Christy Hemme Releases Paper on Occupational Risk To Pro Wrestlers And Questions Worker Classification

Former WWE and TNA wrestler and TNA producer Christy Hemme recently released an 11-page research paper about the occupational risk and structure of pro wrestling and her issues with the classification of wrestlers as independent contractors.

In her abstract or summary, Hemme detailed the purpose of her paper and it being based on a dataset of 500 recorded wrestlers who died before the age of 65.

This paper examines long-term health patterns and worker classification in professional wrestling. It draws on a dataset of 500 recorded premature wrestler deaths under age 65, published mortality research, and publicly available industry data. The paper considers cardiovascular and neurodegenerative health concerns, the independent-contractor model, healthcare support, performer compensation, and bargaining power. Its purpose is not to establish individual causation, but to identify recurring patterns and examine whether stronger long-term health and labor protections for professional wrestlers warrant further consideration.

In her paper, Hemme wrote that a 2014 study and a 2026 retrospective study of WWE wrestlers that was co-authored by Reidar Lystad had found that wrestlers die from neurodegenerative diseases at a rate of around 68% higher than that of the general public.

Hemme also linked the issue of repeated hits to the head to heart problems and quoted cardiologist Michael Tempelof, who says concussions disrupt the autonomic nervous system, a part of the brain that regulates heart rate and blood pressure.

In her paper, Hemme believes that head trauma has been an added factor to heart-related deaths for pro wrestlers. Other issues stated to be contributing to this includes lack of sleep, frequent travel, chronic stress, drug and alcohol use, and pressure to perform even while injured.

In her paper, 142 out of the 500 deaths she recorded were categorized as cardiac deaths, which was the largest single category of cause of death.

Hemme also complied data related to crowdfunding for wrestlers, both before or after their deaths, to show how wrestlers rely on the generosity of the wrestling community rather than on any health or life insurance benefits or other polices provided by the wrestling companies they performed for.

In regards to the changes needed to better improve the well-being of pro wrestlers, Hemme’s paper named the fundamental issues within the wrestling business in regards to worker classification, worker organization, and compensation. Hemme believes that this is something that need to change to better address wrestlers’ occupational risks in the industry.