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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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0 9 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Medical Examiner's Report Says Wrestling Star Died Natural Death
December 8, 2005 MINNEAPOLIS -- World Wrestling Entertainment star Eddie Guerrero died of natural causes related to heart disease, while past steroid use and the use of narcotic pain medication may have been contributing factors, officials said today.
Guerrero, a star of Stamford, Conn.-based WWE's "Smackdown!" died Nov. 13 in Minneapolis, where he was supposed to film a show. His body was found on the floor of his hotel room after he failed to respond to a wakeup call. Guerrero, 38, died from "natural causes related to arteriosclerotic heart disease," which is a hardening and narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart with blood and oxygen, the medical examiner's report said. Guerrero also had an enlarged heart and other enlarged organs related to a history of anabolic steroid use, said Dr. Kathryn Berg, the assistant chief medical examiner in Hennepin County who conducted the autopsy. Guerrero also had recently used narcotic pain medication. "They were contributing conditions," Berg said. "When you have larger organs, et cetera, your body works a little bit harder to maintain your normal physiologic state." Guerrero's widow, Vickie Guerrero, said last month in a report on WWE's Web site that her husband died from heart failure, and that the heart disease was due to past drinking and drug abuse combined with an aggressive workout regimen. After Eddie Guerrero's death, WWE said it would start random drug testing to detect illicit drugs, steroids and prescription drug abuse among its performers. 0 1 - 0 1 - 2 0 0 6 Wrestling world refuses to grapple with drugs
By Scott E. Williams As we begin a new year today, maybe it’s time for a new way for wrestling fans to look at their favorite pseudo-sport, because the old ways aren’t working. The biggest problem in the industry today is the mortality rate of wrestlers under 50, with doctors pulling enlarged hearts out of them. The business itself is not going to fix it. World Wrestling Entertainment head Vince McMahon has a history of telling reporters dead wrestlers weren’t his problem, because they weren’t working for him at the times of their deaths. The November death of WWE main-eventer Eddy Guerrero, 38, took away that excuse, but only a few weeks after McMahon reacted to the death by publicly announcing a new drug-testing policy, signs of that policy being real are scarce. Wrestlers on “Raw” and “Smackdown” briefly and abruptly started losing visible amounts of mass, but just in the last couple of weeks, many of them have ballooned back up. Needless to say, there has been no further word on a drug policy. The media is not going to fix it. Sports commentator Jim Rome posed this question on his radio show: “Why do actors need to be tested for steroids?” ESPN radio host Colin Cowherd said on the air that Guerrero’s death wasn’t worth coverage as a sports story, and others nationwide have dismissed the popular performer’s death. The message is clear — it’s just wrestling, so nothing matters. Big-time, mainstream media types have long held that wrestling is such a fringe business that what happens to its performers is irrelevant. But while the matches are “fake” (to use the commonly accepted, but honestly inappropriate word), real people are dying, and Jim Rome proves himself to be Vince McMahon’s ally when it counts by glossing over a very real death. And, by and large, wrestling fans don’t have the guts to be part of the solution. The one thing Cowherd said that ESPN later backpedaled on was his implication that Guerrero’s death was steroid-related. ESPN ombudsman George Solomon penned an online column about a week ago, in which he castigated Cowherd for making statements he could not support. The only problem was, Cowherd was right. The Hennepin County, Minn., Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Guerrero’s heart failure had “a history of anabolic steroid use” as a “contributing factor.” Solomon would have known this if he’d done even a cursory amount of research, before hanging his co-worker out to dry, because the medical examiner made that information public more than three weeks ago. It sure does look like ESPN caved in the face of angry missives from wrestling fans, the same fans who bash New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick, one of the nation’s most violently anti-McMahon writers. Mushnick often comes across as a foaming-at-the-mouth maniac, but in 15 years, he has made some salient points against the way wrestling is run. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of his, but it’s hard to deny that he was the reporter who first aired public concerns about the steroid-soaked WWF (as it was then known) and the likely long-term effects of the drugs (especially as part of a cocktail also containing heavy painkiller use) on performers. You can like or dislike him, but time has proven Mushnick right. Just ask Rick Rude, Brian Pillman, Terry Gordy, Road Warrior Hawk, Curt Hennig or the once-awesome tag-team of Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero. Oh, wait — you can’t ask them. They’re dead. With an average age of just over 38, every wrestler named above has died in the past decade, with drugs playing a role in every case. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg. But don’t tell wrestling fans that. They just want to paint Mushnick as a wrestling-hater, killing the messenger because there’s no valid defense against his message. So, who’s left? As nauseating as some might find this, there’s only one answer left — the government. Congress got all over Major League Baseball about steroids, and that sport has nowhere near the death toll (per capita, or overall) wrestling does. I would ask that Congress start asking questions. Don’t be fooled by the “it’s just part of a tough business” take. Don’t be snowed by “It’s each individual’s private choice,” because the truth is, by promoting a physically punishing style and bodybuilder looks, the wrestling industry implicitly encourages illegal drug use. This isn’t just “that fake stuff” meant to be ignored. This is a multimillion-dollar industry that appeals to kids nationwide. McMahon can bleat about parental guidance all day, but that doesn’t change the fact that he markets to kids. Who do you think is buying all the dolls, wind-up toys, toy car sets and all the T-shirts made available in kids’ sizes? Wrestling has a problem, and since no one involved wants to face it, the industry should be made to face it. Scott E. Williams is a Daily News reporter and a longtime wrestling fan. His first book “Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore,” was released this year. His second, an autobiography of “Cowboy” Bill Watts, goes on sale in January. His e-mail address is scott.williams(at)galvnews.com. |
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