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There’s no denying that WWE’s influx of second generation stars are some of the most promising performers to come along in the past 5 years, and the prodigal sons that are yet to hit the main stage, or who have no interest in the business, are still successful in their own right. However there appears to be a negative undertone affecting the crop of “juniors” and the strain that growing up with a wrestling father brings seems to be taking its toll.

Full of talent, but will it last?

Perhaps the most famous generational star of the modern era is the 3rd gen Randy Orton, who has cemented himself as arguably the top heel on Raw. The 4 time main title holder leads the “Legacy” of which the rest of the second generation hopefuls follow, but it wasn’t all plain sailing for Cowboy Bob’s bundle of joy. Prior to following in daddy’s footsteps Orton was part of the United States Marine Corps, but left after receiving a bad-conduct discharge, ultimately having to spend 38 days in military prison. Wrestling seemed like a good option for the young man.

“After my time in the Marine Corps didn’t work out I knew that I had an opportunity to wrestle.So I figured I’d try it out,” Orton told the Portuguese press last year.

But the same attitude that caused him problems in the military followed him in to wrestling, and it wasn’t long before stories and rumors began popping up about Orton’s immature antics. Praying on Divas, shitting in bags, destroying hotel rooms and berating staff are just a few of the things Orton has been accused of, not forgetting his naming and shaming in Sports Illustrated for steroid use. His dirty backstage laundry only recently seems to have died down, unless you count riding a motorcycle without protection just days after passing the test as foolish. He did of course end up re-breaking his collar bone as a result.

Orton seems to have settled down from his younger days

Growing up around wrestling and being influenced by the veterans may be a double edged sword, especially with party boy Ric Flair as your mentor. “Before I was married, before I was with my wife, I was traveling with Ric Flair and women were everywhere. It was crazy,” said Orton in a recent ESPN interview. Only time will tell if he really has grown out of his crazy younger years now that he is settled with his wife, and if his recent feud with Hunter is a sign of things to come, then we have a legend in the making.

Reid ready to wrestle

Speaking of Flair as Randy’s role model, his actual son Reid has had his fair share of issues just lately, including having his license revoked after driving while impaired, only to be pulled over a few months later impaired once again, but this time alarmingly in possession of Heroin! We don’t necessarily know if the drugs were his, but the 21 year old faces felony charges. The Nature Boy’s own vehicular problems are well known, and were even spoofed by Edge on Raw in 2005, although not even Naitch has been known to party with anything quite as hard as heroin. As fans we all hope everything turns out ok, because if Reid ends up with just a smidgen of his father’s talent we’re in for a treat. But as Flair Sr. says “Reid had a lot of growing up to do”, and if he doesn’t clean up his act WWE won’t be giving him a contract, no matter who his father is.

Reid ready for jail

Saying that though, having your father’s cloud of success hanging over your career and not yet having the talent they do must be something hard to deal with; for Reid and everybody else. Nobody want’s to be the boring sequel to a classic movie. “You’ve had a bad day, some guy is wiping your face in the mat, people are yelling, ‘That’s Ricky Steamboat’s son!’ That gets old…” said Richie Steamboat in a recent interview with the Charlotte Observer.

Richie Steamboat with his pop

Orton has far surpassed the broken arm days of Cowboy Bob, but somebody yet to reach the fame of his father, despite having the opportunity is former Legacy member Manu, who only had a cup of coffee in the WWE. His legendary Hall of Fame father, Afa The Wild Samoan, along with tag partner brother Sika were a huge part of Vince’s early WWF days, capturing the tag belts and feuding with the world champ Bob Backlund. In fact the whole contingent of Samoans include mega star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Rikishi, who main evented for a short period, Yokozuna, who was a main player in the 90s and Umaga, who is a midcard star right now. There’s no question that Manu can get it done in the ring, but that’s not enough when your family is full of stars. It can only be disheartening for the rookie having to be compared to Umaga, when if given the chance he could probably succeed under his own merit.

Not quite his father

That being said, Afa Jr. is far from just being the poor victim of a star studded family, and has brought a lot of the negativity on himself. Before signing with WWE he was involved in a serious crime. His story was that he picked up some acquaintances in the early hours to hang out and they asked if he would drop them off at a house whilst they attended to some business. It turned out that business was robbing and stabbing an old lady before making away with $15,000 in cash and jewelery. Manu, who was implicated as the getaway driver was given two years probation. He was only 18 at the time and appeared to clean his life up by entering the wrestling business, but he’s still been haunted by headlines, including trying to cheat a Wellness Policy urine test by using a prosthetic penis pump, aka the Wizzinator! It didn’t stop if from being called up to the main roster, but with a watered down Umaga body and Indy worker look the Samoan offspring didn’t last long. Rumor has it Orton himself helped kick him out of the Legacy stable because he didn’t have the chiseled good looks that the rest posses.

