Another pro wrestler dead

[GA Russell]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341285,00.html

<h1 class="head">Former WCW Wrestler Found Dead of Apparent Drug Overdose</h1> Tuesday, March 25, 2008

• E-Mail
  
• Print
  

• Share:
  • Digg
    
  • Facebook
    
  • StumbleUpon
    

  

Chase Tatum

ATLANTA — A former wrestler was found dead in his home after suffering an apparent accidental drug overdose, his father said.

Chase Tatum, 34, was found dead Sunday in his home in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, his father, Roy Tatum, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Chase Tatum used to wrestle for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization. More recently, he appeared in the comedy "Who's Your Caddy?" alongside rapper Big Boi of Outkast.

Chase Tatum had been recovering from back surgery to repair a degenerative disc. His father said the former wrestler had been fighting a dependence to painkillers for years but had been planning to enter a rehabilitation center.

"He was in the process of getting his life back together," Roy Tatum said Monday. "He was confident he was going to turn things around, to live a normal life again without those painkillers."

A toxicology report has been ordered by the Fulton County Medical Examiner, which will take about six to eight weeks, said Laura Salm, an investigator with the coroner's office.

/**/ Chase Tatum was 19 when he won the Mr. Georgia bodybuilding competition. He began a career as a personal trainer, which he continued until his death.

Chase Tatum's wrestling career was unplanned and short-lived.

One of his clients was a WCW personality who encouraged him to audition. Chase Tatum was accepted on his first try and debuted in 1999.

But his father advised his son against becoming a pro wrestler.

"How long can you last in that field?" Roy Tatum said. "They go in with their eyes closed, think they'll make some quick money and then get out."

Chase Tatum retired from wrestling after about two-and-a-half years. However, his brief wrestling career left him with severe back problems but without health insurance to pay for the surgery. Painkillers kept him going, his father said.

In addition to acting and wrestling, Chase Tatum also worked as a road manager and personal assistant for Outkast.

[Dan Gould]

IMO, the dirty secret of wrestling isn't the steroids, its the addiction to pain killers that comes after executing the risky bumps that wrestlers have to take in order to "get over".

[Michael Weiss]

I was once on a plane with Andre the Giant. He took up two seats in first class. His hand was dangling out into the aisle when I walked past and I swear his pinky was bigger than my big toe.

Hey Jim, remember Fritz Von Erich ("The Claw")?

[JSngry]

The Von Erich clan was...a sad story. Dysfunctional at best, and tragic no matter how you look at it.

Gotta ask though, just how big is your big toe that you find it unusual to find somebody with a pinkie finger that's larger than it?

[Michael Weiss]

Gotta ask though, just how big is your big toe that you find it unusual to find somebody with a pinkie finger that's larger than it?

Well let's see...(taking off shoe...placing pinkie over big toe....), in total mass I'd say the ratio is about 3:1

[JSngry]

Your big toe is 3X bigger than your pinkie finger?

DUDE!

[Noj]

[Michael Weiss]

Your big toe is 3X bigger than your pinkie finger?

DUDE!

Not in length! But about twice as wide.

[JSngry]

Oh...all right then!

[Chuck Nessa]

G'bye ex pro.

Sorry but my local paper is full of dead folks under 35. Many as the result of drugs and/or bad associations. This is the real america in the current century.

These are the folks Wal-Mart serves.

Edited March 26, 2008 by Chuck Nessa

[Shawn]

These are the folks Wal-Mart serves.

Not to mention employs...