10 Wrestler Deaths Ignored By WWE

When a current or ex-WWE star passes away, the company will typically pay tribute to them, either with a whole show dedicated to their memory, a documentary presentation, a music video lionising their career or, at the very least, a graphic or a few words from the announcers to the televised audience.

Typically, but not always, because there have been WWE stars, among them long-serving former champions, who didn’t get their posthumous due, most often because of the way in which they left this mortal coil.

These are 10 wrestler deaths ignored by WWE.

10. Kerry Von Erich

At one point in time, Kerry Von Erich was one of the biggest pro wrestling stars on the planet.

The former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion was enormously popular with fans in the Von Erich family-run World Class Championship Wrestling and it was this sort of devoted following, coupled with his impressive physique, jocular charms and charisma that caught the attention of WWE.

Sadly, Kerry – who would be rechristened The Texas Tornado - was far from his best when he joined Vince McMahon’s organisation in the Summer of 1990.

Substance abuse issues and an amputated food hampered his performance at times, but Kerry was still incredibly over and was good value for a three-month Intercontinental Championship run shortly after joining the promotion.

Sadly, that was as good as it got for Fritz Von Erich’s son as his mounting personal problems led to his departure in August of 1992.

Like brothers Mike and Chris before him, Kerry ended up taking his own life on February 18, 1993.

WWE neglected to mention Kerry’s passing on Raw four days later and never really mentioned him at all until they acquired the World Class tape library from Kevin Von Erich in 2005.

9. Dino Bravo

Just a month after Kerry Von Erich’s tragic passing, another ex-WWE star died in altogether more mysterious circumstances.

Italian strongman Dino Bravo had made his name in Canada during the 1970s, but most fans remember him for his WWE run during the 1980s, where he emerged with a new look and feuded with rough-housers like Ken Patera, Don Muraco and Jim Duggan.

His run began to peter out during the early 90s and his last high-profile match was actually a loss to The Texas Tornado at WrestleMania 7.

Post-WWE, Bravo – broken down and unable to get work elsewhere – relied on organised crime (specifically cigarette smuggling) to maintain the lavish lifestyle he and his family had grown accustomed to.

While his wife and daughter were out one evening, the 44-year-old was paid a visit by a very bad man (or very bad men) and shot 11 times in a mafia-style slaying.

Despite being a former WWE Tag Team Champion (and the only ever Canadian champion), the murky circumstances surrounding Dino’s demise convinced WWE to stay well away from mentioning him.

8. Lance Cade

Of all the students that Shawn Michaels had a hand in training at his Texas Wrestling Academy school, Lance Cade was the one tipped to be the biggest star.

Tall, jacked and with classic cowboy good looks, Cade had all the physical qualities WWE looks for and he was one hell of an athlete to boot.

He never quite became the name that many had predicted, however, though he enjoyed some success in a tag title-winning team with Trevor Murdoch.

Lance’s WWE career came to an end while he was in a prominent position as Chris Jericho’s muscle during Y2J’s feud with Shawn Michaels, after he had a drug-induced seizure on an aeroplane (which necessitated an emergency landing and medical assistance).

He then worked in Japan and on the indies and made a brief return to WWE’s developmental (but was never called up to the main roster), before passing away on August 13, 2010, as a result of heart failure. He was just 29.

Cade didn’t get a mention outside of the requisite website press release. Worse still, Linda McMahon (then running for a seat in the US Senate) told a reporter she ‘might have met him once’ when questioned about his death, a callous response and – quite frankly – an outright lie told to avoid an uncomfortable conversation.

7. Chris Candido

Had Chris Candido arrived in another era, you’d have to assume he’d have been a bigger WWE star than he was.

Considered small for the time, the hard-working and technically sound Candido found himself pigeonholed due to his Bodydonnas tag team with Tom Prichard.

He also had backstage issues with The Kliq, most notably Shawn Michaels (who was HBK-ing his girlfriend Tammy ‘Sunny’ Sytch behind his back).

Mr ‘No Gimmicks Needed’ was pushed stronger in ECW, but his and Sytch’s substance abuse issues cut their stay in Philadelphia short.

Candido cleaned himself up and attempted to rehab his reputation years later, seemingly doing well as a member of the TNA roster when a freak injury led to a series of events that resulted in his death from pneumonia on April 28, 2005. He was just 33.

Aside from a small paragraph on WWE.com and a brief graphic during the ‘In Memoriam’ video at the first One Night Stand, WWE basically brushed past it.

6. Viscera

A formidable behemoth of a man who stood out in an industry full of giants, Nelson Frazier Jr. was a memorable presence on WWE television for close to 15 years (off and on).

Whether as a member of Men on a Mission, as a disciple in The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness, wooing the likes of Lilian Garcia as the World’s Largest Love Machine, or gunning for the ECW World Title as Big Daddy V, the man otherwise known as Mabel and Viscera certainly made his mark on the wacky world of sports entertainment.

His WWE tenure came to an end in August of 2008, after which the 1995 King of the Ring winner primarily wrestled on the indies and in Japan.

Five months after what would turn out to be his final match (and four days after his 43rd birthday), Frazier passed away of a heart attack.

That was on February 18, 2014, with WWE neglecting to pay any sort of tribute on either the February 21 SmackDown or Raw on February 24.

