Credit: Newsday.com
Prior to the WWE being honored by the Sports Legacy Institute, Christopher Nowinski spoke about his time with the company and more. Here are the highlights…
On His Time With WWE: “I started working with WWE back in 2001,” said Nowinski, who left pro wrestling in June 2003 after suffering daily headaches. “Back then, you know, concussions weren’t discussed much among the wrestlers. I didn’t understand how dangerous they were. No one across my athletic career had really taught me the right things. So I lied about my concussions. WWE, like everybody else, was following the guidelines that said it was OK to have people go back if the symptoms went away.”
On Working With Vince McMahon: “He let me know how proud he was [of SLI], how far the research had come, the influence we had in changing the culture in sports,” Nowinski said of McMahon. “And he really opened up the door to saying how could we work together, both to protect the talent in WWE, but it’s also ingrained that they’re supporting CTE research that will benefit athletes, military veterans and the world at large.”
