Jordan Parsons, Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney Diagnosed with CTE

[Solid Snake]

According to the Boston Globe's Bob Hohler, Omalu revealed that CTE was posthumously found in the brain of Jordan Parsons, who was killed in a fatal hit-and-run accident by an alleged drunk driver.

"These findings confirm that the danger of exposure to CTE is not limited to just football, hockey, and wrestling," Omalu said, per Hohler. "Mixed martial arts is also a dangerous sport, and it’s time for everyone to embrace the truth."

The announcement of Parsons' diagnosis came on the same day Omalu disclosed that CTE was posthumously discovered in the brains of former WWE wrestlers Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten. According to Hohler, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian's Dr. Julia K. Kofler performed the autopsies on Parsons, Jon Rechner (Mahoney) and Brian Knighton (Rotten).

While Parsons' case of CTE is the first in the brain of an MMA fighter, WWE has employed several wrestlers who were found to have suffered from degenerative brain conditions brought on by repeated blows to the head.

In June 2007, doctors announced tests on deceased wrestler Chris Benoit showed "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient," according to ABC News. Just over two years later, ESPN.com's Greg Garber reported Andrew "Test" Martin was linked to CTE following a postmortem exam by Omalu.

The NFL has also been dealing with issues of head trauma for years.

Not only were there 271 diagnosed concussions in the NFL last year, according to CNN, but the league acknowledged in 2016 that there was a direct link between playing football and being diagnosed with CTE. "The answer to that question is certainly yes," NFL vice president of health and safety policy Jeff Miller said, per CNN.com's Jill Martin.

In April, an appeals court upheld a ruling ordering the NFL to pay former players a settlement of $1 billion based on a collection of concussion lawsuits filed against the league.

source

 

[Snowman1]

Apparently chair shots to the head may be bad for you. More news at 11, folks!!!

 

[Solid Snake]

Apparently chair shots to the head may be bad for you. More news at 11, folks!!!

You know, knowing full well shots to the head is bad you'd a thought they would have played it more safe back then. I can't entirely blame Vince though, they agreed to do it. Just a shame living their dreams resulted in brain damage like this.

 

[Stopspot]

You know, knowing full well shots to the head is bad you'd a thought they would have played it more safe back then. I can't entirely blame Vince though, they agreed to do it. Just a shame living their dreams resulted in brain damage like this.

You can't blame Vince for Axl Rotten or Balls Mahoney wacking themselves in the head with various objects. They did not work for WWE in their hayday. Rotten's WWE career stretches to one episode of RAW, ECW one night stand in 2005 and a couple of dark matches.

I'm not sure you can even blame any promoter for this outright. Concussion research was nowhere near as prevalent as it is now back in the 90s. And the violence and grit was the thing of the time and that combined with how society/the fanbase was at the time motivated wrestlers to take more risks to stand out and get noticed.

 

[Solid Snake]

You can't blame Vince for Axl Rotten or Balls Mahoney wacking themselves in the head with various objects. They did not work for WWE in their hayday. Rotten's WWE career stretches to one episode of RAW, ECW one night stand in 2005 and a couple of dark matches.

I'm not sure you can even blame any promoter for this outright. Concussion research was nowhere near as prevalent as it is now back in the 90s. And the violence and grit was the thing of the time and that combined with how society/the fanbase was at the time motivated wrestlers to take more risks to stand out and get noticed.

I think it is common sense though that hitting or getting hit in the head by an object, such as a metal chair, can't be good for your brain. I fell on the kitchen floor and whacked my head pretty hard when I was maybe 7. What did my mom do? Made sure I didn't go to sleep and had me ice it. If my mom has enough common sense to be cautious of a concussion, it just shows how they were basically being irresponsible.

When I said "can't blame Vince entirely" I meant it in the sense that he likely didn't encourage such huge blows to the head but he didn't stop them either.

And yes, we know more now then we did back then when it comes to this stuff but still, it is common sense that getting hit in the head is not a good thing. It just seems like back then, they would do anything to make it big and to a lot of fans, heavy hits to the head sold. Still a shame though.

 

[Stopspot]

I think it is common sense though that hitting or getting hit in the head by an object, such as a metal chair, can't be good for your brain. I fell on the kitchen floor and whacked my head pretty hard when I was maybe 7. What did my mom do? Made sure I didn't go to sleep and had me ice it. If my mom has enough common sense to be cautious of a concussion, it just shows how they were basically being irresponsible.

When I said "can't blame Vince entirely" I meant it in the sense that he likely didn't encourage such huge blows to the head but he didn't stop them either.

And yes, we know more now then we did back then when it comes to this stuff but still, it is common sense that getting hit in the head is not a good thing. It just seems like back then, they would do anything to make it big and to a lot of fans, heavy hits to the head sold. Still a shame though.

Again. Vince can not be blamed at all for Balls Mahoney or AXL Rotten hitting themselves in the head with objects. Neither man worked for Vince in their hayday. Vince could neither have encouraged or not encouraged these two at all.

Also. When you hit your head, you were a kid. These dudes did it as grown men. So the "personal responsibility" argument is always going to be used. And it is still used by wrestlers to this day when the discussion of direct shots to the head is brought up. "I'm a grown man, if I want to be hit in the head I'll be hit in the head. I know what I am doing".

You're right with the they were willing to do it to make it big argument. Wrestling was at its peak when these gusy were active, and it was sink or swim and hard to get noticed. These guys worked mainly in ECW and similar companies were the violence was what drew. Neither man could get work in the "major leagues" so it was violent wrestling or a day job for both these men and many like them.

 

[Snowman1]

It's easy to say "too little too late" after not preventing the Benoit tragedy, though, but I'd rather give Vince a lot of credit for putting a stop to this after that.
For a company that sells violence WWE has been doing a really solid job making the product safe for the performers... as long as Big E stops doing that damn spear.
If an agency wants to waltz in and look at what they're doing to prevent concussions, I'm sure that more could be done - more from the goon doctor CM Punk was talking about's standpoint than Vince's - but they're doing an admirable job for such a physical sport.

 

[Stopspot]

It's easy to say "too little too late" after not preventing the Benoit tragedy, though, but I'd rather give Vince a lot of credit for putting a stop to this after that.
For a company that sells violence WWE has been doing a really solid job making the product safe for the performers... as long as Big E stops doing that damn spear.
If an agency wants to waltz in and look at what they're doing to prevent concussions, I'm sure that more could be done - more from the goon doctor CM Punk was talking about's standpoint than Vince's - but they're doing an admirable job for such a physical sport.

This. WWE has a pretty top notch concussion protocol set up that is right up there with the NFL and NHL and nother pro sports. If you so much have a hint of a concussion you're off the road for a minimum of three weeks. And have to run a gauntlet of tests to even be allowed to train in a ring.

 

[The Phenom]

Again. Vince can not be blamed at all for Balls Mahoney or AXL Rotten hitting themselves in the head with objects. Neither man worked for Vince in their hayday. Vince could neither have encouraged or not encouraged these two at all.

Also. When you hit your head, you were a kid. These dudes did it as grown men. So the "personal responsibility" argument is always going to be used. And it is still used by wrestlers to this day when the discussion of direct shots to the head is brought up. "I'm a grown man, if I want to be hit in the head I'll be hit in the head. I know what I am doing".

You're right with the they were willing to do it to make it big argument. Wrestling was at its peak when these gusy were active, and it was sink or swim and hard to get noticed. These guys worked mainly in ECW and similar companies were the violence was what drew. Neither man could get work in the "major leagues" so it was violent wrestling or a day job for both these men and many like them.

:damn: