Former WWE Wrestler Test has died
 

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...er_dead_031409

Another former professional wrestler with ties to the Bay Area has been found dead.

Andrew James Martin, better known to fans as 'Test,' was found dead in his apartment in Hillsborough County according to a release issued by the Tampa Police Department.

Foul play is not suspected.

Officers were dispatched to Martin's unit at the Post Harbour complex just after 8 p.m. Friday to conduct a welfare check.

A neighbor contacted authorities after observing a motionless Martin, 33, through a window over a span of several hours.

TPD officers entered the apartment and found the former World Wrestling Entertainment performer to be deceased.

Martin, who worked as a bouncer in his native Canada before being discovered, joined the WWE in 1998. He won several of the organization's major championships before suffering a severe back injury.

In July 2004 Martin underwent spinal fusion surgery and was released from his WWE contract a few months later.

He attempted several comebacks, most recently with the TNA organization, but health problems forced Martin to announce his retirement in December 2007.

Martin also ran afoul of the law on two occassions since calling it quits, getting arrested on driving under the influence charges in both Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

The official cause of death is not known at this time. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

Martin is the fourth former professional wrestlers to pass away in the Bay Area in the past two years.

- Scott 'Bam Bam' Bigelow, 46, was found dead of a drug overdose in his Pasco County home on January 19, 2007.

- Mike Alfonso - who wrestled under the moniker Mike Awesome - committed suicide in his Hillsborough County home on February 17, 2007. He was 42.

- Brian Adams, 44, died of a drug overdose in his Tampa home in August 2007. He performed under several names in his professional wrestling career, working mostly as a tag-team wrestler.

In February 2003, Curt Henning, who wrestled as 'Mr. Perfect,' during his stint with the WWE, was found dead in a Tampa hotel room. He was scheduled to wrestle at the Fairgrounds the day he died; the official cause of death in that case was determined to be cocaine intoxication.

I didn't even know that Bam Bam died. This is just so sad to lose a good wrestler like Test. I suspect that it was probably drugs, though we don't know yet. It seems to be the cause of death to many wrestlers. Such a shame. I guess I'll skip Heroes tonight and watch RAW to see if they have a tribute to him.

Such a sad story.

so many of these guys can't take the stress and crap happens. it's sad but...when they have choices, one takes coke...or one gets wasted...or one takes steroids...
they make thier choices, sometimes pay for it in the end.

sad yes, but not unexpected.

Jesus christ.

Shut up.

I never really watched much wrestling after the name change

but it always bums me out to hear another one passed away

I didn't know about bam bam bigelow either, time for some more reading

It seems many wrestlers go through their careers and come out okay. Ask Jesse Ventura, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair (still in after all this time!), to name a few.

She's right, though.

It doesn't make it any less sad or tragic. It's a shame that these guys get hooked on this stuff, and few seem to find their way out of that vicious cycle.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a heart attack. I'd heard people say he was pretty outspoken in his affection for steroids. My fiancee loved him; she met him once about 10 years ago, she's gonna be shocked...

This Dead Pool is starting to get pretty tiresome...

i ain't bashing wrestling, i used to watch it all the time with my uncle back in the 80s...Hulk was one of my faves...i believe he used to take steroids and all that junk, today he's cleans as far as i understand it. he made his choices, and cleaned up...he's alive and kicking today. hopefully it doesnt catch up to him.

i think wrestlings cool, but i dont watch anymore.

like i said, it's SAD and tragic, but they made choices and pay for it.

Just Say No!

Their deaths are proof how horrible drugs (incl. steroids) destroy lives.


I can express my opinion on this forum, it's a free country.

A big part of the problem is that a lot of them have no life or goals outside of "making it in wrestling", and are willing to do anything for it, even though matches are scripted, everyone knows it, and wrestling will never be respected by anyone. So you have empty people trying to find some abstract "success" in an empty industry with no real measuring stick for success or failure. Belts mean nothing b/c it's all a work. There's almost no money except for WWE top stars, and Vince McMahon is notorious for flat-out forcing people to take 'roids and do drugs if they want "the push". Talent in wrestling is secondary, obedience and self-destructiveness are everything.

Yes, it is a choice, but to those who want nothing but to go to WrestleMania (as if that somehow makes one a good or fuller person), there is no choice, b/c Vince has it in writing that anyone can be fired at anytime for any reason, and in most cases then can't work in the biz AT ALL for months up to a year. So most people just do what they're told.

Scott Hall tells a story about the time he met Vince; Brian Knobs had failed a test for weed and got fined a thousand dollars, and was arguing with Vince about it, "I'm on the road 300 days a year, why can't I relax in my room?", to which Vince allegedly replied, "I guess you're just gonna have to drink more and take more pills, then."

I love wrestling, but it's a scummy business that kills people and that can NOT be argued.