Former WWE Star Luther Reigns Recovering from Stroke in Glendale

Although the symptoms of Matthew Wiese's stroke are typical, the events that led to it are anything but. Known to wrestling fans as Luther Reigns, Wiese performed in sold-out arenas across the country as one of World Wrestling Entertainment's biggest stars for nearly two years.

It sounds like a dream come true for any aspiring pro wrestler, but for Wiese, it was also a period marked by tremendous physical pain and drug abuse, which he said was exacerbated by a culture of steroid and painkiller abuse that led to the debilitating stroke he experienced in December.

"We wrestled every night, damn near every night," Wiese said. "We were beat to hell. So we needed pain pills to do our job."

In addition to the 40 to 50 pain pills he took each day, Wiese said, he was on steroids, a habit he carried over from his time at ASU and his stint in the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization. His addiction continued after he retired from the WWE to manage his girlfriend's acting career. The years of drug abuse caught up to him when he suffered the stroke at his home last year...More?

source: azcentral.com