Talk:List of premature professional wrestling deaths

Latest comment: 1 year ago by StrangeApparition2011 in topic Should non-wrestlers be on here?

Misleading Title edit

The title of this article is misleading. I quit counting at 60 but most of the people on this list were long gone from any affiliation with WWE at the time of their death. Also the implication that WWE was responsible in some way for these deaths is uncomfortable as a few are suicides or murders. Gamekeeper7 (talk) 19:13, 9 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

You are welcome to lengthen the title to include alumni which then encompasses the linkage. Trackinfo (talk) 23:22, 9 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
I feel like your blaming WWE for those deaths. Some of those listed died from natural causes and not wrestling related deaths. This was the debate when Nancy Grace spoke about Warrior's death. Not all the wrestlers she listed died from steroids or anything wrestling related. Maybe their cause of deaths should indicated from anything wrestling related or natural causes. Ncam (talk) 1:52, 10 April 2017 (UTC)
That's my problem with it as well. As already noted, a bunch of these guys never even wrestled for WWE, so this title is utterly false. "Premature deaths in professional wrestling" might be acceptable, but the current title is falsely placing blame and implying causation without proof.
Plus it's grammatically incorrect to use "the WWE"! oknazevad (talk) 10:52, 10 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
There is an issue with the legacy of the organization. I'm not saying anything a wrestling fan could probably detail much better than I. Currently the WWE dominates the profession, prior to the late 1990's when they absorbed their leading competitors, they also assumed their legacy. WCW's roots go back to the NWA before Turner purchased the organization. Technically that covers a lot of wrestlers. WWE has honored that legacy by putting them into their own Hall of Fame, which is why I was so specific in the three identified cases where the wrestlers never actually wrestled in a WWF or WCW match. Essentially, these wrestlers are part of what is now the WWE family. A lot of their living contemporaries still work for the WWE backstage in some capacity. But rather than being generic as in "professional wrestling" there is a tie in. Japanese or Mexican wrestlers who have had no association to the WWE family have not been noted as having the same actuarial inconsistency. That is not the reporting. WWE is in the reporting. Trackinfo (talk) 15:28, 10 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
You cannot blame WWE for the deaths of former wrestlers because it is not their job to monitor what a wrestler does after they leave the company. So if someone played for the old AFL but not the NFL; if the NFL acknowledges that person does that make the person apart of the NFL? Technically, Turner Sports still has some ownership of WCW under the name of Universal Wrestling Corporation. By the way, WWE is in the reporting because it is the biggest wrestling company in the world. Which is the same reason they are being sued by former wrestlers. Ncam (talkcontribs) 23:22, 11 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Contested deletion edit

This article should not be speedy deleted as being about a subject that was invented/coined/discovered by the article's creator or someone they know personally and for lack of asserted importance, because... This is a controversial but publicized phenomenon in the WWE. I included one source, there are many others who mention the same phenomenon, which I will apparently have to add. Each and every link to notable WWE performers and their age of death is clearly listed in each individual article. --Trackinfo (talk) 23:12, 9 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

@Oknazevad and Trackinfo: I declined speedy deletion as criteria A11 is supposed to apply only to things made up by the article creator one day. Unless Trackinfo is secretly Vince McMahon, this criteria clearly does not apply; even then, the WWE has more than enough coverage in independent sources that this criteria would not apply. If you believe this list is inappropriate because it has an unclear or non-notable inclusion criteria, I recommend nominating at AFD. Grondemar 01:53, 10 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
I agree this page should be deleted. It serves no purpose and isnt needed. A lot of these wrestlers died by unrelated reasons and it completely opinionated to make WWE look bad or something. 207.119.195.65 (talk) 18:20, 10 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

inclusion criteria? edit

Seems to not actually match title. If they ONLY worked for WCW or the actual ECW they were never *in* WWE, neither does being in their hof count.  MPJ-DK  19:45, 10 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Scope of article edit

