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 from June
1973 to today. 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