Andrew “Test” Martin’s Death
Andrew “Test” Martin died on March 13th, 2009, at the age of 33 years old, less than a week from his 33th birthday. As of now, the cause of death is not released, but police say that foul play is not suspected.
Many wrestlers have died in the last 15 years, many of them too young. Martin’s death, however, strikes me as a bit different. Not because I was a big fan of his, but because Test began wrestling in 1997, and made his WWE [then WWF] debut in 1998. The year he started wrestling, Brian Pillman died; and the year he debuted in the WWF, Louie Spicolli died. During the early years of his career, Rick Rude and “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith both died of heart issues.
Of course, many other wrestlers and ex-wrestlers died over those few years, but those four are wrestlers that Test — just over four years older than myself — would have grown up watching as a teenager. When guys like this started dropping dead and you’re following them into their risk-filled career, wouldn’t you take some extra time and thought to reflect on what killed those men so young, and try extra-hard not to get there?
Here’s clips from an interview with Test in 2007, where he talked about how he didn’t want to be a victim of the wrestling lifestyle … a few months after being released from the WWE after failing one of their “Wellness” tests.