I cannot remember a time when I didn’t watch pro wrestling. My dad and grandfather used to watch it all the time and I was enamored by the wrestlers on the TV screen.

As many people my age, I grew up in the age of Hulkamania. I always wanted him to win, but that character got old. I found myself liking “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant and Junk Yard Dog. I think that is when I legitimately fell in love with wrestling and not just the festival around Hulk Hogan.

The life of a professional wrestler is difficult. The road isn’t kind and bad habits can take over one’s life.

As the years went by, I’ve started seeing all my favorite WWE, WWF, WCW & ECW wrestlers die off at an alarming rate. I often wondered how they died. I made this list for those who are fans of wrestling and are interested in how their favorite wrestler passed away.

“Adorable” Adrian Adonis – 1988 – Car Accident

Andre the Giant – 1993 – Heart Attack

Ashley Massaro – 2019 – Suicide

Axl Rotten – 2016 – Drug Overdose

Bad News Brown – 2007 – Heart Attack

Balls Mahoney – 2016 – (Unknown at this time)

Bam Bam Bigelow – 2007 – Drug Overdose

Bastion Booger/Norman – 2010 – Heart Attack

“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton – 2021 – Currently Unknown

Bertha Faye – 2001 – Drug Overdose

Big Boss Man – 2004 – Heart Attack

Big Van Vader – 2018 – Heart Issues

Big John Studd – 1995 – Liver Cancer & Hodgkin’s Disease

Blackjack Lanza – 2021 – Natural Causes

Blackjack Mulligan – 2016 – Natural Causes

Bobby “The Brain” Heenan – 2017 – Cancer

Bobo Brazil – 1998 – Stroke

Brad Armstrong – 2010 – Medical Distress

Brian Pillman – 1997 – Heart Disease

Brian Christopher – 2018 – Suicide

Brickhouse Brown – 2018 – Cancer

“British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith – 2002 – Heart Attack

Brodie Lee/Luke Harper – 2020 – Lung Failure

Bruiser Brody – 1988 – Stabbed to death

Bruno Sammartino – 2018 – Currently Unknown

Bullet Bob Armstrong – 2020 – Cancer

Captain Lou Albano – 2009 – Heart Attack

Chavo Guerrero Sr. – 2017 – Liver Cancer

Chief Jay Strongbow – 2012 – Fall at home

Chief Wahoo McDaniels – 2002 – Diabete

Chris Adams – 2001 – Shot to death

Chris Benoit – 2007 – Suicide

Chris Duffy – 2006 – Seizure

Chris Kanyon – 2010 – Suicide

Chyna – 2016 – Accidental Overdose

“Classy” Freddie Blassie – 2003 – Natural Causes

Corporal Kirchner – 2021 – Heart Attack

Crash Holly – 2003 – Drug Overdose

Crush (Brian Adams) – 2007 – Suspected Steroids Overdose

Daffney Unger – 2021 – Suicide

Danny Hodge – 2020 – Possible Dementia Related

Dick Murdoch – 1996 – Heart Failure

Dick the Bruiser – 1991 – Ruptured Blood Vessel

Dick Slater – 2018 – Long-term health deterioration

Dino Bravo – 1992 – Murdered with gun

Doink the Clown (Matt Borne) – 2013 – Accidental Overdose

Dominic DeNucci – 2021– Natural Causes

“Dr. Death” Steve Williams – 2009 – Throat Cancer

Dusty Rhodes – 2015 – Stomach Cancer

Dynamite Kid – 2019 – Long-term Effects from Strokes

Earthquake/Golga – 2006 – Bladder Cancer

Eddie Guerrero – 2005 – Heart Failure

Ernie “The Cat” Ladd – 2007 – Cancer

Fabulous Moolah – 2007 – Natural Causes

George ‘The Animal’ Steele – 2017 – Unknown

Giant Baba – 1999 – Colon Cancer

Giant Gonzales/El Gigante – 2010 – Diabetes

Gorilla Monsoon – 1999 – Heart Attack

Hana Kimura – 2020 – Suicide

Harley Race – 2019 – Lung Cancer

Hayabusa – 2016 – Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Hercules Hernandez – 2004 – Heart Disease

Howard Finkel – 2020 – Stroke Complications

‘Iron’ Mike Sharpe – 2016 – Unknown

Ivan Koloff – 2017 – Liver Disease

Jack Brisco – 2010 – Died during Open Heart Surgery

Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart – 2018 – Seizure

Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka – 2017 – Cancer

Joey Marella – 1994 – Car Accident

Johnny Grunge – 2006 – Steroid Overdose

Johnny Valiant – 2018 – Car Accident (Hit By Truck)

