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.
- Paul Orndorff (71)--July 12, 2021. Died from unknown
causes.
- Bobby Eaton (62)--August 4, 2021. Died in his sleep.
- Daffney (46)--September 1, 2021. Died from apparent
suicide.
- Dave Hebner (73)--June 17, 2022. Died after suffering
from an illness.
- Tim White (68)--June 19, 2022. Died from health issues.
- "Superstar" Billy Graham--May 17, 2023. Died from Sepsis
and multiple organ failure.