We all know that the professional wrestling industry is one of the most demanding professions on the planet. For what it demands from the bodies of superstars it does pay back handsomely in the form of dollar bands.
The fame, the popularity and the bright lights of the WWE can often make individuals extremely rich but sadly, it usually doesn't leave them with a contingency plan for the future.
Once-in-a-lifetime contracts with Vince McMahon may satisfy short-term financial needs, but once they're over, they truly are over. We've seen some wrestlers use the WWE as a launching pad to reach new heights and more wealth, while others have gone the other way and ended up in a black hole of debt & poverty.
There are sad stories of many wrestlers we used to love and look up to, morphing into nothing but broken, empty shells of men with their finances in ruin.
Here are 5 former wrestlers that are now broke.
#5 Lex Luger
Coming from a professional football background, Luger was both loathed and loved by the masses & his peers. Once renowned for his perfectly chiselled physique, the former Royal Rumble winner now epitomises the image of a broken man.
His awe-inspiring physique was so in demand at the time that Ted Turner offered him a lucrative contract to jump ship to WCW for several years, which he ended up doing. He was rewarded for his disloyalty when WWF bought out WCW in 2001 and was subsequently given his marching papers.
Also read: 5 Pro wrestling superstars who retired before time
He then went on to have an unsuccessful on-off career with TNA. Luger's life really went into a downward spiral when his wife Miss Elizabeth died. Luger was treated as a suspect for her death and the several subsequent legal battles ran him financially dry.
Luger was initially charged with 13 felonies for the death until it was ruled accidental and his name was cleared. However, the innocent ruling didn’t recuperate all the capital he’d spent on clearing his name.
#4 Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman
Despite being the only man to be part of both DX and the NWO stables, X-Pac's life took a dark turn during wrestling and after he left the business. After leaving the WWE in 2002, Pac went through a tough divorce saga with his wife in the same year.
The divorce had negative repercussions on Waltman's life as he went in and out of drug & alcohol abuse, with the help of Triple H, however, he was able to remain sober for a short period of time but soon got sucked back into the cycle of addiction.
This vicious cycle would soon leave no option but for the former tag team champion to file for bankruptcy.
This became an all-time low in his career and X-Pac himself admitted to attempting suicide a few times. Nowadays, it seems that Waltman has gotten over the worst of his addictions, having since appeared on WWE television several times.
#3 Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts
One of the few men in WWE history to win a Wrestlemania match after one month of his debut, Jake’s on-screen creepy, villainous character was a hit with the fans across the States, leading to increasing levels of popularity.
After a few short-term stints at wrestling promotions across the country, he returned to the WWE through their sponsored drug rehabilitation program in 2007. He was enrolled in the program due to constant drug and alcohol struggles, which left his bank account in tatters.
Family members close to the legend said that he even contemplated suicide during these tough times. To makes matters worse, Roberts was reportedly diagnosed with cancer.
However, it was Diamond Dallas Page that would come to the aid of Roberts by taking him into his home rent-free to finally get him to overcome his addiction urges. Today, Roberts is in the WWE Hall of Fame after years of recovery but his finances are still on the rocks.
#2 Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka
A professional bodybuilder and wrestler of Fijian origin. Jimmy Snuka changed the face of wrestling forever. When Superfly Snuka first burst onto the scene he was seen as a revolutionary figure in the development of pro wrestling.
He was the one that transitioned wrestling from ground mat slugfests into high-flying acrobatic bouts. Despite his legendary career, Snuka's life took a turn for the worse decades after his retirement, Jimmy was recently accused of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges against his former girlfriend Nancy Argentino.
The WWE legend is now burdened with legal fees and the inability to find work to cover those fees. In a twist of events, doctors then found him unfit to stand trial and diagnosed him with dementia. To make matters even worse, Snuka has now also been removed from the WWE Hall of Fame.
#1 Virgil
Best known for his entertaining affiliations with the million dollar man Ted DiBiase, Virgil was able to score two high-profile pinfall victories over DiBiase at Wrestlemania and SummerSlam. After making a name for himself in the WWF, Ted Turner saw another opportunity to hurt Vince McMahon and poached Virgil right from under his nose.
Despite being affiliated with the hot angle of NWO, Virgil's time in WCW was lacklustre at best. After WCW closed down, Virgil had minimal career paths available, he opted to become a high school maths teacher, but that didn't last long.
His insatiable appetite for wrestling made him attempt several failed returns to the business.
In an attempt to cling on to the last bits of his fame, he has recently arranged several meet and greets with fans, to not much avail. His latest attempt to breathe some life into his finances was a 'GoFundMe' page where he begged fans to make him a millionaire. Needless to say, he's not a millionaire.
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