Former WWE wrestler "Test" found dead.

[sacker12]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...pOZkAAD96TUEM81

Ex-WWE champ, Andrew Martin, found dead in Fla.

2 hours ago

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Authorities say former professional wrestler Andrew Martin, who was known as "Test" and "The Punisher" to fans, has died at his Tampa home. He was 33.

The former World Wrestling Entertainment champion was found dead at his apartment Friday night. Police say a neighbor reported that she could see into his apartment window and that Martin appeared motionless for several hours.

Police say there was no indication of foul play. A cause of death will be determined after an autopsy.

During his time with Stamford, Conn.-based World Wrestling Entertainment, Martin held the Intercontinental, European and Hardcore belts. He was also a tag-team champion.

Martin most recently worked for TNA Wrestling under the name "The Punisher."

[oddball]

And there's not a drug problem in wrestling Mr. McMahon? Oh no, it's clean. Now you know why he won't consider wrestlers as anything other than independents, he doesn't want to be sued over the lack of a pathetic drug policy. I'm waiting for the day congress bans wrestling all together. They are all over MLB for steroid use, yet how many wrestlers do we see die young? How much kickback money is Vince McMahon giving congress? There is no way, wrestlers are clean with as many of them die before the age of 40.

[Brendan]

And there's not a drug problem in wrestling Mr. McMahon? Oh no, it's clean. Now you know why he won't consider wrestlers as anything other than independents, he doesn't want to be sued over the lack of a pathetic drug policy. I'm waiting for the day congress bans wrestling all together. They are all over MLB for steroid use, yet how many wrestlers do we see die young? How much kickback money is Vince McMahon giving congress? There is no way, wrestlers are clean with as many of them die before the age of 40.

Though it's likely that he died from something drug related, that hasn't been proven yet so hold on to your horses.

[Starchild]

Well, to be fair, I think there's a lot more to it than the steroid use.

For starters, I would bet wrestlers have a MUCH higher rate of abusing alcohol, pain killers and any other kind of "legal" drug out there. One has to remember the amount of pain their bodies are in and compounding that problem, unlike the athletes in pro baseball, basketball, football, etc., there is no offseason in professional wrestling. All that likely leads to depression, the further use of drugs and alcohol and then eventually, they either flip out and take it out on whoever else, or they wind up taking a lethal cocktail, unintentionally killing themselves.

Pro wrestling absolutely needs some kind of change. For starters, I don't understand why they don't have a "wrestlers union" in the same mold of the various players associations throughout sports. For mental health reasons alone, these athletes (and make no mistake, they are absolutely athletes) need some kind of time off for something other than an injury. Their drug program needs to be much more rigid though. While I'm not actively watching anymore (and haven't since 2002), I like to keep up on the news here and there to see if anything peaks my interest. In doing so, I've read numerous reports of top-tier guys like Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy constantly breaking the drug policies and facing little-to-no repercussions due to their important status to the company (either via crowd reaction, merchandising, storyline, whatever). Wrestling will always have drug abuse in it - it's just a bi-product of the constant wear-and-tear on a wrestler's body - but it certainly needs a lot of work. The amount of under-40 deaths is not only staggering, it's simply unacceptable.

That said, RIP to the former "Corporate Insurance Policy."

[gueman]

Well I don't know if they could unionize per se, because I am sure they are all "private contractors" that sell their services to the highest bidder. But maybe some type of association like what they have in Tennis although even that is not quite the same since the outcomes are not predetermined (yet). Perhaps a Professional Wrestlers Assocation but then the union would some how get involved in the "story lines" of the "sport". But one must wonder if the biggest and baddest started to shrink wouldn't the fan base as well. They are selling larger than life athletic soap opera. The real solution lies in the state commissions that regulate the events. If they would crack down on everyone, and demand strict drug policies then perhaps things could change. But like all thinks that smell of corruption follow the money.

But for me I would rather watch the real sport of wrestling on ESPNU or the local high school.

[youcan'tseeme]

It's weird everytime someone dies I find myself remembering them days before. I stopped watching wrestling a while ago, and forgot of Test completly. Then yesterday while I was on youtube looking for stuff to watch, and started singing " Test, Test, this is a Test ". Come on hear today and he's dead. It's happened a few times now and I just thought I'd share it.

