A Mental Collision Course. He has been known by many monikers during his thirty-plus. year career in professional wrestling. His nicknames have

Transcription

1 McCardle 1 Tommy McCardle - #14 Professor Cofer English December 2014 A Mental Collision Course He has been known by many monikers during his thirty-plus year career in professional wrestling. His nicknames have included The Phenom, The Dead Man, Booger Red, and The Master of Pain; however, until April 6, 2014, he was most known as being undefeated at WrestleMania. This man is Mark Calaway, and he has been wrestling under the name The Undertaker since November 1990 in World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE is a sports entertainment company owned by Vince McMahon. The Undertaker was heading into WWE s annual extravaganza WrestleMania at the Superdome in New Orleans with a 21-0 undefeated streak. The Undertaker s opponent for the event was former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, a company featuring exhibition fights in mixed martial arts. Many wrestling fans worried about The Undertaker's well-being, as Brock Lesnar has a reputation for being intense in a wrestling ring. Brock Lesnar had developed a reputation for working stiff, which is wrestling jargon for

2 McCardle 2 accidentally or deliberately causing legitimate damage to an opponent. Lesnar s stiff reputation, plus The Undertaker s age of forty-nine, added to the concern for the well-being of The Undertaker. Within the first ten minutes of the twenty-five minute match, The Undertaker was dropped on his head during Brock Lesnar s F5 finishing maneuver. The 75,167 fans in attendance knew something was strange, as The Undertaker began to slow down, and he had a glazed look over his eyes. As time went on in the match, Brock Lesnar had obvious offensive control in the match. Eventually Brock Lesnar won the match after hitting two more additional F5 finishing moves on The Undertaker, putting an end to The Undertaker s undefeated streak. It was not known until the day after that The Undertaker had suffered a severe concussion in the match with Brock Lesnar ( Undertaker ). It has been said that The Undertaker s concussion was so severe that it marked the first time in history that WWE CEO Vince McMahon left the event still-in-progress to accompany The Undertaker to a local hospital ( Undertaker ). WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans, LA, is the last time the WWE fans saw The Undertaker due to The Undertaker taking time off to recover from the concussion. Concussions in the WWE have not just shortened careers, but they have also altered lives as well, and it is important to understand (I) the causes and symptoms of a

3 McCardle 3 concussion, (II) the impacts of concussions in WWE, and (III) how WWE plans to prevent and monitor concussions in the future. First, it is vital to understand exactly what causes a concussion and what symptoms to look for in a concussion. According to Justin M. Wright, M.D., "[a] concussion is a brain injury caused by a direct blow to the head, face, neck, or elsewhere on the body that transmits the force to the head" (Wright). Concussions can happen from more than just a strike to the head. There are risks during physical activity. Physical activities such as sports, physical education classes, or playing on a playground at school (Hallett). These risks can be a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, which can result in damage to the body causing the head and brain to move rapidly (Hallett). Concussions are not exclusive to adults, or any gender for that matter. Concussions can happen to anybody unfortunate enough to be placed at risk for a concussion. For example, imagine a group of children playing a friendly game of baseball. One child, playing the role of the pitcher, pitches the baseball to another child playing the role of the batter. The pitcher accidentally strikes the batter in the head with the ball. The force of the baseball striking the cranium of the batter would cause blunt-force trauma. Justin M. Wright backs up this information:

4 McCardle 4 This impact leads to the release of excitatory neurotransmitters, disruption of cellular membranes, and ionic flux. To correct the ionic imbalance, large amounts of adenosine triphosphate are required, leading to increased consumption of glucose. At the same time, cerebral blood flow is reduced, eventually leading to an energy mismatch and glucose hypometabolism. Trauma-induced calcium influx leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, further worsening glucose utilization. (Wright) This information regarding the cause of concussions has helped with awareness of concussions. Steve Maich, former columnist on public policy for Maclean's magazine, adds: [t]he brain is suspended in a sac of fluid called the dura, and when the brain bounces within that protective cavity, it causes blood vessels to tear. The resulting swelling can cause a broad array of symptoms: headache, dizziness, ringing in the ears, disorientation, slurred speech. In severe cases, the victim might lose consciousness, or even temporarily lose their eyesight. (Maich) Previous thought was a concussion was only from a direct blow to the head. Research is discovering a whole new approach to how a

