Former WWE Wrestler Calling for Change in the Business

The Sports Legacy Institute, which is co-chaired by Chris Nowinski, who played college football at Harvard and wrestled professionally for WWE (and whose wrestling career ended due to a concussion), studies the degenerative neurological condition these football players have experienced, which is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Through the study, Nowinski says his group will get an idea of the risk factors, how the disease progresses, the symptoms and potential treatments. He is also calling for change in the professional wrestling business:

"The idea of going off the top of the cage into the ring may actually be as stupid as it looks," Nowinski says. "You cannot slow down the trauma to your brain. Your brain absorbs a ton of trauma. Even if it's not concust, it's a high level of trauma that didn't used to exist in the wrestling industry."

Nowinski calls today's WWE "an extremely unsafe workplace."

"Everybody who got black lung going into the mines and died knew they were going into the mines," he says, "but they didn't know the full consequences.The only way to get real change is for the McMahons to get out of the business or for the federal government to come in and declare it an unsafe workplace."

source: the pitch