Wrestler Death Discussion

[snabbit888]

Had a topic I wanted to float out for the forum to get some opinions on concerning wrestler deaths. What are your thoughts on using wrestlers past when they died or suffered career ending injuries in real life? I'm speaking more of special circumstances.

For instance, Owen Hart died of an accident at Over the Edge in May 1999, but in theory, if he's in my circuit in 1999, he wouldn't be in that circumstance where the accident would have happened, so "keeping him alive" isn't out of the realm of plausibility, but I don't know how comfortable I'd feel about doing it.

Any thoughts?

[JoshiQ]

I don't have a problem either way. I like the way you've done it where when guys pass away or retire, they are done. But I also wouldn't care if you kept them around longer.

Personally, it just depends on my mood and what type of circuit I'm running. If it's a fictional federation with real wrestlers then I have no problems continuing to use that wrestler after his death. If it's a real circuit, I think I would probably stop using him at the point of his death. But even then, I'm not certain.

I'm so numb to most wrestler's deaths by this point that using them in a circuit wouldn't shock or disturb me. In fact, I think a "What if?" scenario with Owen Hart surviving past '99 would be a fun read.

[LillaThrilla]

Some circuits it doesn't matter because they're essentially outside of time.

Otherwise, it's in the realm of alternate history so it can go either way. If it still happens it serves as a sort of "easter egg" which is one of those aspects of alternate history: how things changed do not entirely turn out differently. I think it was Josh's WCW92 where Vader accidentally broke a jobber's back like in real life and it happened in his circuit too.

It also depends on the death - both how and how long after your circuit started (point of departure). The drug/health related deaths were likely going to happen no matter what. For example, in my WCW97, it's March 1998 and Louie Spicolli is still alive rather than dying of a drug overdose. But as the circuit started in Nov 1997, the events that lead to Spicolli's death would likely have still come to pass so it would have been very reasonable for his death to still occur. I may address this eventually and if Spicolli were to suddenly quit on me I might write it as him having died the same way but at a latter date. (I would only do that for someone who had died in real life.)

On the other hand, Eddie Guerrero's death might never have happened if he hadn't suffered that car accident in 1999 that triggered heavy painkiller use on his part. So if my circuit somehow goes past 2005 it's almost a given Eddie lives (unless he happens to suffer a serious injury in 1999 anyway).

Likewise, Owen Hart's death was due to an equipment malfunction. If your WWF circuit never has him resume the The Blue Blazer gimmick then he's never going to be in the rafters in the first place and lives on. Or maybe it still happens, but he's much lower (20 feet instead of 60?) and instead of falling to his death instead breaks his leg. (I'll have to address that in WCW97 when the time comes.)

Austin's neck surgery and shortened career stems from the Owen Driver '97. So if I started a circuit after that point, I'd probably have Austin retire at the same time (though perhaps not a great deal longer as he clearly had bad knees judging from the size of the braces he wore). But if I start a circuit where Owen doesn't break Austin's neck then Austin's career might go much longer. Shawn Michaels' serious back injury was from a bad bump on the casket in a match vs Undertaker. If he never faces the Undertaker or more likely in TNM never suffers an injury during the match then it would be reasonable for him to keep wrestling past 1998's Wrestlemania.

For the most part, I usually treat the rest of the world outside my circuit as having happened as close to real life as possible. So for WCW97, I assume Michaels still hurts his back and retires in April 1998 and Yokozuna still dies in 2000. (I may give Owen a reprieve though.)

[syxxpakk]

I've had similar issues. I booked a WCW circuit that started in 2006 and got all the way to 2018 with it. During that time-frame, Mike Awesome was an integral part of the roster teaming with Bobby Roode as the tag team component of the Four Horsemen. When he died, I did an angle that turned Awesome face and wrote him out. All of that pales in comparison to the man who held the WCW World Title for about two years. Little fella by the name of Chris Benoit.

[jeff the god of biscuits]

I try to honor wrestler deaths when they happen. If I am using someone who dies in real life, I carry that over to my circuit. The only exception that I can think of was a couple of years ago I reunited the Eliminators in my WWE circuit without knowing that John Kronus had passed away. I found out he had died a couple of weeks after I stopped using them.

As for career ending injuries, I haven't honored Edge's yet as he is my current WWE Champion and I have plans going forward for him. I am not sure if I am ever going to acknowledge his injury in real life, but his contract is up, so I may or may not try to resign him.

[rey619]

Interesting, I can really see how cause of death may affect a booker's decision.

I honored Larry Sweeney's death in my contemporary TNAW circuit (but because I book a month ahead of current time, I had to "postpone" his death). At the same time, I'm still using Taylor Wilde, who retired earlier this year.

[murphy42782]

I think alot of it is dependant on how the wrestler dies and the point of departure. Owen is not going to die in the circuit I currently am running because I started before Owen was even born. I have no intention of ever using the Blue Blazer gimmick. I plan on billing him as a member of the Hart Family and keeping him that way. So He should never wind up in the rafters.

I usually start with wrestlers retiring at the age of 55 and knock of time due to injuries they accumulate in my circuit. For instance if someone injures their elbow and misses 3 months game time I retire him 3 months earlier. If the same wrestler injures his back and misses 8 months then he would retire 11 months earlier then someone else his age. Its not a great way to do it by any means. I also acknowledge Plane crashes and Heart attacks. But I am not using Rafter falls, or murder/suicides. I also retire people early if they did so in real life to manage (i.e. Lou Albano).