I've come around on this article over the past few days, but as suggested in the discussion on WT:PW, I think we should expand this list to include all of professional wrestling and not solely focus on WWE. The BBC source used in this article links to a study by University of Eastern Michigan which says "It is important to note that many of the professional wrestlers analyzed in the present study did not directly compete for WWE". As I said in the other thread, the infamous list used by Nancy Grace and others after the Benoit tragedy also included wrestlers who never competed in WWE. Premature deaths in wrestling is a notable topic, I think it would serve us best to expand beyond just WWE.LM2000 (talk) 22:00, 16 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

This would mean moving to something like List of premature professional wrestling deaths or something similar. This would hopefully put and end to some of the debate about about criteria and anti-WWE bias.LM2000 (talk) 22:12, 16 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
I would support this, I also say we limit it to wrestlers who have articles, which this article already does but I could see it becoming a problem in the future.★Trekker (talk) 22:16, 16 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
I agree that wrestlers should have an article to get included, we'll just need consensus on a cut-off age. Skudrafan1 had a page, now blanked that would be a good starting point for the article. I'd like to have the table look something like this:
I'd say that 65 is a good cut of point, after all, it is when most people retire, before that would be considered young.★Trekker (talk) 23:23, 17 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
Age Image Ring name
(Birth name)
Date of death Cause of death
39     Johnny Grunge
(Michael Durham)
February 16, 2006 sleep apnea complications[1]
39     Rikidozan
(Kim Sin-rak)
December 15, 1963 peritonitis (as result of stab wound)[2]
39     Davey Boy Smith
(David Smith)
May 18, 2002 heart attack[3]
  1. ^ Clevett, Jason (February 16, 2006). "Former ECW star Johnny Grunge dies". Slam! Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  2. ^ Nakano, Kenji (May 10, 2013). "Looking back at the death of Rikidozan". Tokyo Reporter. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  3. ^ Ridgen, Melissa (May 19, 2002). "Wrestling's "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith dead at 39". Calgary Sun. Retrieved January 8, 2015.

It is better as LM2000's article name with a column for promotion in table. Owlier (talk) 21:54, 17 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Would you have an issue with including wrestlers who had no affiliation to WWE or its properties like some of the ones I added to the "Under 30" section? Also, I've removed images from the table and put a few of them on the side, unfortunately very few of the wrestlers have free pics available.LM2000 (talk) 22:15, 17 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
As the article creator I have no objection to other editors improving the content. Obviously other people have been working on a similar concept, clearly it is not something I invented. I worked with the sources I could find to create this list. I tried to stay confined to the WWE lineage based on those sources. As this expands, perhaps we need to add a column to specify the organizations these people have wrestled for as the subject is expanded. I tried to accomplish that for the WWE Hall of Fame. Trackinfo (talk) 22:54, 17 April 2017 (UTC)Reply
I've added a column for promotions and if nobody objects I'll move the article back and continue expanding to the other sections with non-WWE wrestlers.LM2000 (talk) 23:52, 17 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

All I know is that the current title sucks eggs. Calling defunct promotions that WWE acquired tape libraries and trademarks from "affiliated promotions" is just poor. And still doesn't change the fact that many of these wrestlers never set foot in a WWF/WWE ring, Nor does it change the implication that WWE is responsible for their deaths. The List of premature professional wrestling deaths title is objectively superior, and should be restored immediately. oknazevad (talk) 10:43, 18 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Yes, I think it is for the best.★Trekker (talk) 12:55, 18 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Female rates? edit

The lead section only mentions mortality rates for men, what about for women? There's a few on the list, even if most are male. Has anyone seen any statistics for this?★Trekker (talk) 11:06, 16 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

The real purpose of this list and how it should be used edit

I think this is a good idea to make a list like this. But I find anything over 50 years old is too much. Most wrestlers died after retirement at the ages of 50-65 years. I understand the point of this but anything under 50 is young and it is more rare than someone dying at 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 plus years old. More wrestlers will died in their 50's in the future.

Looking at this list it is rare for a wrestler to die in their 20's. Lot of this list people dead at 40-60 years old. Now since ages 50-65 years old is added on maybe do the same format that is done with 50 and under. Such as cause of death, promotions and when.

