I recently saw the Mankind vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell match. A match that has it’s own wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankind_vs._The_Undertaker
From a Biological POV How is Mick Foley still alive after being thrown two stories with just a table to break his fall? He suffered “a concussion, a dislocated jaw and shoulder, bruised ribs, internal bleeding, puncture wounds, and several teeth knocked out.” And this is all in one match.
How do these pros go through so much damage without dying and usually having long careers? Is the Human Body really capable of taking so much damage?
In: 331
Mick Foley is a unique case; he was, more or less, a stuntman. That said, wrestlers have frequent time off for injuries. [There’s even a tracker for their injuries, started 4 years ago by some fan or something.](https://wrestletalk.com/stats/wwe-injury-tracker-injuries-expected-return-dates/)
There have been few actual deaths in pro wrestling, to my knowledge, and usually the deaths are the result of accidents. The Hell In A Cell match between Taker and Foley, for example, was unintentional in how barbaric it was, as noted in the Wikipedia.
But onto your actual question: how do they survive and have long careers?
The survival bit is somewhat easy to answer. [There are ringside physicians, physical therapists, and personal trainers for *each and every WWE athlete*.](https://recruit.wwe.com/about-wwe-pc#:~:text=Best%2Din%2Dclass%20sports%20medicine,time%20physical%20therapist%20while%20training) An injury in the WWE absolutely could set you back a long time. A large amount of superstars become addicted to pain killers. But they do have immediate care.
The second question, how do they have long careers: [the short is, they don’t. Here’s Hulk Hogan talking about how his body is completely destroyed.](https://wrestlingjunkie.usatoday.com/2023/06/29/hulk-hogan-says-he-should-have-quit-wrestling-after-20-years/) but the longer answer is: the big stars have less and less performance time, as they age. The Rock was still appearing in WWE matches while doing movies – extremely infrequently. John Cena was still doing WWE matches when he got his work in films – and he started becoming less active, as a result. By and large, pro wrestling goes on a case by case basis. If someone is injured, they’ll be given easy performances (or have a storied in excuse for their absence).
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