Bruce Prichard Opens Up About Drugs Wrestlers Were Taking In The 80’s

The legends of pro wrestling echo throughout time. Although the business has changed greatly, there used to be an inherent culture of drugs in pro wrestling.

A lot of the drug consumption was a matter of working or not being able to make the rigorous old-school schedule. On a recent episode of Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard opened up about the climate of drug abuse that took place during the 1980’s in WWE.

“People ask you about the drugs and the lifestyle of a professional wrestler back in the day,” Bruce Prichard said. “And I hate to say drugs were a necessity but they were an everyday part of our life because you took something to get up, and then you took something to keep going, and then at the end of the night you needed something to wind yourself back down to get a couple of hours of sleep to get up in the morning and take something else to do it all over again. It became a vicious cycle.”

When Bruce was asked by co-host Conrad Thompson exactly what drugs were used on a regular basis Prichard went into detail about what the drugs of choice were in pro wrestling.

“Oh, take a handful of ephedrine [to get going in the morning], handful of speed, caffeine, take a ton of ephedrine. Some guys snorted cocaine.”

Prichard said they would take the same energy enhancing drugs to get going for a workout and to get ready for a match.

“A lot of ephedrine, those white crosses. Those things the truckers always took, a lot of that going on. A lot of speed […] After the matches man, yeah you go grab a beer, maybe take some muscle relaxers, painkillers, smoke a few joints and you gotta wind down and relax.”

Conrad mentioned in the 1990’s a lot of people were taking somas and he asked Bruce Prichard what the equivalent would have been in the 80’s.

“Probably pain pills. Percocet […] Vicodin came a little bit after that, Vicodin probably came around in the 90’s,” Bruce replied. “But Percocet was a big one, meanie greenies (Asenlix). It’s funny I was with a gentleman from the Major League Baseball last night and I was talking to him about similar about what we’re talking about now. And he went through the list of the ballplayers — no s—, same conversation you and I are having right now. But him talking about meanie greenies and Quaaludes and the old drugs from the late 70’s and 80’s that we did and that was a way of life. Whatever was in vogue at the time, whatever would help ale you, man.”

When Conrad Thompson asked him what people used to take to get them to sleep at night, Bruce told him people used to take halcion.

Later on Bruce was asked if he could name one wrestler during that time period who didn’t do any kind of drug and he said One Man Gang was an example of someone who stayed totally clean. Prichard said there were others that didn’t do any kind of drugs, but on the average there were more using drugs than not.

Bruce said taking the drugs was a choice. He said in his instance he saw that if he took something to make him feel better, then he took it.

If you use any portion of the quotes in this article please credit Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard with a H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription.