MO of ‘a wrestler found dead.' And he was one of the guys I was closer to, and it's just like, here we go again,' says Mero.
Adams had a history of steroids, having been arrested in 1995 on charges of illegal possession of steroids and weapons while living in Hawaii, which led to his WWE release.
Mero, like many, believe a number of elements — not just steroids — were involved in the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide in June. Steroids, painkillers, depression all likely played a part. But, he says, they're all by-products of a business that has a high mortality rate.
'Welcome to the world of professional wrestling,' says Mero. 'It's not one particular thing. It's the wrestling cocktail.'
Mero, who retired from the business several years ago, spoke with a forensic psychologist and his wife, a toxicologist, who told him alcohol, which was found near Benoit's body, and Xanax, which was found in his system, can be a very unpredictable combination.
'Some people can go sleep, and some people can absolutely freak out. They don't even remember what they did. And obviously mixing this with steroids and pain medication ... your body is only wired a certain way, and it can short-circuit.'
Mero still struggles trying to comprehend how Benoit, who he wrestled many times in WCW, could have killed his wife and 7-year-old son.
'It is one of the most baffling things. We all know he loved his son. What caused him to go over the edge and snap like that? One thing we don't talk a lot about is depression. There are many wrestlers who are depressed. I remember once thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, I've got all this money in the bank, everywhere I go people are going to recognize me,' and you try to find happiness through other means. It's a very, very strange life. There are guys who can do it, and those who can't.'
The media, he says, put an emphasis on steroids because it seemed to be the most sensational hook to the story.
'They jumped on the steroid bandwagon since it was a double murder-suicide,' says Mero, who adds that WWE's explanation of what constitutes steroids makes little sense. 'The testosterone they're talking about ... we would have loved to have gotten our hands on that. Now when you get it from your doctor, it's not called steroids, it's called ‘hormone replacement.' I only wish there had been doctors back then, although there were doctors doing it illegally.'
'I don't see these problems that much in baseball or football with doctors prescribing because they don't get to pass go and collect $200 like they do in WWE,' he adds. 'So if we really tighten up the drug program and change the testosterone level from 10/1 to 4/1 like in the other sports and you get to retake it, and if you produce a prescription from your doctor, you pass it. That's something I think will take care of itself.'
Benoit's personal physician, Dr. Phil Astin, was charged with providing more than a million doses of prescription drugs and steroids — in just two years — to patients other than Benoit. A federal agent's affidavit said Astin prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids to Benoit every three to four weeks between May 2006 and May 2007.
'We really have to get down to these doctors because that's bad,' says Mero. 'Some of them are writing scripts over the Internet. They need to give them some strict penalties. I think because of Dr. Astin coming to light, a lot of doctors are getting real worried, and I guarantee you that a lot of pictures of professional wrestlers on the walls of doctors' offices throughout the country have been taken down.'
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