Wrestlers That Have
Passed Away
(In chronological order)
All of these wrestlers,
managers, or associates of wrestling will never be forgotten.
- 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)--Prostate cancer.
- Luna Vachon (48) August 27,
2010--Drug overdose.
- 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.
- Brad Armstrong (51) November 1, 2012--Medical
distress
- Paul Bearer (58) March 5, 2013--Heart attack
- Doink the Clown [Matthew Osborne] (55) June 28,
2013 --Drug overdose
- Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon (84) November 21, 2013
-- Natural Causes
- Mable (Nelson Frazier, Jr.) (43) February 18,
2014--Heart attack.
- The Ultimate Warrior (54) April 8, 2014--Heart
attack.
- Lee Marshall (64) April 27, 2014--Esophageal
cancer.
- Sean O'Haire (43) September 8, 2014--Suicide.
- Jimmy Del Ray (52) December 6, 2014--Injuries
from a truck accident earlier that day.
- Dusty Rhodes (69) June 11, 2015--Complications
from a fall.
- Buddy Landel (53) June 22, 2015--Died from
complications from a car crash.
- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (61) July 31, 2015--Died
from a cardiac arrest.
- Nick Bockwinkel (80) November 14, 2015. Died
from unknown causes.
- "Iron" Mike Sharpe (66) January 17, 2016. Died
from unknown causes.
- Blackjack Mulligan (73) April 7, 2016. Died
from unknown causes.
- Balls Mahoney (Jonathan Rechner) (44) April 12,
2016 Died from unknown causes.
- Chyna (Joanie Laurer) (45) April 20, 2016. Died
from an overdose of drugs and alcohol.
- Jimmy Snuka (James Smith) (73) January 15,
2017. Died from stomach cancer.
- George "The Animal" Steele (William Myers) (79)
February 17, 2017. Died from kidney failure.
- Nicole Bass (52) February 17, 2017. Died of a
heart attack.
- Ivan Koloff (74) (Oreal Perras) February 18,
2017. Died from liver cancer.
- Ron Bass (68) (Ronald Heard) March 7, 2017.
Complications from a burst kidney.
- Rosey (47) (Matt Anoa'i) April 17, 2017. Died
from congestive heart failure.
- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (72) September 17,
2017. Organ failure due to cancer.
- Johnny Valiant [Luscious Johnny V] (71) April
4, 2018. Hit by a car while crossing the street.
- Bruno Sammartino (82) April 18, 2018. Organ
failure.
- Leon "Vader" White (63) June 18, 2018.
Complications from pneumonia
- Nikolai Volkoff (70) July 29, 2018. Causes
unknown
- Brian Christopher (46) July 29, 2018. Suicide.
- Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart (63)--August 13, 2018.
Fatal fall.
- Jose Lothario (83)--November 6, 2018.
- The Dynamite Kid [Tom Billington]
(60)--December 5, 2018.
- Larry "The Axe" Hennig (82)--December 6, 2018.
Kidney failure.
- "Mean" Gene Okerlund (76)--January 2, 2019.
Injuries from a fall.
- Pedro Morales (76)--February 12, 2019.
- King Kong Bundy (63)--March 4, 2019. Died from
complications from diabetes.
- Ashley Massaro (39)--May 16, 2019. Died from
suicide.
- Harley Race (76)--August 1, 2019. Died from
lung cancer.
- Rocky Johnson (75)--January 15, 2020.
- Howard Finkel (69)--April 16, 2020. Died from a
pulmonary embolism.
- "Bullet" Bob Armstrong (80)--August 27,
2020. Died from bone cancer.
- Pat Patterson (79)--December 2, 2020.
Died of liver failure from a blood clot.
- Brodie Lee / Luke Harper (41)--December 26,
2020. Died from a non-COVID lung issue.
- Butch Reed (66)--February 5, 2021. Died from
heart complications.