Wrestlers That
Have Passed Away
(In chronological order)
All of these wrestlers, managers, or associates of wrestling
will never be forgotten. This list is is chronological order . The list features only the
most famous wrestlers that have wrestled across the United States
- Frank Gotch (39)--December 16, 1917--Uremic
Poisoning
- Ed "The Strangler" Louis (76)--August 7,
1966--Died of Natural Causes
- Stanislaus Zbyszko (88) --September 23,
1967--Natural Causes
- Dory Funk, Sr.: June 3,
1973--Died in his home.
- Bobby Shane (Bob Schoenberger)--February 20,
1975--Died when the private airplane he was piloting crashed near Tampa, FL;
he was 40. Injured in the crash were wrestlers Buddy Colt, Austin Idol and
Playboy Gary Hart.
- Chris Taylor--June 30, 1979--Died of heart
failure after a long period of declining health.
- Edward "Bearcat" Wright--August 28,
1982--Died from sickle cell anemia
- David Von Erich--February 2, 1984--Died of
enteritis (acute inflammation of the intestine)
- Vince McMahon, Sr.: May 27, 1984--Died from
Cancer.
- Adrian Adonis: July 4,
1988--Died when a mini van drove off a cliff into a lake.
- Bruiser Brody--July 17, 1988--Stabbed to
death in a locker room fight with another wrestler.
- Haystacks Calhoun: December
7, 1989--Complications from diabetes.
- Dick the Bruiser--November 10, 1991--Died of
internal bleeding after rupturing a blood vessel while weight lifting.
- Buzz Sawyer--February 7, 1992--Died of a
drug overdose.
- Andre
The Giant: January
27, 1993--Died of a heart attack.
- Texas Tornado Kerry Von
Erich: February 18, 1993--Committed suicide.
- Dino Bravo: March 11,
1993--Died of gunshot wounds in his living room.
- Joey Marella (WWF
Referee/Gorilla Monsoon's Son): July 4, 1994--Died in
motorcycle accident.
- Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell--January 22,
1995--Died of complications from injuries sustained in a road accident.
- Big John Studd: March 20,
1995--Died of liver cancer.
- Ray Stevens--May 3, 1996--Died of heart
failure.
- Dick Murdoch--June 14, 1996--Died of heart
failure.
- Sapphire: September 10,
1996--Died from a heart attack.
- Dr. Bill Miller--March 24, 1997--Died of
heart failure.
- Stan Stasiak: June 12,
1997--Died from heart failure.
- Dick "Bulldog" Brower--September 15,
1997--Died of heart failure.
- Brian Pillman: October 5,
1997--Died from arteriosclerotic heart disease.
- Bobo Brazil: January 20,
1998--Died from complications from a stroke.
- Louie Spicolli: February 15,
1998--Died from arteriosclerotic heart disease caused by
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy syndrome.
- Junk Yard Dog: June 2,
1998--Died in a car accident after falling asleep at the
wheel.
- Sky Low Low [famous midget
wrestler]: November 9, 1998--heart failure.
- Shohei "Giant" Baba: January 31, 1999--Died of colon cancer.
- Rick Williams [Renegade in
WCW]: February 23, 1999--Died from suicide.
- Ravishing Rick Rude: April
20, 1999--Died from heart attack.
- Owen
Hart: May 23,
1999--Died from 50 foot fall from ceiling to ring.
- Brian Hildebrand (WCW Referee
Mark Curtis) (37)--September 8, 1999--Died after a two year
battle with stomach cancer.
- Gorilla
Monsoon (62)--October
5, 1999--Died from a heart attack.
- Bobby
Duncum, Jr (34)--January 24,
2000--Drug overdose.
- Gordon
Solie (71)July 27,
2000--Died from cancer.
- Toru Tanaka (70)--August 22,
2000--Died from a heart attack.
- Yokozuna
(34)--October 22, 2000--Died from
a heart attack.
- Johnny Valentine (72)--April 24, 2001--Natural
Causes.
- Tex McKenzie --May 31, 2001--Died of an
aortic aneurysm.
- Terry "Bam Bam"
Gordy (40)--July 16, 2001--Blood clot in the heart.
- Rhonda
Singh (40) --August 2, 2001--Drug
Overdose which caused a Heart Attack
- Blaise Alexander (WCW race
car driver) (25) --October 4, 2001--Complications from a head
injury received in a car race.
- "Gentleman" Chris
Adams (46)--October 7, 2001--Shot to death.