5 McCardle 5 concussion can come about; concussions are not exclusive to an impact directly to the head. Concussions can come from a simple fall, car crash, and playground accidents. While a headache is the most common symptom of a concussion, other symptoms include dizziness, balance disturbance, disorientation, photophobia, phonophobia, amnesia, and nausea (Wright). It has also been reported by patients suffering a concussion that they feel foggy and have difficulty with focusing and concentrating (Wright). Jacob Tarasso, an independent professional wrestler, experienced "dry heaving, loss of short term memory, tunnel vision, headache, [and] dilated eyes," when he experienced a concussion in April 2012 (Tarasso). Jacob Tarasso was only 23-years-old at the time. Tarasso's peers in professional wrestling knew of concussion symptoms due to personal experience, and Tarasso s peers had suggested to Tarasso that he get checked out at the hospital (Tarasso). Matt Sinister, a former professional wrestler, experienced eight concussions that he was aware of between the years of 1994 and Sinister was 18-years-old during his first concussion, and he was 29-years-old when suffering his last known concussion. Matt s symptoms included "blurred vision, nausea, dizzy spells, loss in memory" (Sinister). Matt Sinister also dealt with walking into a room and forgetting the reason for entering the room (Sinister). Christopher Nowinski,

6 McCardle 6 a former WWE wrestler, and Harvard graduate, had suffered six concussions by the age of 32 (Albanese). Eventually the concussions caught up to Nowinski, which forced Nowinski to an early retirement from the WWE. In a 2003 wrestling match with Bubby Ray Dudley, Nowinski was kicked in the head (Mihoces). Nowinski said, "...unfortunately I lied about my symptoms for five weeks and kept going...i had a headache and was nauseous every time I got my heart rate up, but I fought through it as best I could" (qtd. in Mihoces). Since Nowinski had previously worked for the WWE, it is only fitting for Nowinski to work with the WWE on Nowinski s research. Once a potential concussion patient experiences the symptoms of a concussion, there are tests performed to further look into the possible concussion. A physical exam is performed to look for cervical spine injury, skull fracture, or intracranial bleeding (Wright). These exams are known as ImPACT tests, developed by Dr. Mark Lovell and Dr. Joseph Maroon in the early 1990's ("ImPACT"). ImPACT tests are the standard for examining and analyzing concussions for athletes ("ImPACT"). There are other elements to look for in a physical exam as well, such as if the patient has slow responses. The inability to remember a series of numbers is another sign to look for during these exams (Wright).

7 McCardle 7 Second, it is necessary to take a look at a few incidents of concussions in the WWE to see the adverse effects and impacts on the lives of those inflicted with concussions. The first example is Mick Foley, wrestling under the three monikers of Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love (Castillo). Mick Foley had a full time in-ring career in professional wrestling spanning from 1983 to 2000 (Castillo). The attribute about Mick Foley that was most known to fans was his ability to sustain a huge amount of pain. Unfortunately for Mick Foley, Foley s career was ended before he had wanted it to. Foley s career was ended due to suffering two concussions in a six month span between June 1998 and January Mick Foley retired earlier than planned in February At the June 1998 WWE event King of the Ring, Mick Foley was scheduled to face-off against The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match ( King ). The Hell in a Cell match is a unique match, as the wrestling ring is surrounded by a 22-foot tall, 30-squarefoot, chain-link cell ( King ). The object of the match is to prevent outside sources from interfering; however, Mick Foley wanted to do something different. Instead of starting the match from inside of the ring, Foley began to climb the cell to the roof, and insisted on starting the match with The Undertaker there ( King ). After a brawl between the two wrestlers atop the cell's roof, Mick Foley was thrown off of the cell. Mick

