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In previous news... Los Angeles promoter Mike Lebell dies
Posted on 12/04/2009 4:39:32 PM PST by CounterCounterCulture
A rep from the WWE tells TMZ their former superstar wrestler Umaga has died.
Umaga, whose real name was Eddie Fatu, was 36 years old.
The WWE has released a statement on their website saying, "The WWE would like to express its deepest condolences to Mr. Fatu's family, friends and fans on his tragic passing."
As always, if you'd like ON or OFF my wrasslin' ping list, let me know
In previous news... Los Angeles promoter Mike Lebell dies
Report previous to his passing...
Former WWE star Eddie “Umaga” Fatu has been hospitalized in an ICU unit in Houston, TX. Reports are going around that he is now brain dead, but that has not been confirmed by his family. WWE called it a “grave situation.” His condition is thought to be life-threatening and his family was told to get into town and to the hospital right away.
Details are a bit sketchy at this point, but he was apparently found by his wife this morning, not breathing with blood coming out of his nose.
http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/123702/Umaga-Hospitalized,-Seriously-Ill.htm
No cause I take it? What would make you brain dead with blood/nose
Another young wrestler dead. I think this business eats people alive.
Does Mrs. Fatu have a golf club?
I hope he had 3 minutes warning.
Roid-induced hemmorhage?
How? Everything is choreographed and staged. It's nothing more than a physical soap opera.
Too many young wrestlers have died from roids related heart attacks and strokes.
As much as I hate to say it, it may be time for professional wrestling to be investigated/regulated.
This makes at least 10-15 WWE wrestlers in their 30’s or 40’s that have died suddenly due to brain hemmorages or heart attacks.
Anyone who does not think that all of them a related to steroid use is being willfully ignorant.
Most of these wrestlers die from some form of drug abuse, usually a combination of pain relievers and muscle relaxers, sometimes alcohol or cocaine mixed in. Playing with those pharmaceutical drugs is very dangerous, your body gets so relaxed it forgets to breathe.
You wrote:
“How? Everything is choreographed and staged. It’s nothing more than a physical soap opera.”
Yes, but it’s a BUSINESS that causes terrible injuries, more than 280 a year on the road, and drug addiction is common. The fact that the matches have some choreography and staging doesn’t change the fact that these guys travel constantly and risk life and limb to entertain people.
Sorry, that should be 280 DAYS a year on the road.
“Choreographed” doesn’t mean painless. Between the roids to buff up, the nightly partying, the pain killers to work while injured, sedatives to sleep and speed to wake up and get on a plane the next day, most are a burnt out shell before 50. Often sooner.
“What would make you brain dead with blood/nose”
Blood pressure. Been there, done that.
Too bad. Way too young. RIP.
OH MAN that sucks I remember that dude he team up with Little people Hoogleworst
“As much as I hate to say it, it may be time for professional wrestling to be investigated/regulated.”
This frustrates the hell out of me. If active baseball players were dying at the rate wrestlers have been in the past 10 years(especially counting TNA/the indy circuit/etc), the feds would turn the MLB inside out looking for answers...yet those players are the ones getting dragged before Congress while the wrestling industry gets ignored because it’s “scripted”. So is Hollywood stunt work...ask one of those guys how “fake” their injuries are...at least they get time off between gigs. How many more lives is it going to take to get people to take this seriously?
/vent
A few a the wrestlers that come to mind who died way too young:
Rick Rude
Road Warrior Hawk
Big Boss Man
Louie Spicolli
Mike Awesome
Eddie Guerrero
Chris Benoit
Rocco Rock
Johnny Grunge
Eddie Gilbert
Brian Pillman
Davey Boy Smith
Andre The Giant
Owen Hart
Curt Hennig
Scott “Bam Bam” Bigelow
Yokozuna
Sylvester Ritter (Junk Yard Dog)
Raymond Fernandez (Hercules)
Brian Adams (Crush)
Sherri Martel
Rhonda Singh (Bertha Faye)
Andrew Martin (Test)
Michael Lockwood (”Crash” Holly)
Chris Candido
Adrian Adonis
Art Barr
Rick McGraw
Buzz Sawyer
Terry Gordy
Dino Bravo
Bruiser Brody
John Tenta (Earthquake)
most of the Von Erichs
and valet Miss Elizabeth
Afa Anoai sent out the following statement on the passing of Eddie ‘Umaga’ Fatu:
On behalf of my family, the Anoa’i and Fatu family, we are devastated and shocked by the loss of our Eki. Our son, nephew, brother, cousin, husband, father. Our hearts are broken, and words can’t express what each of us are feeling. It is so comforting to know how loved Eki is by his family, peers, friends, and most of all his fans. When I received that a.m. phone call that my nephew was in the hospital, I dug deep and prayed and cried and begged for a miracle. When we lost Eki, I knew it was God’s will, and that he is with my sister, his mother, who passed just a year ago.
We are making our plans now for our farewell to Eki, but I wanted to take this time to thank everyone for all of the thousands of posts, emails, letters, and cards. Although I have not been able to bring myself to answer them personally, your kindness does not go unnoticed. I want to especially thank our WWE family and Stephanie McMahon for everything, and her phone call was very comforting to me in my time of sorrow.
God bless each and every one of you, and I’ve said it a hundred times, the best people in the world are our wrestling people. You’ll never find a more dedicated group of people.
Be safe and be healthy, and love one another.
God bless,
Afa the Wild Samoan
“Pops”
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