Wrestlers Who Don’t Drink Or Smoke

Sometimes, when people think about the wrestling world, they instantly go towards the rock and roll lifestyle. While that might have slowed down slightly now with video games and social media taking over what many wrestlers do in their own spare time, that wasn’t always the case. The likes of Ric Flair were notorious for partying and having a great time when they were on the road.

Even to this day, that still goes on. But certain wrestlers have no interest in that lifestyle, opting for a straight-edge way of living instead. While CM Punk brought that to the forefront of wrestling, he’s not the only person who lives that way. Just to be clear, Straight Edge is not entirely the same thing as not consuming drugs or alcohol. It is a section of punk culture that is about more than just that. For this list, however, we will include wrestlers who simply don’t consume drugs or alcohol.

UPDATE: 2024/04/20 11:30 EST BY BENJAMIN VIEIRA

The straight-edge lifestyle is something that has been prominent as a part of hardcore punk music. It is used to refer to abstaining from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. However, professional wrestling has also seen a number of top stars adopt that lifestyle as well. While CM Punk is probably the most famous name to advocate for the straight-edge movement in professional wrestling, there are countless names who have also adopted it. Some of them were even inspired by CM Punk. Some were inspired by other personal reasons.

Darby Allin Remains Clean In Honor Of Uncle

His Uncle Died Due To Drunk Driving

Darby Allin made it clear he is not only straight-edge, but he is drug-free. This can’t be easy for him, since he puts his body through intense pain in all of his matches, but Allin said that he doesn’t even take painkillers after his more brutal matches. Allin is one of AEW’s top stars and he does more to his body than anyone, putting himself through tables, ladders, and more – often by throwing himself into them.

However, Allin said he works hard on his body and knows when he needs to take time off, so he can survive without drugs. Allin follows in the footsteps of CM Punk, and it helps that he is teaming up with a former addict and current teetotaler in Sting while working for AEW. Allin not drinking or smoking might also have a lot to do with being in an accident when he was five, where his uncle died while driving under the influence (via Sports Illustrated).

“When I was five, my uncle was driving drunk. I was in the car with him. We crashed and he passed away. That’s why I have this ‘Nothing’s over ’til you’re underground’ tattoo on my chest … A lot of people think that’s why I’m straight edge, and to a degree it is. And it’s from watching close friends, some who were very talented in the world of skateboarding, blow their opportunities because of drugs or alcohol. I made a commitment to myself that, when I set out to do everything I wanted to do, I couldn’t blame it on drugs or alcohol.”

Kevin Owens Used His Clean Lifestyle In Stone Cold Feud

KO Hates Beer

Kevin Owens lives a clean life with no alcohol or drugs. At WrestleMania 38, Owens used his sober lifestyle in his feud against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Much like CM Punk years ago, Owens used his disdain for alcohol to mock Austin. Of course, this is WWE, so it was Austin who was able to get the win over the clean-living Owens, much to the fans’ delight.

Owens even responded to a fan on Twitter who asked about the “beer bath,” and Owens said that “beer is gross.” It likely helped to travel the roads as a young star with another non-drinker – Sami Zayn. This likely is what led to their close friendship over the years, as both are strong family men with few vices.

Matt Cross Said He Was Straight Edge Because Of Punk Rock

Multiple Bands Influenced His Lifestyle

Matt Cross isn’t a name that mainstream WWE fans would likely recognize. However, he is one of the top independent stars in the world and has been for almost two decades. Fans of Lucha Underground might remember him as Son of Havoc, as he held the Trios CHampionship there three times and was one of the most popular stars in the promotion.

What is impressive about Cross is that he lives a punk rock lifestyle, and he remains straight-edge and clean. He said that he never considered becoming straight-edge and instead, he just didn’t want to drink or do drugs, pointing to the influence of straight-edge punk bands like Minor Threat and Earth Crisis (via Always Be Rocking).

“When I was at these parties and said, ‘I don’t feel like drinking,’ someone told me about straight edge. ‘Oh, you’re straight edge,’” he said. “It wasn’t a set of rules that I molded my life to fit, they were things I already believed with a movement running parallel … I started reading the lyrics and they were kind of capturing that anger I was feeling at that time, especially with the whole ‘I don’t want to drink and everyone wants to do it,’ and it’s lame, in my opinion.”

