4. WrestleMania VI PPV Has The Most Now-Deceased Participants
This statistic is a bit sad, but its still shocking. The death of a well-known professional wrestler often becomes big news in the mainstream world. Oftentimes, news pundits seek to devalue the world of sports entertainment through these deaths. However, the sad fact remains that a lot of wrestlers have come and gone and whatever the cause of death may be, many of them passed at a relatively young age. Looking back at past shows and pay-per-view events can often be a disheartening affair, devolving into a game of whos still alive? This next statistic breaks down the number and percentage of professional wrestlers who have since passed away from specific PPV events. There are two ways to look at these stats: the total number of passed participants and the percentage of wrestlers who are no longer with us. Were going to highlight both in this section. WrestleMania VI represents the card with highest number of now-deceased competitors, with a whopping 12. Of the 36 wrestlers that competed at Mania VI, the following have since passed on: Andre the Giant, Bad News Brown, the Big Boss Man, Dino Bravo, Earthquake, Hercules, Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Rick Rude, Sapphire, Sensational Sherri, and the most recent addition, the Ultimate Warrior. When it comes to the highest percentage of competitors to pass on, WrestleMania X surprisingly takes the cake. 40% of the wrestlers to appear at Mania X -- or 8 out of the 20 -- are now deceased. The following represent those 8 superstars: Bam Bam Bigelow, Crush, Earthquake, Luna Vachon, Mabel, Owen Hart, Randy Savage, and Yokozuna. Its a sad fact that people die, and it seems that wrestling is frequently a victim of this truth of humanity. When looking back, the numbers can be simply astounding.
Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.