Manu doesn’t have to be mini Umaga

Whereas Afa’s run in with the law happened during his unknown Indy days, one kid that couldn’t avoid the press was baby Hulkster Nick Hogan. Nick has never expressed interest in joining the wrestling business and it would be impossible for him to reach the heights that his father has, but whether the second generation are in to wrestling or not, trouble still seems to find them.

Reality sets in

Nick’s first publicized driving offense came on September 17, 2006, when he was stopped twice driving between Miami and Tampa; as if once wasn’t enough. The star struck officer only warned him the first time, but the second time he was booked going 115 mph in a 70 mph zone! He was later caught bragging about it in Rides magazine, exaggerating that he was he was driving 123 mph in a 50 mph zone. In 2007 he picked up steam, receiving 4 more tickets. Alarm bells should have been ringing that the silver spooned fed idiot was a hazard to other motorists, but it took the well hyped August 2007 crash that put his close friend John Graziano in a coma before the authorities decided to do anything. What ensued has been months of Hogan drama, with TMZ taking it from both ends and enjoying it. Nick Hogan is the epitome of “rich kid”, somebody that has no idea how the real world works because his father’s money and fame have kept him coddled.

Not so mini, mini-Bulldog

Somebody else with a high profile father is WWE developmental talent DH Smith. Whereas Hogan was known as a showman, the British Bulldog was more often than not perceived as a great worker by the fans, especially with his ties to the legendary Hart family. However one of the more documented aspects of the Bulldog’s career was his constant abuse of steroids; from his early days in Stampede and with Dynamite Kid, to his latter days in the WWF. In fact instead of getting off the juice during McMahon’s first steroid trial he simply left for WCW. It was no surprise to those inside the business that Davey Boy died of a heart attack due to years of abuse, but what was more surprising is that his son DH Smith, having learned nothing from his father’s mistakes was suspended for Wellness Policy violations just weeks in to his main roster debut on Raw.

So what causes all of these talented athletes to go off the rails? We can only speculate. But it could be the indirect fault of their father’s. As much as growing up with a wrestler as a father allows you to learn what it takes to succeed in the business, it may also teach you the negatives of the business.

I say growing up with a wrestler as a father, but it should really be growing up without a father. The schedule isn’t as grueling as it used to be, but when these new stars were kids, their fathers were on the road for the majority of the year, leaving the mothers to pick up the slack. So there’s the lack of a stern father figure in the home, the fact that they have to deal with the stigma of “having a phony wrestling father” growing up (echoed in Bret Hart’s book) and the problems that arise from being spoiled wealthy from their dad’s success and the fame it brings. There are just as many rich kids in rehab than there are ghetto children, if not more.

You also have to look at it from a young person’s perspective. We all get drunk, do stupid things and make bad decisions, it just so happens that these kids are scrutinized by the media and live a lifestyle surrounded by women, party animals and the requirement to drive ALL the time; to hotel, to show, to airport. The best of people are going to make a mistake once in a while, especially in the testosterone and ego filled world of muscle-clad frat boys. If I was in Florida, looked like a bodybuilder, was almost a local celebrity and was surrounded by future Divas there’s no telling what I’d do. And when you get called up, you only get more famous.

Development territory or night club?

Getting called up to the main roster also brings its own problems. You may think it’s ironic that the young guys who are just getting a chance are failing Wellness tests, but the competition is fierce and you need to look your absolute physical best to get noticed. Nobody forces steroids down wrestlers throats, but when guys like Batista, Cena, Triple H and Randy Orton are on top, it definitely screams “bulk up to be a mega star”.

It’s not just these young wrestlers with wrestling lineages that have made bad decisions in their careers. Dustin Rhodes (brother of Cody) has had his issues, Mr Perfect Curt Hennig died from his. Rey Mysterio and Chavo Jr were named and shamed for steroid use, and nobody can forget the unfortunate death of Eddie Guerrero, who’s change of habits were too late to save his weakened system.

Animal’s son chose the pigskin over the ring

Whether it be James Laurinaitis (the son of Road Warrior Animal) tearing it up on the football field, or Richie Steamboat delivering an armdrag with dragon like precision, the next generation come from good stock, and its this stock that WWE sees. Far too often stars like Lesnar and Lashley up and leave, or wrestlers like Kozlov just don’t get it. With a second or third generation star the business is in their blood, and WWE can look past their personal mishaps and see the investment. The next few years should make for a great wrestling product as we see the veterans retire and the next generation take the limelight. Lets just hope the likes of Ted DiBiase Jr stick to the odd driving offense and don’t go off the rails permanently.

Thou shalt not drive whilst intoxicated