“Over the last ten years, an inordinate number of wrestlers have passed away. Some of those deaths may in part have been caused by drugs or alcohol.”
So begins a letter just sent to all former World Wrestling Entertainment performers by WWE chair Vince McMahon. In the letter, WWE goes on to offer to pay in full for any substance-abuse treatment their former wrestlers might need.
The full text of the letter can be viewed at this link at the newsletter Pro Wrestling Torch: http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_22905.shtml.
McMahon makes no mention of investigations of the wrestling industry by two different committees of the House of Representatives. But the link between the drug-treatment offer and the Congressional probes is obvious. The standard WWE line had been that only five wrestlers – most recently Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and son and killed himself in June – died on the company’s watch. This letter moves WWE toward accepting greater responsibility for the problem of drug abuse and death in an industry that it dominates.
This is an important positive development. By themselves, however, the steps taken in the McMahon letter seem unlikely to quell the call for Congressional hearings. One subject not yet scrutinized in depth is the efficacy and credibility of WWE’s Talent Wellness Program. Another is whether the physical and mental demands made of wrestlers by WWE and other promotions create or worsen their drug problems.