8 McCardle 8 Foley crashed through the Spanish announcer's table at ringside, which was a 22-foot fall ( Former ). While Mick Foley was being stretchered out of the arena, Foley jumped off the stretcher to return to the ring and climb the cell. Once back on the cell, Foley was then choke-slammed by The Undertaker on the cell's roof. The piece of the chain-link roof that Foley landed on gave out, and Foley was sent crashing to the center of the ring, which was a 16-foot drop considering the elevation of the ring from the floor ( Former ). The Undertaker was lucky enough to have been standing on a sturdier piece of the cell s roof. Those two falls sustained by Mick Foley were large impacts to the body that forced the trauma to the head of Foley, resulting in a concussion. In January 1999, at the WWE's Royal Rumble event, Foley suffered yet another concussion. Foley's opponent at the time was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The match between Mick Foley and The Rock was for the WWE World Championship, and it was called an "I Quit" match ( Royal ). The object of the match was to force the opponent to utter the words "I Quit" into a live microphone for the crowd to hear. During this match, Mick Foley absorbed eleven unprotected chair-shots to the head ( Royal ). Normally in pro wrestling when a competitor takes a chair-shot to the head, he will put his arms up to absorb the blast from the chair with his or her hands. Foley was unable to protect

9 McCardle 9 himself from the chair-shots because his hands were handcuffed behind his back ( Royal ). In the 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat, Mick Foley stated that WWE CEO Vincent K. McMahon had instructed Foley to never perform like that again while working for WWE ( Beyond ). Bret Hitman Hart was forced to retire from professional wrestling after a 22-year career after a stiff thrust kick to the head by Bill Goldberg during their WCW Starrcade event in December 1999, resulting in a speculated seven total concussions from one incident (Hart). After interviewing Bret Hart, Candis McLean reports, "Bill Goldberg kicked Bret Hart in the head. Doctors now believe he sustained three concussions in that match. Although Bret repeatedly told WCW officials he was 'spaced out' and suffering recurrent headaches, they ignored him and he kept on wrestling" (McLean). Bret Hart returned to the ring despite his headaches, and wrestled his final match on January 10, Through the same interview with Candis McLean, Bret Hart said, "I had trouble with my speech; it was slurred and I had trouble finishing sentences, keeping my train of thought" (qtd. in McLean). It was not until then that doctors concluded the theory that Bret Hart suffered from seven different concussions (McLean). It is believed those concussions from his 1999 match with Bill Goldberg resulted in Bret Hart suffering a stroke in 2002 (Hart). While Bret Hart

10 McCardle 10 has not fully recovered from his stroke, he has been able to regain most of his functions such as walking and talking (Hart). Chris Benoit may be the most known professional wrestler to be associated with the word concussion. During Benoit's 22-year career that spanned from 1985 to 2007, he was famous for performing unprotected head-butt dives from the top rope (Maich). A diving head-butt from the top rope consisted of Benoit climbing to the top turnbuckle, and leaping more than 10- feet in the air driving his head into his opponent. When Benoit's opponent would move to avoid the head-butt, Benoit's head would crash into the canvas without protection. It is believed that during Benoit's career as a professional wrestler, he suffered many concussions, though none were ever reported to the WWE (Maich). During the weekend of June 23, 2007, Chris Benoit murdered his wife, Nancy, as well as their 7-year-old son, Daniel. It was reported that Benoit placed Bibles next to their bodies after he had strangled Nancy with a phone cord, and smothered Daniel with a pillow (Maich; Albanese). Later Benoit would hang himself from a piece of exercise equipment in his home gym (Maich). When the incident reached the news and media, it was immediately believed to have been a result of steroid abuse. However, later studies would reveal that Chris Benoit suffered

11 McCardle 11 from brain damage, and not a victim of steroid abuse (Maich; Albanese). Sports Legacy Institute performed studies on the brain of Chris Benoit during the Summer of 2007, and found "a 40-year-old brain that looked like that of an 85-year-old in advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease" (Maich). Finally, the WWE began to step up its game in preventing concussions and helping elevate awareness with improved research. In 2006 the WWE adopted a Wellness Policy with a list of banned substances for their performers, and has since included concussion-related additions to its policy (Mihoces). WWE has implemented a ban of the use of a chair-shot to the head of its performers, as it believes it caused the most concussions and the most head impacts (Mihoces). "Obviously, I think it's such a huge concern for everybody right now in sports and in the military," Paul Levesque, WWE executive vice president of talent and live events, told USA TODAY (qtd. in Mihoces). "We still hit people with metal chairs, just not in the head anymore," said Levesque, who as a ring star and occasional wrestler known as Triple H. Levesque said the effort was showing results. "In 2011, we had 25 concussions of the 150 talent (wrestlers) on the road all year long. In 2012, we only had 11," Levesque said (qtd. in Mihoces).

