5 most heartbreaking real-life stories of WWE Superstars

After pro-wrestlers retire from the industry, their lives rarely culminate in a yacht sailing off into the picturesque sunset. If anything, the hardships that they faced during their careers often leaves them to deal with a failing body and empty coffers.

These men and women end up paying an inordinate price in their personal lives, when all they set out to do in the first place, was entertain the fans – entertain us. Some of them give in to the clutches of substance addiction while some of them resort to lives of crime. Some of them are just dealt a downright stinker of a hand by fate.

Whichever way it is, there are many life stories of WWE Superstars that will tug on the strings of your heart; here are 5 of them.

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#1 Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit continues to divide opinion in pro wrestling even today

We all saw this coming, right?

The mention of Chris Benoit still divides opinion – many are still angst-ridden with his heinous actions before he took his own life while some others are concerned with the fact that a lifetime of taking damage to his head had reduced his brain to little more than a lump of clay.

The memory of the Rabid Wolverine's in-ring career, however, still elicits glowing reviews. One can only wonder, now that contemporaries of his like Jericho, the Hardy Boyz and even Goldberg have had stellar runs in the WWE towards the end of their careers, how Benoit would have done in today’s wrestling-heavy programming.

Yet, all we’re left to mull over is one of the deepest scars in pro-wrestling history, where a prodigiously gifted in-ring worker’s life spiraled completely out of control into an unspeakable act of horror.

One can’t help, however, also hear the pitiful cry for help, behind the fatality of his final actions.

#2 Kamala

An imposing heel in his heyday, Kamala is a double amputee today

Kamala was one of the most intimidating, imposing heels in the 80s and early 90s, but one look at him today, and all the trepidation that you may have felt when you set eyes on him in his prime gives way to sympathy.

He is a double leg amputee due to diabetes and has also suffered through the horror of losing his son to AIDS. He also lost both his youngest sister and step-daughter to a deranged gunman who tried to kill himself after, but didn’t succeed. His fight continued when he lobbied to have the criminal found and sentenced to life in prison.

At one point in time, Kamala made ends meet by selling hand-crafted tables and has also authored a book, detailing his life experiences in pro-wresting and the fight that he has faced since his retirement.

#3 Perry Saturn

Perry Saturn hasn’t been keeping well

Perry Saturn was a largely underrated worker in the WWE, and like many of his standing who didn’t quite make it to the top of the food chain in the company, his life fell apart after his wrestling career ended.

However, in a gut-wrenching tale of ill-fate and wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time, Saturn’s life plummetted when he chose to be a good samaritan and prevent two men from physically assaulting a girl. As the story goes, it was in Atlanta, 2004 and Saturn had just dropped off his girlfriend at work when he spotted them in an alleyway.

Heroically, Saturn intervened and managed to save the girl but received two bullets – one in his neck and one in his shoulder – for his troubles.

Perhaps it was the trauma of the whole incident, but Saturn soon after descended into meth addiction in an attempt to cope with the duress. It was a decision that was as unfortunate as it was ill-advisable, as he’s lost his house twice in the years since.

#4 Chyna

A pioneer for the women of WWE

Chyna, known as the Ninth Wonder of the World, was a pioneer for women’s wrestling in the WWE. She portrayed the first woman ‘enforcer’ gimmick, who made it look believable when she stepped to men in the ring. She even held the Intercontinental Title twice, an honor that has never been bestowed upon any other woman in WWE history.

But it all fell apart for her when she was unwittingly caught in between the crosshairs of Triple H’s budding romance with Stephanie McMahon.

This led to Chyna being released by the WWE, and a whole series of unfortunate events have unfolded since. Although she would wrestle sporadically in other promotions, she would end up getting entangled with the adult industry and the vices (drug and alcohol abuse, mainly) that come with it.

In April of 2016, Chyna was found dead, with investigative reports confirming the cause of death to be a combination of alcohol and prescription drugs overdose. A heartbreaking end to one of the true pioneers of the Women’s Revolution.

#5 Owen Hart

Owen Hart was universally beloved

Owen Hart fell to his death in the month of May, 1999, while rappelling down to the ring from the rafters during the Over the Edge pay-per-view. The details behind his death, however, are quite fuzzy and there has been a whole lot of he-said, she-said in pointing the finger of blame.

Many feel Vince Russo, WWE’s lead booker then, has to shoulder much of the responsibility for his death. Apparently, Russo knew that Hart was afraid of heights, but made him go through with the gimmick anyway. Another school of thought indicates that his death was much more accidental, as the WWE decided on using a harness that would detach quickly, having already experienced that an excessively safe harness takes too long to come unhinged.

Either way, we can agree that Owen Hart’s fall and subsequent death in front of thousands of fans is one of the most chilling and heartbreaking episodes in WWE history.