- Helen Hart--November 4,
2001--Complications from a seizure.
- Russ Haas (27)--December 15,
2001--Heart Attack.
- Wahoo McDaniels (63)--April 18,
2002--Died from complications from renal failure and
diabetes.
- Lou
Thesz (86)--April 28,
2002--Died from natural causes after heart surgery
earlier in the year.
- Randy Anderson (42)--May 5, 2002--Cancer
- Big Dick Dudley (36)--May 16, 2002--Kidney
failure
- "The
British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith
(39) --May 18, 2002--Died from a heart attack.
- Rocco Rock of Public
Enemy (49)--September 21, 2002--Heart Attack.
- "Mr.
Perfect" Curt Hennig
(44)--February 10, 2003--acute cocaine intoxication.
- Miss Elizabeth
(42)--May 1, 2003--Died from a combination of alcohol and
painkillers.
- "Classy" Freddie Blassie ((85)--June 2,
2003--Unknown
- Stu Hart (88)--October 16, 2003--Natural Causes
- Hawk [Michael Hegstrand] (46)-- October 19,
2003--Heart Attack
- Crash Holly
(32)--November
6, 2003--Drug overdose
- Larry "Moondog Spot" Booker (51)--November 29,
2003--Collapsed in the ring
- Malice/The Wall [Jerry Tuite] (37)--December 6,
2003--acute heart attack
- Jack Tunney (69)--January 24, 2004--Heart attack
- Hercules "Hernandez" (46)--March 6, 2004--Died in his sleep.
- James Dudley (93)-- June 1, 2004--Died of
natural causes.
- Ray "Big Bossman" Traylor
(41)--September
22, 2004--Heart failure.
- Chris Candido (33)--April 28, 2005--Blood clot
and complications due to surgery.
- Lord Alfred Hayes (76)--July 21,
2005--Complications from a series of strokes.
- Moondog King [Ed "Sailor" White
(56)]--August 26, 2005--Complications from car accident
- Eddie Guerrero (37)--November 13, 2005--Enlarged
heart due to years of drug use.
- Johnny Grunge of Public Enemy (39)--February 16,
2006--Complications from sleep apnea.
- John Tenta [Earthquake] (42)--June 7,
2006--bladder cancer.
- Bam Bam Bigelow [Scott Bigelow] (45)--January 19,
2007--Drugs.
- Mike Awesome (42)--February 17, 2007--Apparent
Suicide.
- Bad News Brown (63)--March 6, 2007--Heart Attack
- "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd (68)--March 10, 2007--Cancer
- "Sensational" Sherri (Martel) (49)--June 15,
2007--Accidental overdose.
- Nancy "Women" (Sullivan) Benoit
(43)--June 25,
2007--Strangulation. Died at home with Chris Benoit
and their son Daniel (Suffocation).
- Chris Benoit
(40)--June
25, 2007--Suicide by hanging
- Brian "Crush" Adams (43)--August 13,
2007--Overdose of prescription medications.
- The Missing Link (Dewey Robertson)
(68)--August 16, 2007--Died from cancer
- Fabulous Moolah (Lillian Ellison)
(84)--November 3, 2007--Complications due to surgery.
- Gary Hart (66) March 16, 2008-- Heart Attack
- Walter "Killer" Kowalski (81) August 30,
2008--Complications from heart attack
- S.D. Jones (63) October 26, 2008-- Stroke
- Andrew "Test"
Martin (33) March 13, 2009--accidental overdose of Oxycodone.
- "Playboy" Buddy Rose (56) April 28, 2009--natural
causes
- Capt Lou
Albano (76) October 14, 2009--natural causes
- Umaga (36) December 4, 2009--Heart Attack
- Dr. Death Steve Williams (49) December 29,
2009--throat cancer.
- Ludvig Borga (47) January 10, 2010--suicide.
- Chris "Kanyon" Klucsaritis (40) April 3,
2010--apparent suicide
- Lance Cade (29) August 13, 2010--Apparent
Heart Failure.
- General Skandor Akbar (75)--unknown
- Luna Vachon (48) August 27, 2010--Unknown.
- Bastian Booger (53) September 12,
2010--Heart Attack.
- Giant Gonzales (44) September 22,
2010--Kidney Failure
- Randy "Macho Man" Savage (58) May
20, 2011--Car accident caused by a heart attack.
- Doug Furnas (50) March 2, 2012--heart disease.