Anyways aside from my side story, this is getting worse and worse by the year. There needs to be a crackdown somewhere, I used to want to be a wrestler when i was young, now i want nothing to do with it.

RIP Test Anti-Americans

[DG_ThenNowForever]

For what it's worth, WWE sponsored rehab (as they've offered for all formerly-contracted talents from ever) for Andrew Martin as recently as summer of 2008. And also, Martin most recently worked for rival organization TNA, which (until very recently) had no drug testing policy at all.

I would put Martin's death in a different class those of the roided guys from the late 80's/early 90's. WWE has done an awful lot more in the last five years than the previous 20 to ensure the health of its performers. There are more relaxed schedules, regular drug testing, the aforementioned rehab policy (again, offered to all talent who EVER worked for WWE -- it presumably covers thousands of former wrestlers), and stricter enforcement.

I know I sound like a WWE apologist, but deaths of guys like Benoit, Davey Boy Smith, Rick Rude, Eddie Guerrero, and others might (should?) be on Vince McMahon's conscience. But I think Andrew Martin's is in a different category. WWE did what it could do.

[CC97]

Fun! The WWE wrestler from my hometown dies in the city I'm vacationing in... perhaps we'll take the same flight back home.

[slapshot]

Well I don't know if they could unionize per se, because I am sure they are all "private contractors" that sell their services to the highest bidder. But maybe some type of association like what they have in Tennis although even that is not quite the same since the outcomes are not predetermined (yet). Perhaps a Professional Wrestlers Assocation but then the union would some how get involved in the "story lines" of the "sport". But one must wonder if the biggest and baddest started to shrink wouldn't the fan base as well. They are selling larger than life athletic soap opera. The real solution lies in the state commissions that regulate the events. If they would crack down on everyone, and demand strict drug policies then perhaps things could change. But like all thinks that smell of corruption follow the money.

But for me I would rather watch the real sport of wrestling on ESPNU or the local high school.

I've said this before...since wrestling is considered entertainment, the wrestlers should be allowed to join the stunt performers union. Scripted physical performances should be regulated, or at least done with a good insurance policy that covers rehab. They always seem to be insured on set, and there is hardly any difference between what professional wrestlers do as opposed to stunt men (& women), except they do it live.

[JayJaxon]

Sad news. I quit watching on a regular basis in 2001, but I remember watching Test when he first started. It has been said before and I agree, too many die before 40.

[habsfan1]

Well, to be fair, I think there's a lot more to it than the steroid use.

For starters, I would bet wrestlers have a MUCH higher rate of abusing alcohol, pain killers and any other kind of "legal" drug out there. One has to remember the amount of pain their bodies are in and compounding that problem, unlike the athletes in pro baseball, basketball, football, etc., there is no offseason in professional wrestling. All that likely leads to depression, the further use of drugs and alcohol and then eventually, they either flip out and take it out on whoever else, or they wind up taking a lethal cocktail, unintentionally killing themselves.

Pro wrestling absolutely needs some kind of change. For starters, I don't understand why they don't have a "wrestlers union" in the same mold of the various players associations throughout sports. For mental health reasons alone, these athletes (and make no mistake, they are absolutely athletes) need some kind of time off for something other than an injury. Their drug program needs to be much more rigid though. While I'm not actively watching anymore (and haven't since 2002), I like to keep up on the news here and there to see if anything peaks my interest. In doing so, I've read numerous reports of top-tier guys like Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy constantly breaking the drug policies and facing little-to-no repercussions due to their important status to the company (either via crowd reaction, merchandising, storyline, whatever). Wrestling will always have drug abuse in it - it's just a bi-product of the constant wear-and-tear on a wrestler's body - but it certainly needs a lot of work. The amount of under-40 deaths is not only staggering, it's simply unacceptable.

That said, RIP to the former "Corporate Insurance Policy."