[[1]] had this original list going. This list included wrestlers that did not have wiki profiles. Therefore these wrestlers who do not have wiki profiles on Skurdafan1's list should add profiles because wiki will not allow you to add a death unless the wrestler has a wiki profile. He/she had the list under 50 years old.

No, I do not agree with this idea, 65 is a rather tangible decision, it's the age most countries have to retire, your motivation seems odd and do not make sense to me.★Trekker (talk) 17:57, 31 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

I am sorry ★Trekker if you thought I was trying to hack your article or something. I don"t know what happened. Its ok to have an opinion and disagree with me. I don't like it when you say "your motivation seems odd and do not make sense to me." You just need to respect my opinion and ask me questions about it.

No, this is not my article and I don't have own issues with it. I'm blunt and honest about how I feel, I don't think your reasoning makes sense so I said so. You can feel free to expand on them if you feel like it.★Trekker (talk) 17:49, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply
  • The original list that I used to make the table in this article had a cutoff age of 50, which is why the later additions still don't have a table. I know the infamous list Nancy Grace used had a cutoff age of 50, as did most of the similar lists that floated around after the Benoit tragedy. Some of the sources in this article go beyond that though, having been written after The Ultimate Warrior's death at 54. I wouldn't mind moving the cutoff to 50 but a good case could be made for both sides.LM2000 (talk) 23:47, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply

No UFC/MMA Fighters edit

I have deleted Justin Levens off this list because he is not a pro wrestler he's is a mixed marital artist. It's different than pro wrestling. Maybe there should be a different article for MMA fighters who passed away. I understand that it is confusing and that there are some former UFC, MMA and judo fighters on this list that fought in WWE, WCW, ECW, etc. Professional wrestling is staged and planned where MMA is real stuff and competitive.

Promoters edit

Where are the reliable sources talking about an increased mortality rate among professional wrestling promoters? Moab12 (talk) 09:26, 16 August 2018 (UTC)Reply

This list isn't called "increased mortality rate of professional wrestlers". Many of the deaths in here have nothing to do with wrestling and are completely incidental towards people in-ring career, but we can't go around and pick and choose which to keep. This is a list of people involved in wrestling who died before retirement age.★Trekker (talk) 09:32, 16 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
No, it's not. Try reading the very start of the article and the sources. Reliable sources document an increased mortality rate among professional wrestlers. Do you have any that document an increased mortality rate among professional wrestling promoters or not? We document all of the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic, so are there sources or not? You suggest the same reasons apply to promoter as wrestlers, without sources. However our article states "Experts suggest that a combination of the physical nature of the business, no off-season, and the drug culture of the 1970s and 1980s contributes to high mortality rates among wrestlers". Promoters, especially the ones in the article, do not generally have to cope with the "physical nature of the business. You'd have to explain how Dennis Coralluzzo promoting 75 events in five years would constitute a full time job with no-off season also? Similarly the steroid, alcohol and drug use of wrestlers has been well documented, where are the reliable sources documenting promoters doing the same? Moab12 (talk) 09:46, 16 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
I don't think you have any point at all. This is a list with a name, and we can't go and decide which are ok to include and which are not. Again, there are tons of deaths of wrestler which don't have anything to do with the industry but they're still there. There are also referees and valets here too.★Trekker (talk) 10:37, 16 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
I'd include them. The Nancy Grace list of dead wrestlers from years ago included Joey Marella and Miss Elizabeth. Neither were wrestlers, unless you want to count the few times Elizabeth got in the ring in Russo-era WCW.LM2000 (talk) 04:46, 17 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
As the original creator of this article, I have enjoyed watching its criteria and content expand beyond the WWE. To paraphrase Gordon Solie, if it says "wrestling" on the marquee then we ought to include it. Vallets, referees, promoters all are part of the "business" and partake in the social environment. If there were a stagehand who somehow achieved notability and died prematurely, I think there would be a good case for inclusion. We already have Buford Pusser here, for example. We shouldn't build in unnecessary criteria that will cause unnecessary debate. KISS (Keep it simple); part of the wrestling business, died before age 65. Trackinfo (talk) 05:10, 17 August 2018 (UTC)Reply

