10 Major WWE superstars who failed in real life

Jeff HardySuccess within the squared circle by no means begets success in reality - a lesson many unsuspecting wrestlers have had tolearn the hard way over the years. Fame and wealth in the WWE, it would seem, are fickle commodities that are as easily accumulated as they are lost. Especially in the context of the life of a typical pro-wrestler pre-dating the WWE wellness policy, the tendency to gravitate towards drugs and alcohol was worryinglywide-spread.Also read: WWE Smackdown Results: March 17, 2016Many wrestlers in the 80s and 90s turned to drugs and the like purely for the want of an escape route from the grueling schedule that pro-wrestling entailed back in the day. The wear and tear that accompanied the incessant travelling told on the body heavily, leaving many wrestlers no choice but to seek alternative means of relief in order to hang with the breathless schedule. What they did not expect however, was how their lives would undergo gradual, or in some cases abrupt and violent meltdown because of the same.Despite most wrestlers in the employ of the WWE steering clear of the same indiscretions nowadays, the list of otherwise successful wrestlers whose lives fell apart outside of the ring is still considerable to say the least. This article takes a look at 10 such wrestlers whose success as a persona in the WWE did not quite translate into their personal lives.

#1 Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy was involved in one of pro-wrestling’s biggest script disaster

Surely one of the notable “what if” wrestlers that hardly did justice to their potential, Jeff Hardy’s life has been on a downward spiral ever since his release from the WWE. Throughout an inconsistent and woe-ridden tenure that followed in TNA, Hardy would often show up for matches in no condition to perform.

Having already evoked the ire of the law with drug related misdemeanors in 2009, things came to a head and the disgusted public eye during the Victory Road event two years later. What was supposed to be a much anticipated main event against Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, was reduced to a squash match that saw an intoxicated Hardy forcibly pinned for the 3 count.

Ostensibly not over his drug problems yet, it truly inspires regret amongst fans that a wrestler who was once viewed as the golden boy of the WWE has been reduced to an unconvincing musician that shuffles through his motions at independent promotions today.

#2 Kamala

Kamala lost both his legs to diabetes

Kamala the Ugandan Giant was a monster heel who terrified the WWE in the 80s and 90s. Portrayed as an African cannibal that was draped in a loin cloth with intimidating face paint to boot, Kamala’s run in the WWE was probably the highlight of his life.

With poverty flanking either side of the timeline barring his WWE run, today the retired wrestler is a double amputee who has lost both legs to diabetes. Factor in the loss of his sister to murder and son to AIDS with the fact that he sells hand-made tables worth $150 each for a living and we can agree, rarely has the short memory and unforgiving nature of the pro-wrestling industry been in starker evidence.

#3 Mr. Perfect

Curt Hennig died of overdose

Mr.Perfect found himself to be the right man at the right place in the early 90s when Vince McMahon was looking to push wrestlers of a slimmer build into the spotlight. Heavily involved especially in the Intercontinental Title Picture, it was a pity that back problems dictated that he call time on his career prematurely.

His second coming in the WWE was not as well received however, what with his involvement in the infamous plane ride from hell incident that effectively resulted in his contract being terminated by the company. Just a year later in 2003, he was found dead in a Florida hotel room aged just 44.

The cause of death was determined to be an acute overdose of cocaine but the fact that Curt Hennig was at best a recreational user of drugs serves to further highlight just how especially susceptible wrestlers are to the dangers of drug usage.

#4 Chris Benoit

Benoit with his wife

Conspiracy theories galore even today about one of the darkest incidents involving a WWE Superstar; but 8 years on, the WWE still maintains its enforced silence on the wrestler and his manner of passing. With official reports stating that Chris Benoit murdered his wife and child before taking his own life, questions regarding why he would ever do something like that have been definitively unanswered till today.

Another wrestler that left it all out in the ring, there has been much speculation that the repeated chair shots that Benoit received to the head throughout his career could have contributed greatly towards brain damage. Other reports suggest that his actions on that fateful night could be attributed to a drug overdose; either way, the WWE have extricated themselves cleverly from the situation by thus far refusing to even address the legacy of Chris Benoit. As it turns out, it was not the last time they would do such a thing.

#5 Umaga

Umaga passed away after suffering a heart attack

Almost in keeping with the theme set by Kamala’s inclusion in this list, another monster heel with similar displays of savagery whose life fell apart outside of the ring was Umaga. Belonging to the famous Anoa’iwrestling family, Umaga was portrayed on TV programming as a Samoan wrecking machine that decimated all that stood before him.

