According to a 2014 study byEastern Michigan University examining professional wrestlers who were active between 1985 and 2011,mortality rates forprofessional wrestlers are up to 2.9 times greater than the rate for men in the wider United States population, with cardiovascular-related deaths being 15.1 times higher than the general population, drug overdose-related deaths being 122.7 times greater than the general population, and cancer deaths being 6.4 times higher than the general population.^[1][2] A 2014 report by John Moriarty of theUniversity of Manchester and Benjamin Morris ofFiveThirtyEight also found that the mortality rate for professional wrestlers was significantly higher than that of athletes in other sports.^[3][4][5] Experts suggest that a combination of the physical nature of the business, nooff-season, and potentially high work load (with some wrestlers fighting more than 100 and even 200 matches per year), along with the drug culture in wrestling during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s contributes to high mortality rates among wrestlers.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} Another study ascribes the higher death rate largely to higher rates of cardiovascular disease compared to the general population withmorbidly obese wrestlers being especially at risk.^[11][12]

Manypromotions employ performers as "independent contractors" and do not offer company-sponsored grouphealth insurance coverage in most instances. This is said to have a causal connection to theirlongevity,morbidity, andmortality. WWE performers' status as independent contractors was spotlighted byJohn Oliver on an episode of his showLast Week Tonight with John Oliver in March 2019,^[13][14][15] with Oliver calling on WWE fans to protest atWrestleMania 35.^[13][14][15] WWE denied Oliver's critique.^[16]

The concept of the untimely deaths of professional wrestlers was a frequent topic of discussion on theOpie & Anthony show.^[17] AfterScott Hall's death in 2022,Bret Hart andKevin Nash talked about the premature death of several wrestlers, mentioning the mental and body damage as possible causes.^[18][19]