List status edit

I thinnk this list looks pretty great now. Do you think we could get it to "good article" status?★Trekker (talk) 09:41, 5 September 2018 (UTC)Reply

I don't get why this article is even notable. There is one study done and then everything else is WP:SYNTH to that study. - Galatz גאליץשיחה Talk 15:47, 5 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
This is clearly a notable subject. No idea how anyone could make a google search on it and not see it.★Trekker (talk) 15:55, 5 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
Every time a well known wrestler under 60 dies we get a new set of articles about the high death rate. There was one scholarly study, and that particular study doesn't pass GNG, but the broader topic of young wrestler deaths is notable. This could be a GA but needs some work. Most wrestlers remain unsourced. I'm not sure about table criteria too. We don't seem to list promotions in any particular order and there may be some sorting issues.LM2000 (talk) 04:41, 8 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
They are not unsourced, as a list article the sources are cross-referenced within the primary article about each wrestler. All I've checked, probably the majority, are sourced. I would suggest there might be some unsourced but precious few. Trackinfo (talk) 08:22, 9 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I was unaware cross-referencing was allowed, even for lists. Is there a relevant policy here? If that's the case, the list could pass WP:GA easily.LM2000 (talk) 09:51, 9 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I agree with that, but I feel with a little work most of those can easily be fixed.★Trekker (talk) 07:37, 8 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I think the list is notable, since there is several artciles talking about this issue. I don't really like the promotion section. It's like the promotion section in tag team/stables. --HHH Pedrigree (talk) 22:24, 8 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I can agree with that, do you feel we should completly remove them all?★Trekker (talk) 08:15, 9 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I think the promotion section explains the significance of a particular wrestler to the novice reader. Granted most wrestlers float amongst promotions, but one might expect the list to show the highest level(s) a wrestler achieved rather than some marginally known indy wannabe promotion. Unfortunately we depend on the judgement of a mass of editors for that. I don't know how we could define standards for naming just the best promotions a wrestler worked for in their career, without creating a lot of trouble for ourselves.Trackinfo (talk) 08:28, 9 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
Yeah that's very very true.★Trekker (talk) 08:31, 9 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I think the promotions are useful but there should be criteria on how to list them. For example, should we list them alphabetically or by chronological order of their appearances? I removed the sorting option for this column because it seems too varied to be of use.LM2000 (talk) 09:51, 9 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
I prefer alphabetical. Several wrestlers had various stint in one promotion. Also, without a note you can't figure that's the chronological order of his stints, looking like a random order. --HHH Pedrigree (talk) 15:11, 10 September 2018 (UTC)Reply
Another sorting issue is in the Under 30 section: Erich Kulas has a listed birth date of 1979 with no month or day, and because of that, the Date of birth column sorts alphabetically instead of chronologically. (https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/providence/obituary-preview.aspx?n=erich-kulas&pid=145990406 shows a birth date of October 17, 1979, but I don't know if this is enough of a reference to add a date of birth.) — George Steinmetz (talkcontribs) 18:21, 6 January 2019 (UTC)Reply

Misleading title part two edit

The name of this article is incredibly presumptious in claiming that the deaths are premature. No death is premature. Yes everyone expects a standard life expectancy, and yes life factors greatly affect it, however calling it premature is total nonsense. Indeed the title seems to explicitly imply that professional wrestling was the cause of death, which is also not true for many on the list.

Examples of non-wrestling causes of death in the article include Jeff Peterson (Leukemia), Mass Transit (gastric surgery complications), Edouard Beaupre (Tuberculosis), Art Barr (unknown), Bobby Shane (plane crash). And that is just from numbers 20 to 30 alone! If this is truly premature then we must state in every article on everybody who has died as "premature".

A more suitable title would be "List of dead professional wrestlers" considering all you need to qualify for this list is to be a professional wrestler who has died. If the article wants to focus on wrestlers who died because of issues relating to their profession then reduce the list to those that are proved or start a new one.