After his widow Cassandra Frazier voiced her displeasure at the slight, WWE eventually aired a graphic at the start of the February 28 SmackDown, two weeks after his death.

5. Ludvig Borga

In comparison to his wild and controversial life and career, Tomy Halme’s stay in WWE was relatively uneventful.

But to a great many wrestling fans, they remember Halme – who wrestled in New Japan, fought in the UFC, acted in movies, and even successfully ran for office in his native Finland – as the foreign menace Ludvig Borga.

The man who broke Tatanka’s undefeated streak and attempted to topple Lex Luger was only in WWE for around six months or so, but he made an impression on viewers and those in the locker room in that time.

It wasn’t a good one. Considered a bully by most, The Hellraiser from Helsinki didn’t exactly endear himself to colleagues by walking around with an SS tattoo on his calf and few were sorry to see him go.

Halme’s exploits after WWE were colourful, but legal issues and health problems related to his hard-partying lifestyle and career in combat sports left him believing that the only way out was at his own hand.

Two days after his 47th birthday, Halme ended his own life, a life WWE never saw fit to eulogise.

4. Kanyon

Just a few months after Tony Halme passed away, another ex-WWE star who had been quite publicly suffering decided to end things.

Unlike the man formerly known as Ludvig Borga, Chris Kanyon was well liked within the wrestling industry and was viewed as an underrated innovator who perhaps should have been given more chances towards the top of the card.

The former WCW United States Champion struggled with his mental health after being released by WWE in 2004 and claimed he had been held back due to his sexuality, going so far as to gatecrash a WWE house show in 2006 in protest of what he considered an unfair dismissal.

One of the first openly gay wrestlers in the industry, Kanyon (along with Raven and Mike Sanders) got on WWE’s bad side some more when they attempted to sue the company over the wording of their contracts, arguing that they should have been classed as employees and not independent contractors (the lawsuit was subsequently thrown out).

All the 40-year-old got when he took an intentional drug overdose on April 2, 2010, was the arbitrary two sentences of condolences on WWE.com.

He will, however, be remembered by both fans and wrestlers for blazing a trail by many who are now thriving in the industry regardless of their sexual preferences.

3. Test

At 6’ 6” and almost 300 lbs of shredded muscle, Test had the size and the look WWE prioritised when it came to their main eventers.

But, for whatever reason, the tall Canadian didn’t quite make it to that next level, settling into a midcard role after Triple H made him look like a prize prat by stealing Stephanie McMahon away from him (in kayfabe, of course).

Andrew Martin was fired in 2004 (while out nursing a broken neck) and then re-hired in 2006, only to be fired again while competing for the rebooted ECW brand after falling afoul of the WWE Wellness Policy.

The former Intercontinental Champion was clearly using something to enhance his shredded physique, but he was also fighting a battle against prescription painkillers and muscle relaxers.

Despite attempts to get clean, Martin succumbed to his addiction in March of 2009. Found dead of an accidental overdose of oxycodone, he was 33 years old.

WWE made a very brief mention of his passing on their website, but ran no tribute videos or even a token ‘in memory of’ graphic on their television shows.

2. Jack Tunney

To a certain subset of WWE fans, Jack Tunney was a notable ever-present during their childhood.

WWE’s on-screen President was the man credited with suspensions, vacating titles, naming number-one contenders and all sorts of other administrative business between the mid-1980s and mid-90s.

As well as his television character, Tunney worked as a promoter for WWE’s Canadian shows and helped the promotion achieve much success in the Great White North.

Tunney was let go by WWE in 1995, with ‘cost cutting’ cited as the reason. A longstanding rumour, however, suggests that Tunney had racked up large gambling debts and was embezzling company funds to pay them off.

Whatever the reason, his exit was murky and he disappeared from the business, never speaking about wrestling, WWE or Vince McMahon publicly again.

When Tunney passed away from a heart attack at the age of 69 on January 24, 2004, his death wasn’t announced on WWE’s website or on its television programmes.

Nobody from WWE (besides his successor and former friend Carl Demarco) attended Tunney’s funeral and his name has barely been uttered in the two decades since, which is certainly peculiar given what a looming presence he was during one of the company’s hottest periods.

1. Crash Holly

A lot of performers and personnel deserve to share credit for the success of the Attitude Era, but one of the unsung highlights of WWE television during that era was Crash Holly.

Hardcore Holly’s hot-headed cousin was a riot, whether he was weighing in at ‘allegedly well over 400 pounds’ or trying to escape with his Hardcore Championship still in his possession after implementing the 24/7 rule.

Entertaining, hardworking and versatile, Crash’s WWE career nonetheless stalled when the Hardcore division was discontinued and he was released in June of 2003 amid rumours that he was unhappy with his (lack of) creative direction.

He resurfaced in TNA as Mad Mikey but, sadly, the despondent star (who was in the midst of going through a bitter divorce) was found dead of an overdose at the house of close friend Stevie Richards on November 6, at the age of just 32.

Not only did WWE not acknowledge his passing on either the next Raw or SmackDown, they actually removed a mention of it from their website and edited Stevie’s tribute from an episode of Sunday Night Heat off the broadcast.

Holly (under his real name Mike Lockwood) did get recognised during the ‘ECW Remembers’ video at the original One Night Stand, but he deserved so much more.