The Boston Globe reports that Johnathan “Balls Mahoney” Rechner and Brian “Axl Rotten” Knighton were suffering from CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) when they were alive. CTE is the current name for dementia pugilistica, a brain damage caused by concussions and shots to the head. This is the first time since 2009 that deceased wrestlers got diagnosed with the condition. The details were found in a postmortem examination, and it is said that the condition was in the “early stages” in Knighton’s brain. The article made a note that the former MMA fighter, Jordan Parsons, who died in a car accident, also had it.
CTE was discovered in former football player, Mike Webster, and gained more notice with Chris Benoit, after he murdered his family and committed suicide. Andrew “Test” Martin was diagnosed in 2009 after he died, though no other wrestler had been diagnosed with it since then. Both Rechner and Knighton, of course, were famous for taking chair shots to the head.