Mick Foley Said Owen Hart Is The Only Person Who Partied Less Than Him

He Stopped Drinking As He Got Older

Mick Foley wrote in his books that there was only one person in WWE while he was an active wrestler who went out less with the boys than he did. That was Owen Hart, who never drank or smoked and hated drugs. Foley was not always that person, as he drank as a teenager, but as he got older, he moved away from it.

However, after arriving at WWE, Foley was no longer drinking and didn’t do drugs. He maintained a clean lifestyle, which he pointed out in his books, was one of the best choices he could have made while he worked in WWE.

Lee Moriarty Became Straight Edge Because Of CM Punk

The AEW Star Was Influenced By The Second City Saint

Lee Moriarty is a young star who came into his own in AEW. It was there that he met a returning CM Punk and decided he wanted to follow in the iconic wrestler’s footsteps. Moriarty appeared on the AEW Unrestricted podcast and said that living straight-edge is very important to him.

He pointed out that it is a positive lifestyle choice for him, but it is also something that gives his family peace of mind as well. He mentioned his parents were against him becoming a wrestler because of the drinking and drug use in the profession, but he wasn’t interested in that aspect and just wanted to remove anything from his journey that wasn’t essential to his career growth.

CM Punk Is The Prototypical Straight Edge Superstar

He Was The First Prominent Straight Edge Wrestler

With straight-edge wrestlers, CM Punk remains the most well-known. Punk turned the fact he is straight edge into a gimmick and embraced that within several storylines throughout his career. He used this mostly as a way to show his superiority over other wrestlers. It was most evident in his WWE feud with Jeff Hardy when he used Hardy’s addictive lifestyle against him.

He also had a faction called the Straight Edge Society. Punk being a top straight-edged wrestler is something that certainly helped increase his popularity as he appealed to a wide number of people. It was a unique element to him and the fact he embraced that only made him stand out even more.

The Young Bucks Showed Their Clean Living On Being The Elite

They Have Been Very Open About Not Doing Drugs

A two-for-one here, as both Nick and Matt Jackson are both totally straight-edge. The Young Bucks have been arguably one of the greatest tag teams of the last decade, but they haven’t been celebrating title victories with pints of beer.

The duo has often made it clear on BTE that they are drug-free, and that’s something that continues into all aspects of being a straight-edge wrestler. The duo lives their lives that way, and it’s certainly not stopping their success.

Kenny Omega Prefers Milk To Beer

The Best Bout Machine Celebrates With Chocolate Milk

Much like his fellow Elite members, Kenny Omega is also a straight-edge wrestler with no interest in partying and getting involved in that style of life. “The Cleaner” is happy with chocolate milk to celebrate his success, which clearly works for him. This was also shown in Omega’s successful tag team with Hangman Adam Page. While Hangman loves to drink some beer, Omega would celebrate with him by drinking milk, bringing back memories of Kurt Angle.

Omega spends a lot of his free time playing video games, which is clearly a huge passion for him. He’s incredibly talented at gaming and that’s where he finds his fun away from the ring, rather than at the bars with other wrestlers.

Sammy Guevara Is Another Straight-Edge AEW Star

Guevara Currently Has One Child With Tay Melo

Another member of the AEW roster who lives a straight-edge lifestyle is Sammy Guevara. He has had a breakout year since joining AEW, showcasing the talent that he has, and it’s clear that the “Spanish God” has a huge future in wrestling. Even though Chris Jericho released a little bit of the bubbly, Sammy always steered clear because of his straight-edge nature, which is something that AEW respected.

This also might have helped him find success in and out of the ring. AEW calls Sammy one of the pillars of the company, and he proved that with his TNT title reigns. He also found success in the Inner Circle and Jericho Appreciation Society, before joining the Don Callis Family and then moving back to Jericho’s side once again. Outside of the ring, Guevara has become a family man with his wife Tay Melo, and their newborn baby.

Sami Zayn Lives A Straight-Edge & Vegan Lifestyle

Zayn Follows His Religious Practices

Sami Zayn is another wrestler who lives a straight-edge lifestyle. A lot of his decisions are down to religious reasons, as a Muslim professional wrestler. However, he still steers away from it, which isn’t a simple thing to do in a world surrounded by those temptations.

