Professional wrestlers are touted as both heroes and villains, but the vulnerability of the men behind those characters has often been taboo.
Upstart All Elite Wrestling, a wrestling organization founded in 2019, is normalizing conversations about masculinity and mental health in a field where these topics haven’t been regularly discussed, and AEW owner and CEO Tony Khan is encouraging it. fighters to be honest about their experiences. .
Fighters aren’t just putting their bodies to the test by fighting in the ring. Some of the athletes struggle with substance abuse and mental health issues.
Jonathan Good, one of AEW’s top performers like Jon Moxley, entered rehab in November 2021. He addressed the crowd with a promo upon his return in January. Jesse Guilmette, who performs under the ring name The Blade, wrote about his struggles with depression, anxiety and confidence issues in an Instagram post last year.
“I think having a fun place to work where, you know, we create, like an environment where we really care about the people here,” Khan told ABC News. “We try to show it and make the locker room here places where people aren’t going to be afraid to go in, and quite the opposite, where they hopefully expect to see the other people who, you know, get in the ring and fight.”
Male suicides have increased since 2000, and 6 million men suffer from depression that often goes undiagnosed, according to mental health americaa nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia.
Edward Moore, known to fans as Eddie Kingston, is an integral member of the new generation of wrestlers challenging the notion that alpha males should hide their emotions. The Yonkers fighter, known as El Rey Loco, spoke about his mental health struggles throughout his life in a November 2021 Player’s Tribune profile.
He said that he had suffered a panic attack after his well-received match against Miro at the All Out 2021 pay-per-view event and that he wanted to de-stigmatize mental health issues.
“We’ve lost enough people that, you know, I mean, in our personal lives, you know, away from wrestling, and a lot of us have lost people in wrestling that we knew. And it’s because no one talks,” he said. ABC News.
“And everyone has this stigma that they had to be tough and tough. And, you know what I mean, I can’t let anyone see my weakness. So I can’t talk to people, you know, so you have everything”. Then you find different ways to cope. For me, it was drinking a lot. Yeah, I mean, and I know, whatever it was, it was pills and all.”
AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page, who has styled himself Anxious Millennial Cowboy, has also been outspoken.
“In the macho world of professional wrestling, those kinds of emotions are often the least explored and I think people were ready to see that,” Page, whose real name is Stephen Blake Woltz, told ABC News.
There have been critics of the evolving changing of the guard. Page said many were too influenced by the past.
“Many fail to take into account the cultural shift that has occurred in relation to our attitudes towards recognizing our mental health, much less the idea that a character can go through those things without being seen as ‘weak,'” he said. .
Steve Borden has a unique perspective as a standout performer who has wrestled in major organizations throughout his 30+ year career as Sting, a mainstay since the 1990s with his “Crow” face paint. He credits his faith with turning his life around in 1998 after struggling with sobriety, addiction and on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
“It wasn’t until I got real and I’m not going to pretend anymore. I’ll take off this hat, and oh, and this hat. And then this hat and this sadness, depending on who it was.” with. It was a chameleon. And I’m just going to be Steve,” she said.
“That’s what I’m going to be. And yes, I do paint my face and I’m a character. And I stay and entertain. But the real man, Steve Borden, behind the mask is very transparent. Not afraid to talk things out.” real. Not afraid to listen either.”
Megha Parekh, AEW’s chief legal counsel, also oversees the company’s human resources and mental health initiatives. AEW provides services that address mental wellness, regular trainings, and facility discussions related to race and cultural events.
Parekh trained as a crisis counselor in 2018 and in suicide awareness in 2020.
“Our perspective is that if we want to bring out the best in people, we need to treat them as human beings. Every human being has a mental health that needs to be taken care of,” Parekh said.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
