Stephen Pileggi
Former wrestler’s graduate research puts drug addiction into a chokehold
Ryan Gregg is a 25-year-old graduate student and doctoral candidate in Temple
University’s pharmacology program. For the past three years, Gregg has focused his studies
within the program’s Center for Substance Abuse Research on amphetamine drugs of abuse and
has released several publications detailing the results of his research. Before arriving at Temple,
however, Gregg used to dabble in organized wrestling.
Yes, seriously. Gregg, the doctoral candidate, is a former wrestler.
Gregg was presented with an opportunity to help out former professional wrestlers Jerry
Jarrett and Jerry Lawler with a small promotion the two were organizing in his hometown in
Memphis, Tennessee and also in parts of northwest Mississippi. It was a way for Gregg to get
involved with his lifelong passion while also making a little extra cash on the side.
However, Gregg turned his attention to the medical field after separating his shoulder
during a match and graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in
forensic chemistry.
So how did the Ole Miss graduate make the unconventional transition from delivering
bone-rattling body slams to working alongside distinguished members of the pharmacology
field?
“It was the number of deaths in pro wrestling following drug abuse – supplemented by
my brief experience in independent wrestling – that got me interested in researching addiction,”
Gregg said. “A lot of the research I do is inspired by a lot of the tragedies that have come out of
that industry.”
Drug abuse in organized wrestling is more of a dated issue thanks to the implementation
of thorough, comprehensive wellness programs. But during the 1980’s and spilling into the early
parts of the 90’s, wrestlers were paid per performance and had to be ready to go at whatever cost.
A lackluster performance in the ring could have resulted in docked pay for that match. Not being
able to perform at all meant no paycheck.
“A lot of these guys will work these matches where their bodies are basically beat up – a
lot of muscle soreness, a lot of muscle issues, lots of pretty bad injuries,” Gregg said. “So a lot of
people were taking a lot of somas, which is a muscle relaxant, and they were taking these after a
match to deal with the pain. So a lot of these guys were taking muscle relaxants and painkillers
as a method of self-medicating.”
While painkillers and muscle relaxants help mask the painful effects from previous
matches, they also depress the body – specifically the respiratory system – making the user feel
lethargic and tired. With the quick turnaround between matches, fatigue isn’t an option or an
excuse. That’s where amphetamines come into play.
In order to get “jacked up” for a fight, wrestlers often turned to amphetamines to get them
going. An amphetamine as simple as Ritalin, often prescribed to those who struggle with
attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), was a
popular choice among wrestlers. Taking a couple of them was a quick fix to recharge the
batteries that painkillers had drained.
Gregg, however, believes that it wasn’t simply the combination of painkillers and
amphetamines that brought on the eventual demise of these athletes.
“The real problem that came out of professional wrestling,” Gregg said, “was that you
had a lot of what’s called polydrug abuse – people who would not only take amphetamines and
painkillers and muscle relaxants to keep themselves going, but then you mix in the fact that
several of them were on anabolic steroids, which provides an even greater level of complication.
Several of them also had drinking problems or had their own sort of recreational drugs they
used.”
According to Gregg, the high mortality rate among wrestlers who participated in
polydrug consumption can be traced to two primary factors: heart problems and drug overdose.
“If you’re taking tons and tons of painkillers to try to maintain your pain level,” Gregg
said, “some of the side effects don’t go away, especially when you’re talking about depressing
your system, like respiratory depression, or your ability to breathe. People would take a ton of
painkillers and essentially just pass away in their sleep.”
Furthermore, the use of steroids compounds long-term heart issues.
“While people might say, ‘Okay, but they’ll give you a stronger heart,’ it doesn’t
necessarily work that way,” Gregg said. “Your heart has to be able to function [in its normal
fashion] and the more muscle you put on it, the less able it is to perform its normal function, so
people who have been abusing steroids for decades are getting these enlarged hearts and just
having these terrible heart attacks at very young ages.”
Although organized wrestling is largely predetermined and a product of rehearsed
showmanship, there is still an element of physicality which is very real and often takes a toll on
these athletes for years after they call it quits.
Eddie Guerrero, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Chris Benoit. All three were extremely
popular wrestlers at one point in their careers. All three are now deceased. All dead before the
age of 60.
Guerrero and Savage both suffered heart attacks; Guerrero at 38 and Savage at 58. Both
deaths were considered to be the result of long-term use of painkillers, amphetamines, and
anabolic steroids.
Benoit hung himself by a workout cable in 2007 immediately after murdering his wife
and son. Autopsies later revealed that Benoit’s brain had a composition similar to an 85-year-old
Alzheimer’s patient. Theories suggest his deteriorated brain was a result of prescription
painkiller abuse, steroid abuse, and head trauma. He was just 40 years old.
Former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) is one story of successfully overcoming
years of substance abuse. In fact, an interview with the Temple News’ John Corrigan in 2013
revealed that Page began doing yoga as a method of therapy to recover from substance abuse
after his ex-wife suggested it to him. According to the interview, he is now a full-time athletic
trainer and has used his intense “DDP Yoga” program to help former fellow wrestlers Scott Hall
and Jake “The Snake” Roberts recover from past addictions and physical pain.
“Those guys have had major problems with alcoholism, pill abuse and drugs,” Page said.
“Since [Roberts] moved in around October, he has lost 65 pounds. His life is back and he looks
like a completely different man. As for Scott, he recently had hip surgery so we’ve been focusing
on light rehab and healthy eating habits.”
With the implementation of wellness programs, an increased number of on-site medical
personnel, and a greater understanding of the consequences that result from polydrug abuse,
there is certainly reason to believe that professional wrestling at all levels is a shell of its former
self.
Thanks in part to the research conducted by Gregg and fellow pharmacologists and
trauma specialists, professional wrestling is now a safer venue for showmen to perform their
trademark suplexes, piledrivers, chokeholds, and powerbombs.