Many wrestlers have suffered from drink and drug problems, but Sami, thankfully, won’t fall into those traps because of the choices that he makes with his life. On top of abstaining from alcohol and drugs, Sami is also a vegan and does everything he can to keep himself healthy.

Claudio Castagnoli Takes Great Care Of His Body

He Was Disgusted By Alcohol

Fans may remember the awkward bar scene in WWE where Cesaro and Sheamus sat together. The Celtic Warrior had a drink of some Guinness, while the Swiss Cyborg got a vodka martini that he later said was just water (via an episode of Ride Alone). Well, the reason for that is that Cesaro is straight-edge. Sheamushad a funny comment about the moment after the event where he said he was disappointed that Claudio never touched his pint (via Sportskeeda).

“We were sitting there so long I actually started drinking, and it was absolutely disgusting. But at the end of it, there’s a part where, like, we both do the ‘cheers’ and we drink the Guinness and Tony [Antonio Cesaro], Tony’s looking at it, like, I don’t know, like it’s a pint of puke. So if you look closely at it, he doesn’t even want to touch the stuff. So I was hoping Tony would get on the Guinness train, but no.”

The Viking Raiders Are Both Straight-Edge As Well

Erik Has Straight-Edge Tattooed On Himself

The Young Bucks are not the only tag team that lives a straight-edge lifestyle, as The Viking Raiders also live a clean lifestyle. The dominant WWE duo steers away from any drugs and alcohol for personal reasons, with Erik even having a straight-edged cross tattooed onto him.

The duo are more than happy doing their own thing and, while Ivar might enjoy devouring a turkey leg, he stays away from certain other temptations in life. This might seem surprising since they appeared to partake of a drink with the Street Profits when they were feuding, but the cups were, as expected, full of water and not alcohol.

Jerry Lawler Prefers Coca-Cola To Alcohol

He Has Always Chosen To Stay Away From Alcohol

Jerry “The King” Lawler has been involved in the wrestling industry for a very long time. He’s seen many big party animals throughout his career, but he has chosen not to drink or take drugs. While it was a very common pastime during his era in wrestling, it is one that never interested “the King”, and that is a personal choice he has admitted to being very proud of.

Instead of being someone who wants to drink alcohol, Lawler has developed a fondness for Coca-Cola. As a matter of fact, Lawler has a shrine to Coke in his in-home museum, along with his memorabilia of Elvis Presley and Superman.

Triple H Was Always The Clean & Sober Member Of The Kliq

He Was Always The DD

Because Triple H came through the wrestling world during a time when partying, drinking, and drugs were a major deal, it might shock people to learn he is straight edge. But that is certainly how The Game likes to live his life. Triple H stays away from alcohol, and he was always the designated driver for his Kliq buddies, which is one reason he first broke in with the group.

While there have been many photographs of Triple H with the members of WWE partying hard, Triple H never partook of alcohol at these events, even when his closest friends like Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall were two of the biggest partiers in the company.

Bryan Danielson Lives A Clean Life As Well

Danielson Has Been Very Open About His Lifestyle Choices

Bryan Danielson broke through in WWE alongside CM Punk as the next big star after him. The two had a parallel career, as both were major stars in Ring of Honor Wrestling before they made their way to WWE to become world champions there. But what many people might not know is that he is also a straight-edge wrestler, opting not to drink, smoke, or take drugs. They have briefly touched this on in episodes of Total Divas, as it’s clear he doesn’t love it when Brie Bella gets too drunk. But the reason for his decision is that his father battled with alcoholism, which put him off of it for life (via Inside the Ropes).

“If you want something that’s more on the emotional side, my dad struggled with alcoholism his entire life. That’s why I never drank or anything like that. That was something that I always really struggled with. William Regal, because he’s struggled with addiction in the past, helped me learn to love my dad without trying to change him.”

Danielson also lives a mostly vegan lifestyle, becoming one after he developed several medical conditions in 2009. While he does not adhere to this as much as his distaste for alcohol, he still keeps it up as much as possible for his health and well-being.