Recently, the impacts of blows to the head in contact sports has been highly discussed after former NFL quarterback Brett Favre announced earlier this week that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. But in the eyes of one wrestling legend, CTE “doesn’t exist”.
Former WWE wrestler Steve Austin, better known to the wrestling world as ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin for his days in the WWE, recently took part in the new Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon about former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
In the docuseries, Austin discussed his views on CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), which is the disease linked to many athletes that participate in contact sports, including professional wrestling.
Despite a career in wrestling for over a decade, Austin shared his belief that CTE “doesn’t exist”.
“I worked for a long time,” said Austin. “I got dropped on my head one time I got concussed there. But other than that I can’t remember having too many concussions in the business of pro-wrestling. And my take on that has always been if you were just wrestling and you got a bunch of concussions, you’re probably doing something wrong. I’m not a CTE guy…just don’t believe in it.”
Stone Cold Steve Austin states that he does not believe in CTE.
“I worked for a long time, I got dropped on my head one time I got concussed there. But other than that I can’t remember having too many concussions in the business of pro-wrestling. And my take on that has always… pic.twitter.com/yVdbdpSg6X
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) September 25, 2024
It is true that if you are suffering concussions as a WWE wrestler, you are likely doing it wrong as Austin said.
But to flat out say that CTE doesn’t exist is certainly a bit ignorant when you consider the fact that numerous WWE superstars of the past has been diagnosed with CTE after death. The likes of Chris Benoit and Jimmy Snuka highlight the growing list of former wrestlers who were diagnosed with the disease.
Regardless, Austin seems to be pretty set in his belief that CTE is perhaps just a made-up term…
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.