Jose Lothario – 2018 – Natural Causes

Junkyard Dog – 1998 – Car Accident

Kamala – 2020 – Possible COVID-19 Complications

Kerry Von Erich/Texas Tornado – 1993 – Suicide

Killer Kowalski – 2008 – Heart Attack

King Kong Bundy – 2019 – Undisclosed

La Parka (Jr) – 2020 – Spine Injury

Lance Cade/Garrison Cade – 2010 – Heart Failure

Larry ‘The Axe’ Hennig – 2018 – Kidney Failure

Lord Alfred Hayes – 2005 – Stroke

Lou Thesz – 2002 – Natural Causes

Ludvig Borga – 2010 – Suicide

Luna Vachon – 2010 – Drug Overdose

Mabel/Viscera/Big Daddy V – 2014 – Heart Attack

“Macho Man” Randy Savage – 2011 – Car Accident

Mad Dog Vachon – 2013 – Natural Causes

Mae Young – 2014 – Natural Causes

Mariana/Miss Cleavage – 2004 – Breast Cancer

Masa Saito – 2018 – Parkinson’s Disease

Matt Cappotelli – 2018 – Brain Cancer

“Mean” Gene Okerlund – 2019 – Kidney Disease

Mike Awesome – 2007 – Suicide

Mike Bell – 2008 – Heart Attack from huffing Dust-Off

Miss Elizabeth – 2003 – Alcohol & Painkiller Overdose

Mitsuharu Misawa – 2009 – Died in ring from heart attack

“Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig – 2003 – Cocaine Overdose

“Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff – 2021 – Possible Dementia Related

Mr. Wrestling II ‘Johnny Walker’ – 2020 – TBD

New Jack – 2021 – Heart Attack

Nick Bockwinkel – 2015 – Unknown Illness

Nicole Bass – 2017 – Heart Attack

Nikolai Volkoff – 2018 – Heart Issues

Owen Hart – 1999 – Died from 50-foot fall

Ox Baker – 2014 – Heart Attack

Pampero Firpo – 2020 – Undisclosed

Pat Patterson – 2020 – Cancer

Paul Bearer – 2013 – Blood Clot

Paul Jones – 2018 – Currently Unknown

Pedro Morales – 2019 – Parkinson’s Disease

Perro Aguayo – 2019 – Infarction

Perro Aguayo Jr. – 2015 – Cervical Spine Trauma in Ring

“Playboy” Buddy Rose – 2009 – Natural Causes

Rad Radford/Louie Spicolli – 1998 – Heart Disease

Rene Goulet – 2019 – Undisclosed

Rick Bognar (Fake Razor Ramon) – 2019 – TBD

Rick Rude – 1999 – Heart Attack

Road Warrior Animal – 2020 – Heart Attack

Road Warrior Hawk – 2003 – Heart Attack

Rocco Rock – 2002 – Heart Attack

Rockin’ Rebel – 2018 – Alleged Murder/Suicide

Rocky Johnson – 2020 – Heart Attack

Rollberball Rocco – 2020 – TBD

Rosey – 2017 – Suspected Congestive Heart Failure

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper – 2015 – Heart Attack

S.D. Jones – 2008 – Stroke

Scott Hall – 2022 – Complications from Hip Surgery

Sean O’Haire – 2014 – Suicide

“Sensational” Sherri Martel – 2007 – Drug Overdose

Shad Gaspard – 2020 – Drowning

Silver King – 2019 – Heart Attack In Ring

Skip/Chris Candido – 2005 – Blood Clot

Steven Dunn – 2009 – Blood Clot

Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy – 2001 – Blood Clot

Test (Andrew Martin) – 2009 – Drug Overdose

‘The Assassin’ Jody Hamilton – 2021 – Natural Causes

“The Natural” Butch Reed – 2021 – COVID-19/Heart

“The Patriot” Del Wilkes – 2021 – Heart Attack

The Wall (Jerry Tuite) – 2003 – Heart Attack

The Ultimate Warrior – 2014 – Cardiovascular Disease

Tom Zenk – 2017 – Enlarged Heart

Tracy Smothers – 2020 – Cancer

Umaga/Jamal – 2009 – Heart Attack

Verne Gagne – 2015 – Natural Causes

Villano III – 2018 – Cerebral Infarction

Yokozuna – 2000 – Heart Attack

Zeus – 2020 – COVID-19

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.