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A most dangerous sport - early-death wrestlers

June 27th, 2007

Chris Benoit is the latest in a long line of pro wrestlers to meet an untimely demise. That he murdered his wife, Nancy Benoit, and their seven year old son (said to suffer from Fragile-X syndrome) only adds to the pro-wrestling premature-death body count.

Below is a list of dead wrestlers who have died or been killed before the age of 60.

Famous Wrestlers Who Have Died Before the Age of 60 (Since 1985) - Updated Aug 2008

Adrian Adonis (Keith Franke) - 34 (car accident)
Andre the Giant (André Roussimoff) - 46 (congestive heart failure)
Art Barr - 28 (unknown)
Bam Bam Bigelow (Scott Charles Bigelow) - 45 (drug toxicity)
Bertha Faye (Rhonda Singh) - 40 (drug overdose)
Big Boss Man (Raymond W. Traylor, Jr.) - 42 (heart attack)
Big Dick Dudley (Alex Rizzo) - 34 (kidney failure)
Big John Studd (John William Minton) - 46 (liver cancer)
Billy Joe Travis (William Joseph) - 40 (heart attack)
Bobby Duncum Jr. - 34 (drug overdose)
Brady Boone (Dean R. Peters) - 40 (car accident)
Brian Adams - 44 (inconclusive, possible prescription med overdose)
Brian Pillman (Flyin’ Brian) - 35 (arteriosclerotic heart disease)
Bruiser Brody (Frank Goodish) - 42 (stabbed to death)
Bulldog Brown (Robert Brown) - 58 (heart attack)
Buzz Sawyer (Bruce Woyan) - 32 (heart attack)
Chase Tatum - 34 (accidental drug overdose)
Chris Adams - 46 (shot)
Chris Benoit - 40 (suicide - hanging)
Chris Candido - 33 (blood clot)
Chris Von Erich (Chris Adkisson) - 21 (suicide - shooting)
Crash Holly (Mike Lockwood) - 32 (overdose)
Curt Hennig - 44 (cocaine intoxication)
D.J. Peterson - 33 (motorcycle crash)
Davey Boy Smith (The British Bulldog) - 39 (heart attack)
Dave Sheldon (”Angel of Death”) - 52 (Unknown)
Dick Murdoch - 49 (heart attack)
Dino Bravo (Adolfo Bresciano) - 44 (murdered)
Dr. Jerry Graham - 58 (stroke)
Earthquake (John Tenta) - 42 (bladder cancer)
Ed Gatner - 31
Eddie Gilbert - 33 (heart attack)
Eddie Graham (Edward Gossett) - 55 (suicide - shooting)
Eddie Guerrero - 38 (acute heart failure)
Gary Albright - 34 (heart failure - in the ring)
Gene Anderson - 58 (heart attack)
Gino Hernandez (Charles Wolfe) - 29 (officially, a cocaine overdose although initially thought murdered)
Greg Gillies (”Mr Gillis,” “Doby Gillis”) - 44 (Heart Attack)
Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) - 46 (heart attack)
Haystacks Calhoun (William Calhoun) - 55 (diabetes)
Hercules (Raymond Fernandez) - 45 (heart disease)
Jay Youngblood (Steven Romero) - 30 (ruptured spleen)
Jeep Swenson (Robert Swenson, Jr.) - 40 (heart failure)
Jerry Blackwell - 45 (Pneumonia)
Joey Marella - 30 (car crash)
John Kronus (George B. Caiazzo) - 38 (heart failure)
Johnny Grunge (Michael “Mike” Durham) - 39 (sleep apnoea complications)
Juan Manuel Rodriguez (Bestia Salvaje) - 46 (liver failure)
Jumbo Tsuruta (Tomomi Tsuruta) - 49 (kidney transplant surgery complications)
Junkyard Dog (Sylvester Ritter) - 45 (car accident)
Ken Timbs - 53 (cardiomyopathy / heart failure)
Kerry Von Erich (Kerry Gene Adkisson) - 33 (suicide)
Larry Cameron - 41 (heart attack)
Leroy Brown (Roland Daniels) - 38 (heart attack)
Louie Spiccoli - 27 (choked on his own vomit)
Marianna Komlos - 35 (breast cancer)
Mark Curtis (Brian Curtis Hildebrand) - 38 (stomach and bowel cancer)
Mike Awesome (Michael Lee Alfonso) - 42 (probable suicide - hanging)
Mike Davis - 46 (heart attack)
Mike Von Erich (Michael Brent Adkisson) - 23 (suicide - overdose)
Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Ann Hulette) - 42 (accidental overdose)
Moondog King (Ed “Sailor” White) - 56
Moondog Spot (Larry Booker) - 51 (heart attack in the ring)
Nancy Benoit (Woman) - 43 (murdered by her pro-wrestling husband, Chris Benoit)
Owen Hart - 33 (died of blunt chest trauma after WWF stunt went badly wrong)
Pez Whatley - 54 (heart attack)
Pitbull #2 (Anthony Durante) - 36 (drug overdose)
Randy Anderson - 41 (cancer)
Ray Candy - 43 (heart attack)
Rick McGraw - 30 (heart attack)
Rick Rude (Richard Erwin Rood) - 41 (heart failure from ‘mixed medications’)
Rocco Rock (Theodore James Petty) - 49 (heart attack)
Sherri Martel (Sherri Schrull) - 49 (accidental drug overdose)
Tarzan Tyler (Camille Tourville) - 55 (car accident)
Terry Gordy - 40 (blood clot induced heart attack)
The Renegade (Richard C. Williams) - 33 (suicide - shooting)
The Spoiler (Don Jardine) - 56 (heart attack / leukaemia)
The Wall / Malice (Jerry Tuite) - 36 (heart attack)
Tony Parisi (Antonio Pugliese) - 58 (heart attack)
Uncle Elmer (Stan Frazier) - 54 (diabetes)
Vivian Vachon - 40 (road accident)
Yokozuna (Rodney Agatupu Anoa’i) - 34 (heart attack)

Essential in compiling this list:
Wrestling’s Dirty Secret - About.com
Wrestling Information Archive

Entry Filed under: Bizarre, Mildly Interesting, Murders