Sadly his tenure with the WWE was cut short by his violation of the wellness policy and his unwillingness to go into rehabilitation for his substance abuse issues. Within six months after his release from the company, he was found battling for his life under severe intoxication and unfortunately died due to a second heart attack whilst being treated in the hospital.

#6 Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle has experienced regular substance problems

Widely regarded as the wrestler that made the most seamless transition from amateur wrestling to pro-wrestling, Kurt Angle was on the cusp of superstardom in 2003 before a career tail-off ensured that he would soon part ways with the WWE.

After his WWE stint, unlike the insipid Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle managed to light up the TNA scene with stellar performances and even held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for a record sixth time earlier this year. Despite his considerable success in the ring however, Angle has struggled with repeated injuries throughout his career. His notoriety for working through them is well known, having famously even captured the Olympic Gold in 1996 with a broken neck.

Over the years, his body has suffered tremendously and Angle was even sighted constricted to a wheelchair in recent TNA tapings. Despite his final hurrah in the WWE never quite materializing, Kurt Angle was undoubtedly one of its biggest stars in the early 2000s. Unfortunately for him, his success came at a steep price that his body has been paying till date.

#7 Jake The Snake Roberts

Jake Roberts

It waswith the benign intention of giving back to his mentor that Diamond Dallas Page sought out Jake Roberts in 2011. Although by then, the retired wrestler had given himself up to the abyss of alcohol and crack addiction. Ever since his exit from the WWE in 1997, he had fought his demons both inside and outside of the ring but to no avail;what encountered DDP was an overweight man who had admittedly burned out to the point that he wished death on himself.

Today, thanks to DDP Yoga, Jake Roberts has fought his way past his addiction problems and even survived a death match with cancer. Fittingly, the feature documentary “The Resurrection of Jake The Snake” has ensured that his eventual victory has also been as well documented as his struggles were.

#8 Chyna

Chyna

Shooting to fame in the controversial Attitude Era, Chyna was a powerhouse who could easily dominate men in the ring as she did women. Caught on the wrong end of a love triangle between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon though, she was apparently faxed her letter of termination from the WWE at a restaurant that she was eating lunch in.

After her unceremonious release from the company, her experiments with the porn industry have offered neither her own legacy nor the WWE’s determination to shut her out much cause for reconsideration.

Despite being on a comeback trail of sorts with “The Reconstruction of Chyna”, the sensitive nature of her problems with the WWE top brass and their convenient habit of ignoring pertinent issues that they don’t want to reckon with, probably mean that her quest for validation is still far from over.

#9 Scott Hall

Scott Hall with DDP and Jake Roberts

The WWE are in the habit of conducting thorough background checks before felicitating retired wrestlers with a Hall of Fame induction and so Scott Hall’s entry in 2014 is a reliable indicator that his problems with addiction are firmly in the past.

It is a fact confirmed by Stephanie McMahon that the WWE has not spent so much on a single wrestler in order to get him to clean his life up as they did on Scott Hall. For one of the first performers who made being the “bad guy” a cool thing, Scott Hall’s adherence to his persona even outside of the ring was what ultimately led to his innumerable health issues.

Carrying a pacemaker and burdened with constant medication to keep anxiety and pain at bay, Scott Hall betrayed none of his trademark swagger when he appeared for Top Rope, an independent promotion in 2011.

Ever since then though, his life has taken a turn for the better with the timely intervention of DDP yoga that ultimately saw his legacy acknowledged and honoured by the WWE Universe.

#10 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan recently got fired from the WWE

Who would have ever thought the word “Benoit-ed” would offer similar significance to pro-wrestling like “Mankad-ed” does to cricket? And yet, it perfectly describes the WWE’s reaction towards Hulk Hogan in light of the recent racism controversy.

The WWE has evolved into such a mainstream giant today that it presents little wonder that they chose to alienate themselves from Hulk Hogan in the most radical manner possible. For Hogan, who was reportedly in the process of getting his body ready for one final comeback (again!) at Wrestlemania 32, the WWE’s extreme reaction has left him alone to face the repercussions of the unsavoury racial comments that he made.

With all records of one of its greatest ever Superstars completely erased, the WWE has effectively chosen to ignore Hulk Hogan and his career. Now surely in his last legs as a performer, Hogan faces the ignominy of having his legacy and life’s work stripped from him. While the WWE’s tough stance has been appreciated in many quarters, it certainly dispels the misplaced notion that a single wrestler could ever be bigger than the company.