Arn Anderson Discusses Lingering Effects Of Chair Shots To The Head

In recent times, it has come to light that in any sport, but specifically prevalent in professional wrestling and football, shots to the head can cause long-term brain damage. CTE and its effects have become more well known to the mainstream media and everyday person, with deaths of certain wrestlers raising major red flags. Unprotected chair shots to the head were once commonly used by wrestlers to try and win matches — however, those same chair shots to the head have been proven to be a detriment to many wrestlers' later lives. WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson discussed his thoughts on chair shots to the head and what that has resulted in for some wrestlers.

"Hitting somebody in the head with a steel chair, you can't, you can't mask it," Anderson said while on "ARN." "It's dangerous. We have learned that many of us later in life, you know, suffer memory issues and all of kinds of things from getting hit in the head with chairs ... We just didn't have the medical community stepping up."

Even though he has not stepped into a ring to compete since 2000, Anderson revealed that chair shots to the head have effected him, personally, in scary ways. "I have memory lapse," Anderson said. "I'll know what I'm fixing to ask you and I'll get all the way to the punchline, whatever the last word or two is and sometimes I draw a blank ... I don't leave the house and head to the grocery store and forget where I'm going ... As horrifying as that may sound, some people that we know very well do have it to that degree."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "ARN" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.