Mabuska (talk) 21:54, 26 March 2019 (UTC)Reply

This article was started, by me, because the wrestling industry has a higher death rate per capita at younger ages. The mortality rates are discussed in the article lede. There are a lot of different causes of death, on the list and in the general population. There is no way to correlate any one death to the industry a person worked in, the only correlation is based on statistics. One thing left out of that lede is a lot of these people are big, fat, overweight, even obese. Weight problems contribute negatively towards one's longevity. The majority of the participants in this entertainment industry are famous; notable. This list identifies those, by name, whose death by any cause contributed to the statistics. What alternative do you suggest? Trackinfo (talk) 22:41, 26 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
It's not every pro wrestler that has dies. It just lists ones who died before widely accepted retirement age. oknazevad (talk) 23:06, 26 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
Similar lists have been shared by the media for years without omitting certain kinds of death. Nancy Grace was criticized for sharing a such a list when she tried to tie The Ultimate Warrior's death to drugs and implied that everyone else on the list had a death that was drug related. There's a section about that at Nancy Grace#The Ultimate Warrior if you're interested.
I wouldn't be opposed to changing "premature" to something else if a better alternative is proposed but List of dead professional wrestlers would be title for an indiscriminate article. We need the pre-retirement age involved in the title somehow.LM2000 (talk) 23:41, 26 March 2019 (UTC)Reply

The article already is indiscriminate.

I already suggested two ideas both far better than what we have at the moment. The definition of what premature means is open for various meanings and how are any of these academic or reliably sourced for Wikipedia? Simply making one up is not good enough for Wikipedia.

Like what is the defined average retirement age for a pro wrestler? Can evidence be provided of one? Does it take into account different eras retirement ages? If you are using the national retirement age, what about wrestlers who are from or died in places with a different retirement age?

It is possible to qualify to a degree wrestlers that died due to their career in wrestling. From steroid and pain killer abuse, to head trauma etc. etc. The article as is is hugely problemtic. Mabuska (talk) 16:34, 27 March 2019 (UTC)Reply

@Mabuska: To me this entire article is one gigantic WP:SYNTH violation. There was a study done to say something, and everything else in this article is tied to it, without a source tying them. - Galatz גאליץשיחה Talk 16:43, 27 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
It has been discussed previously. We have a simple to define criteria: notable; worked in professional wrestling; died before age 65. We do not get into potentially controversial decisions about what caused the death specifically to avoid arguments like this one. Did the 400 Lb wrestler have a heart attack because they were a wrestler, or because they were 400 Lbs.? Were they 400 Lbs because they were a wrestler? Or were they prequalified to be a wrestler because they were 400 Lbs.? Its unnecessary. This is just a list stating the facts. Trackinfo (talk) 04:32, 28 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
And again, this is how reliable sources tend to cover the issue. Here's an article from The Post Game which simply states that 1/3 of the performers at WrestleMania VI had died by 2014 and that "grueling travel schedules, painkiller abuse, steroid use" contribute to the high death rate. A Washington Post article examined those deaths and made the same observations that I did; John Tenta had died of cancer and Dino Bravo was murdered, so they were anomalies, but the rest died of either overdoses or heart attacks. That doesn't necessarily mean that every heart attack was directly linked to the sins of the wrestling business (that's usually very hard to prove) but researchers do look at the whole list of dead wrestlers to find these trends. That means we should present the entire list as well.LM2000 (talk) 20:53, 28 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
So no proper answer to my question? And no academic reliable sources? Simply that we use a Wikipedia user agreed cut-off point and newspaper articles that are claimed to be reliable? Also made the same observations that I did - so basically you performed WP:OR and WP:SYN and found a source to back up your view? I don't disagree with the correlation and the effects of the industry on its performers, especially in years gone by and it is tragic however this article is hugely problematic the way it is presented and it is obvious others feel so too.
If you have a source stating that "grueling travel schedules, painkiller abuse, steroid use" is a contributor to the problem then why not focus the article on wrestlers who have died from such? Surely if such a statement with such definiteness can be made by what you say are reliable sources then there must be specific wrestlers confirmed as having died from those reasons? Yes? No?
This article especially with its lead seems to be an attempt to smear every "premature" wrestlers death because of the pro-wrestling industry.
Providing a link to a short story from an alleged reliable source about the Ultimate Warrior passing "early" at the age of 54 provides no evidence for its claims, which would make more sense if he had have been an active wrestler when he died in 2014, but wait he retired in 1998 and wrestled only once after that. Indeed he died from atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease, which can happen anybody in any profession at any age. If we take one of the more famous examples in this article, Andre the Giant, it is most likely the natural effects of his gigantism was the blame for his heart problems. Did wrestling exasperate it? Who knows.
Simple solutions for this article include:
  • Renaming to from a presumptious title that feels like it's an attempt to lay blame on the industry
  • Ditching the lede that implies all deaths were caused or influenced by the pro-wrestling industry
  • Remove the self-imposed age limit and restrict article to notable wrestlers. (Seems to be the case anyways as it is indiscriminate at the moment)
  • Alter the lede to state that it is about notable wrestlers who have died, however that there are studies showing a higher correlation of wrestler deaths than in other sports due to certain factors
  • Focus on wrestlers who's deaths can be attributed to the effects of the industry
Really. Anything is better than the current article to be honest. It feels and reads like someone with a grudge or agenda. Mabuska (talk) 13:03, 29 March 2019 (UTC)Reply
The first source and only external link is a scholarly study of 557 wrestlers which was covered by the BBC and other high quality sources. Its conclusions are what you find in the lede here and in basically every reliable source, or short story, that writes about the topic. It also uses the word "prematurely" repeatedly. I believe my last response explained why we must give the entire list, but basically your proposals would push us further from where the WP:RS go.LM2000 (talk) 20:27, 29 March 2019 (UTC)Reply