In response to giving wrestlers an offseason, I can't think of a way it can happen in the real world. Lets say they took away Backlash, Judgment Day, and every live event and house show building up to those PPVs. That would litterally mean a 16% annual salary cut to every single employee in the buisness. We think they can afford it because they will still be stinkin rich at the end of the day anyhow, but that's not how the world works, unfortunately. Or maybe they can accord wrestlers individual vacations each at a certain time. But then, people would complain in masses about how their favorite superstar was not present at the show they bought 400$+ tickets for. Lastly, why not just drastically reduce the amount of house shows each wrestler performs at per year? That works in my head, but I'm no genius and I'm sure someone here can find a reason why that too won't be good for squatt.

If I'm not mistaken, wrestlers wrestle at a rate of 4 to 5 shows per week. That leads to a bunch of sloppy matches inserted on Raw or SD since the wrestlers don't have all the time in the world to rehearse to give us a better performance. In comparisson with the UFC, it takes weeks of preparation before the individual has one match. I am a wrestling fan, even though I'm starting to sound like I'm not. I don't have cable anymore so I follow it from time to time on YouTube and I frequently check out wrestling news sites as well. Regarding policies, if you think Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton constantly get away with murder, what about Triple H?

Down the line, no industry on the planet has lost as many of their employees by death. It's really pathetic.

[DEAD!]

Fun! The WWE wrestler from my hometown dies in the city I'm vacationing in... perhaps we'll take the same flight back home.

Andrew will probably get more leg room.

[BBTV]

Fun! The WWE wrestler from my hometown dies in the city I'm vacationing in... perhaps we'll take the same flight back home.

Andrew will probably get more leg room.

Hopefully Test isn't the pilot

[Jer15]

A couple years back I actually was training here in Toronto to get into the industry.

There was a local promotion call "UWA Hardcore Wrestling"(the company that I was learning the trade from) and during it's run we saw some great names like Alex Shelly, Chris Sabin, Josh Prohibition, Sonjay Dutt and, Colt Cabanna, to name a few.

While being backstage you saw guys who were just unreal in size and still have nothing on the Triple H, Batista, John Cena type guys. Never once did I see anyone injecting or something like this. Now I realize that doesn't mean they don't but they constantly work out and eat properly.

The point i'm trying to make here, is if what I saw is anything close to the truth I believe that this trend of using certain steroids is going away. I've heard multiple accounts of wrestlers saying "we just used it, it was common, it's not something we thought about we just did it.".

Well, my grandpa says the same thing about smoking, after the reality was hit and the truth came out he, his family and friends all stopped smoking. I'm really hoping that this is where we are heading. A place where the unfortunate truth is what it took to stop the trend.

I'm not naive, it won't fully stop, but hopefully all these early deaths will stop.

[Luigi74]

Well I don't know if they could unionize per se, because I am sure they are all "private contractors" that sell their services to the highest bidder. But maybe some type of association like what they have in Tennis although even that is not quite the same since the outcomes are not predetermined (yet). Perhaps a Professional Wrestlers Assocation but then the union would some how get involved in the "story lines" of the "sport". But one must wonder if the biggest and baddest started to shrink wouldn't the fan base as well. They are selling larger than life athletic soap opera. The real solution lies in the state commissions that regulate the events. If they would crack down on everyone, and demand strict drug policies then perhaps things could change. But like all thinks that smell of corruption follow the money.

But for me I would rather watch the real sport of wrestling on ESPNU or the local high school.

I've said this before...since wrestling is considered entertainment, the wrestlers should be allowed to join the stunt performers union. Scripted physical performances should be regulated, or at least done with a good insurance policy that covers rehab. They always seem to be insured on set, and there is hardly any difference between what professional wrestlers do as opposed to stunt men (& women), except they do it live.

Even though The McMahon's claim the WWE is sports entertainment they have the show listed as sports programming, if they were listed as entertainment programming the wrestlers could join any of the various entertainment industry unions.

Jesse Ventura tried to start up a union for wrestlers in the early 90's but Hulk Hogan ratted him out to Vince McMahon and Ventura was fired, Sgt. Slaughter brought up union talk when McMahon wanted a cut of Sarge's GIJOE deal back in the mid-80's he was also fired.

[MadmanLA]

According to the St. Petersburg Times, they found prescription drugs, steroids and painkillers in particular, in his apartment.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/200...ription-dr.html