WWE Hall of Famer to Donate Brain to CTE Research

The past few years have educated the wrestling world on concussion-related injuries. Specifically, research into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) has helped athletes all over the world understand the effects of such incidents as concussions on their body.

CTE is known to be a progressive degenerative disease often found due to repetitive brain trauma. This is consistent with athletes such as football players and, as you could imagine, wrestlers.

Christopher Nowinski, the co-founder and President of the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) was a guest on a recent edition of Busted Open Radio. During the show, Nowinski went into detail as to what the foundation does and what work they’ve been able to accomplish.

Before ever being involved in research, Nowinski was a finalist on Tough Enough many years ago. He debuted on TV for WWE in 2002 but was forced to retire late 2003 to early 2004 due to a post-concussion syndrome. In fact, Nowinski helped with the discovery of CTE and was the lead advocate for research on Chris Benoit’s brain after the incident back in 2007 that claimed several lives.

The segment was very emotional. WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, who is a co-host of the show, confirmed that he will be donating his brain when he passes away. He does this because he feels it can improve research into CTE and help athletes in the future.

As Wrestling Inc transcribe:

“I definitely want to go on record saying I am donating my brain to the brain bank. I hope that something good can come out of y’all having my brain, maybe it’ll help with figuring out how things work in the future that will be benefitting my kids and everybody else’s kids. Yeah. I know you (Chris) have a beautiful young baby girl and we always want the future to be better for our families.”

“I hope that people realize that this is something that is not weird. What would be hard I think would be what you just said: after someone nearly passes away, it is hard to ask their spouse for their brain for science. I am a donor, I hope that I can help somebody live if something tragically happened to me. This is another way that I’ll be able to give back when I’m gone.”

Henry has competed with WWE since 1996. Despite taking more of a backstage role in the past few years, he spent many of those during his tenure working as an active competitor. His impressive strength, as shown in the video below, is unmatched.

Unfortunately for Henry, being in such a position led to him receiving multiple concussions throughout his career. While now safely retired, it speaks volumes about his character that Henry would be willing to donate his brain for science.

Editor’s Note:

This is an incredible decision on his part. I think it is wonderful that he is doing that. The decision to offer body parts for research is always difficult- but if science can help save lives, it is worth it.

If you’d like to hear about the recent injury Asuka suffered, tap here.

Follow @SOSNH1995

Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page or Twitter account. Additionally, you can find me on Twitter at @SOSNH1995. We also want to remind you that we have a Newsletter you can sign up to. This will allow us to send you the best news in one place via an email.