I would have to agree completely with @Mabuska:. No evidence has ever been provided that Dennis Coralluzzo's death is anything to do with professional wrestling, where are the sources citing his death as a premature wrestling death? Moab12 (talk) 10:12, 24 April 2019 (UTC)Reply

Highlighting in-ring deaths edit

Last year I added gold coloring to emphasize wrestler's who died in the ring, it looked like this. It was removed by Kingzwest, who left a message on my talkpage stating that they weren't opposed to it and thought we should add more colors to highlight other specifics (such as red for suicide, purple for murder, etc.). I'm worried about adding too many colors but in-ring deaths are particularly notable; the Category:Professional wrestling deaths is included at the bottom of the page.LM2000 (talk) 07:48, 12 May 2019 (UTC)Reply

Certain causes of death should not qualify for this list edit

I've looked over this list a few times and several parts stick out like sore thumbs. Deaths from cancers, car accidents, plane crashes, murders, drownings, diabetes, acromegaly, etc. simply should not merit inclusion on this list. Those causes can happen to anyone in any profession. Dying from a heart attack in-ring is definitely a professional wrestling issue. Getting in a motorcycle accident, absolutely not. A particularly egregious example is Pink The Clown (Richard Trogdon), whose death is listed as "Natural Causes". A death from natural causes 17 years after retiring from wrestling should not be included on this list, no matter what age he was. Mcrmy119 (talk) 16:17, 17 May 2019 (UTC)Reply

Nobody's directly attributing the deaths to wrestling. Fact is, people involved with the profession die young, and the press write about it often enough. JuniorDoan (talk) 16:28, 17 May 2019 (UTC)Reply
I disagree with User:Mcrmy119; I agree with User:JuniorDoan.
This list is based on mortality, morbidity and inferentially its relationship/correlation to professional wrestling. It does not purport to establish a causal connection. It should not be given a Procrustean and arbitrary cut off due to the listed cause of death. That professional wrestlers die earlier than most (perhaps all) types of professional athletes is just a sad fact.
We should tend to our own garden. We ought to let the corporations, the athletes/entertainers, their heirs, estates and survivors, their lawyers and the courts sort it out. Not our job to decide the issue definitively.
It is better to err on the side of too much of the irrelevant, rather than too little of the relevant. Let the readers weigh the entries and facts. 7&6=thirteen () 17:04, 17 May 2019 (UTC)Reply

