Snuka, Albano, and McGraw all partied long before Jeff Hardy did

I’m not sure how many of you follow TNA wrestling, but Jeff Hardy sounds like he’s a mess these days. He was a mess during his time in the WWE, too.

Hardy isn’t the only pro wrestler seemingly on top of the world who has spun out of control. The 1980s WWF scene had some memorable instances of people getting drunk, high, or worse.

Perhaps the most notable example is Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who allegedly was strung out on drugs during his early ‘80s heyday and was allegedly involved in a mysterious incident in which his girlfriend ended up dead. The matter was extensively chronicled by journalist Irv Muchnick in his eye-opening 1992 article, “Superfly Snuka and the Groupie.”

Meanwhile, Captain Lou Albano was well-known was for being drunk during some of his performances, a bad habit that stretched back to the 1970s when Vince McMahon’s father, Vince, Sr., was in charge of the then-WWWF.

And the demons got particularly tragic for “Quick Draw” Rick McGraw, who was a fiery, upper-tier prelim wrestler who died in 1985 of a heart attack, after years of alleged drug abuse. He was only 31.

Just like any entertainment or sports genre, there are guys and gals who will party too hard, and there are people who mess up and still get chance after chance because they are stars. But the one thing pro wrestling doesn’t need right now is another dead competitor.

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