May 27, 2019 Observer Newsletter: Death of Ashley Massaro, Double or Nothing preview

Ashley Massaro, the winner of the 2005 WWE Diva Search, passed away on 5/16 after hanging herself.

Massaro, who had battled depression for years, was 39. In a 2017 affidavit when being party to a lawsuit against the company, she claimed she was raped and sodomized while doing a public relations tour of military bases while working for WWE in 2007, which she was told to keep quiet about, a charge WWE has denied in the past and did again this past week..

Depression is a much larger issue in society than most truly understand. For a number of reasons, it is very strong in pro wrestling, as well as other forms of entertainment, due to the extreme highs involved in performing and fleeting nature of fame and the pressure on performing. Concussions likely exacerbate such issues, but it is a major part of society and entertainment in places where head trauma doesn’t exist. Most don’t talk about it publicly, due to the stigma, but many, such as Mauro Ranallo and A.J. Mendez (A.J. Lee) have been very outspoken on the subject.

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