12 McCardle 12 Sports Legacy Institute was created in 2007 by former WWE wrestler and Harvard graduate Christopher Nowinski (Albanese). SLI helps to establish awareness for concussions as well as research on the effects of head injuries. World Wrestling Entertainment has been making a donation of $1.2 million over the course of three years from 2013 to The donation will help for research in treating chronic traumatic encephalopathy (Mihoces). On October 31, 2014, Sports Legacy Institute elected Paul Levesque of WWE, to its board of directors. Without a doubt concussions have had a major impact on the lives of professional wrestlers, as well as the lives associated with those suffering from a concussion. A concussion is not exclusive to a force or blow to the head. Concussions can occur even without contact to the head directly. A concussion can be caused by any major blow to the body, causing force trauma to the head. It is vital to understand and see the symptoms associated with concussions. The inability to focus or concentrate, along with constant headaches, could lead to the diagnosis of a concussion. The severity of a concussion can have a huge impact on living conditions and careers. A concussion could lead to further injury as well, so it is important to see the signs and get checked out by a physician. World Wrestling Entertainment have been making a great effort in its fight against concussions. WWE's Wellness Policy,

13 McCardle 13 established in 2006, has been able to scale down the amount of concussions reported; however, if a concussion is not exclusive to a direct blow to the head, then WWE should take a deeper approach to its no chair-shot to the head policy. Chair-shots should be banned completely in WWE to avoid concussions. WWE should have also taken a stance on the chair-shot theory in 1999 when Mick Foley absorbed the eleven unprotected blows to his head. By placing a ban on chair-shots in 1999, WWE could have prevented the Benoit-tragedy of To preserve the careers and lives of not only professional wrestlers, but lives associated to the wrestlers, WWE needs to adopt more changes to the company s Wellness Policy to ensure the wellness of its employees. The amount of concussions in WWE have been going down in years, but the pace of the decline is at a slow rate. Concussions are nothing to be playing with, as concussions affect not just those inflicted with a concussion, but affect other people in relation to victims of concussions. The protection of lives is the most important part, and with further awareness and research on concussions it can make that a hopeful future. Word Count: 2,809

14 McCardle 14 Works Cited Albanese, Laura. "Ex-wrestler warns of danger of concussions." Newsday, (Melville, NY) 31 Jan. 2011: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 20 Oct Beyond the Mat. Dir. Barry W. Blaustein. Universal Pictures. 22 Oct DVD. 16 Dec Castillo, Alfonso A. "LI pro wrestler Mick Foley joins WWE Hall of Fame." Newsday, (Melville, NY) 07 Apr. 2013: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 14 Nov "Former wrestling star bringing comedy show to Duluth." Duluth News-Tribune (MN) 24 Jan. 2014: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 14 Nov Hallett, Doug. "Concussion concerns now board policy." Guelph Tribune. 30 Sept LexisNexis Academic. Web. 21 Oct Hart, Bret. Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. New York: Grand Central Pub., Print. 16 Dec "ImPACT Founders." ImpactTest.com. ImPACT Testing & Computerized Neurocognitive Assessment Tools. n.d. Web. 19 Nov 2014.

15 McCardle 15 "King of the Ring." WWE PPV. ondemand PPV, Pittsburgh, 28 Jun Television. 7 Dec Maich, Steve. "The Concussion Time Bomb." Maclean's (2007): 46. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 Oct McLean, Candis. "Sadness Of The Harts. (Cover Story)." Report / Newsmagazine (BC Edition) 27.7 (2000): 34. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 21 Oct Mihoces, Gary. "WWE takes swing at concussions." USA Today n.d.: MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 Oct "Royal Rumble." WWE PPV. ondemand PPV, Anaheim, 24 Jan Television. 16 Dec Sinister, Matt. Personal Interview. 17 November Tarasso, Jacob. Personal Interview. 14 November "Undertaker Seriously Injured After Loss at Wrestlemania." International Business Times. 07 Apr. 2014: Regional Business News. Web. 20 Oct Wright, Justin M. "Medical Treatment Of Concussion." Seminars In Speech & Language 35.3 (2014): Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct