Former WWE wrestler Test, citing the death of Eddie Guerrero Sunday, criticized the company’s treatment of wrestlers and the physical detriment athletes are exposed to (from AndrewTestMartin.com, unedited).
I’ve been up all night and haven’t realy slept as everyone knows by know Eddie Guerrero has passed away. Everybody knows Eddie had his demons but he had been clean for a long time, it was way to soon for him to go and he leaves behind to beautifull young daughters and a wonderfull life my heart goes out to them. Eddie was a huge help to me he helped me progress in the ring and we even wrestles ar wrestlemania in houston in 2001 for the european championship. Eddie i pray you are in a better place and THANKYOU for everything you taught me. Now instead of usually talking about what I’m up to I’m going to break down the reality of this business we call wrestling. When I say “who’s next” I’m not coining Goldbergs line I’m actually wondering who’s next? who’s next to die? I can think of at least 15 to 20 people who have died from various things mostly prescription pain killers. For all you wanna be wrestlers who wanna get in this business..escpecially now when wwe doesn’t pay you anymore than you would make at a 9 to 5 job let me break some things down for you. When I started wrestling I had never seen or heard of vicodin or percocet or soma. How come so many wrestlers die from these medications and football players and hockey players don’t? The answer is simple..wrestlers especially wwe wrestlers work 5 days a week all year long taking bump after bump in the ring, a doctor explained it to me like this..everytime you take a fall in the ring it’s like gettin rear ended by a car going 20mph so how many bumps in the ring a night do you take? multiply that by how many times a week you work all year long..that’s a hell of a lot of whiplash and pain. I can remember hearing a conversation from some unamed wwe head guys talking about how this certain person needs to go to rehab but they couldnt send him because he was to important to the show..that’s the reality people thta is how we are treated…look at me I break my neck in the ring had to have 2 discs taken out of my neck and a steel plate put in and was told at the time by Johny Ace in his exact words were when I asked if my job would be in jeopardy he said “we don’t fire people with injuries like that” Hmm that’s funny cause 2 months after surgery I got fired because I wasn’t working my 7 years of busting my ass for them and putting over the bosses son while my foot was broken in a cast was all forgotten about. I remember when I was bein trained by Bret and I met Bad News Allen he said this to me and I’ll never forget it “all wrestlers are to Vince are puppets and when he is done playing with you he throws you away but sometimes he’ll dust you off bring you back and play with you some more” That is the truth people…when Johny Ace called me and told me they were releasing me which of course he put all the heat on Vince…I said to him what kind of message are you sending the boys that if they get hurt they are going to get fired? So all the guys who don’t want to lose their jobs what do they do…popp a couple of percocet or vicodin and mask the pain cause god forbid they say they are hurt and lose their job…I’m not going to name any names but I know at least a dozen or so wrestlers who are addicted to these things for that very reason…get hurt lose your job…I just turned 30 my back aches everyday, I have a metal plate in my neck and yes I got in the business at the right time and have a lot of nice things but is it all worth it? you guys don’t see the ugly side of this business..yes wrestling is entertainment but the bumps and bruises are real and sometimes they don’t go away…so think long and hard before you get in this business cause I can tell you first hand that if your not working or making them money they don’t give a shit about you….and the sad part is Eddie was clean and I guarantee he won’t be the last one to die in the next 12 months..so that’s why i say who’s next? Don’t take your life for granted it’s a gift..don’t go to bed mad and tell the people you care about you love them because you never know….take care
–AndrewTestMartin.com
