WWE: 10 Wrestlers Whose Lives Were Ruined By Substance Abuse

9. Lance Cade

Lance Kurtis McNaught - or Lance Cade as he was known to fans - was mentored by Shawn Michaels. He wrestled in Japan and he was given a developmental contract with the WWE which placed him in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He formed a tag team with Mark Jindrak and entered the WWE in 2003 for Raw. They broke up in 2004 and Lance teamed up Trevor Murdoch after he had a brief respite from wrestling due to knee surgery. Cade and Murdoch teamed for three years and won the WWE tag team belts three times. Cade began a promising story arc involving Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, but was abruptly released from his contract in October 2008. J R alluded on his website to Cade 'utilising bad judgement' which ended up with a seizure on an airplane and emergency medical treatment. Reading between the lines, drugs appear to have been involved and in 2010 Lance Cade entered a rehab facility for 30 days. This was in February, in August his wife thought Cade looked unwell and he was admitted to hospital for breathing problems but discharged himself. He died soon after. In October 2010, the coroner announced that Lance had died from multiple drug intoxication that had aggravated a weak heart (cardiomyopathy) but that the death was accidental. The Texas Wrestling Academy held a tribute show for him in March 2011. Only 29 when he died, substance abuse had hindered his career considerably. He never fulfilled his potential as a wrestler because of it, and it took his life as well as his career.