Johnny Gilbert edit

I found a reference to a Johnny Gilbert dying by suicide on December 4, 1990 in the January 8, 1991 Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The WON issue mentions he wrestled in Chicago from the mid-50s to the late 60s. He teamed with Doug Gilbert (not the one of the 80s and 90s) as The G-Men, and also teamed with Billy Goelz. A quick Google search isn't turning up much more biographical information about Johnny, though; does anyone have a suggestion on a resource to check? --Calienteramen (talk) 23:50, 18 August 2019 (UTC)Reply


Pak Song uncertain dates edit

If you look at Pak Song's page it said that his date of birth and date of death are uncertain. Song was from Korea and emigrated to the United States in 1970 wrestling in St. Louis. He later became a star in Florida and feuded with Dusty Rhodes. Sources say he was born in 1941 or 1943 or 1945. Also other sources say he died in 1980 or 1982 or 1984. We knew he was born in the 1940's and died in his late 30's or early 40's in the early 1980's. This means the age of death is uncertain. He is listed at 37 died from acromegaly. Should we put his age at an unknown section or stick to 37 until certain information is found about Song. Can any please find information about his dates please. This is the only wrestler with a uncertain date of birth and death.

Stevie Lee needs to be added to this list edit

Attribution edit

Text and references copied from List of premature professional wrestling deaths to The McGuire Twins, See former article's history for a list of contributors. 7&6=thirteen () 14:07, 9 December 2020 (UTC)Reply

Maximum age 65 not 70 edit

Someone recently decided to change the age 65 to 70. Keep it at 65 as that is the average age people retire. The study that the University of Michigan did clearly said 65. There are too many wrestlers that die between 65 to 70. I am cutting off people over 65. Kingzwest (talk)

Ring Name, Birth Name and Cause of death edit

I started cleaning up some of the table to make it more consistent for readers (i.e. change all in-match related deaths to "in match" rather than having various different wordings), and I started to wonder what the purpose of the "(Birth name)" information is for, other than for respect/tribute. The birth names serve little use as they cannot be sorted and they can easily be found on all of the appropriate articles. I vote they should be either removed entirely, or moved to another column (if necessary).

(I was little in progress of changing the small HTML template/tags to the "Small" text styling option found in the Wikipedia editor; I did not want to change them all and then get voted to remove or have another column for them…)

Another point I would like to bring up is the "Cause of death" column; I vote for a seperate column for if the death was in-match or not. I'm not sure if that is appropriate, but would love to see more opinions.

Thanks, Noaaah (talk) 03:59, 4 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

I think it's very important to include the person's real name, as they're the one that really died, not their character, and vociferously object to any removal of such information. oknazevad (talk) 09:23, 4 December 2021 (UTC)Reply
I would also object to removal of birth names. It's pretty standard to include them in articles detailing professional wrestlers... this is done on every Hall of Fame article that I know of. There's a difference between the wrestling characters and the actual people.
As for the in-ring deaths, I had previously highlighted these deaths. Kingzwest reverted me, but then told me they liked the idea. I made a thread about how to handle this here on this talk page but nobody ever responded to it so I did not pursue it further. But I still think it was a good idea and agree that in-ring deaths need to be noted more prominently, I just don't think a separate column is the way to do it.LM2000 (talk) 10:05, 4 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

Should non-wrestlers be on here? edit

I notice in the last two months that profiles of non-wrestlers such as writers, commentators, etc are deleted off the list. For example Joey Kovar was deleted because of not enough info on his career. Should referees and commenators be on here? Such as Joey Marella. Kingzwest (talk) 17:58, 1 September 2022 (UTC)Reply

This article definitely has issues. Babe Ruth does not belong on this list. He was a baseball player, and only refereed some wretslers matches. In fact, why are any non-wrestlers listed here? Or anyone who might have briefly dabbled in wrestling, outside of the rest of their lives in other careers? StrangeApparition2011 (talk) 04:47, 26 February 2023 (UTC)Reply