Steve Austin Shares His Controversial Take On CTE During “Mr. McMahon” Docuseries

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy typically referred to as CTE, is a disease that is caused by repeated trauma to the head. Therefore, all pro wrestlers are at risk of this, and following the Chris Benoit tragedy, which many feel was caused by brain trauma, the wrestling industry would look to reduce the risks by eliminating things like chair shots to the head. However, not everyone believes CTE is real, and now, while speaking about Chris Benoit on Netflix’s “ Mr. McMahon ” docuseries, Steve Austin has revealed he is among the skeptics.

“I worked for a long time, I got dropped on my head one time, I got concussed there. But other than that, I can’t remember having too many concussions in the business of pro wrestling. My take on that has always been if you’re just wrestling and you got a bunch of concussions, you’re probably doing something wrong. I’m not a CTE guy, I just don’t believe in it.”

For those unfamiliar with the heartbreaking Chris Benoit story, the Canadian went from being considered a great worker by those who followed the wrestling business closely to a bonafide WWE main eventer over several years. Yet his legacy was destroyed on June 25, 2007, when, following a welfare check, police found that he had killed himself, his wife Nancy, and their young son Daniel over a three-day period. Subsequently, it was discovered that Benoit was suffering from severe brain damage at the time, but he was still erased from WWE history, with his crimes too horrific to be forgiven under any circumstances.