Nope. He's still around. He even showed up on RAW about a month or two ago. Frankly, I don't know how in the world Jake the Snake is still alive. But he is.
Dude, like 2 years ago, I saw flyers around campus where I went to undergrad and Ted DiBiase was coming to speak to some baptist student organization. Yeah, the Million Dollar Man as a baptist speaker..,.
What the heck? The British Bulldog and Mr. Perfect have passed too? I have completely missed that. Hate to hear that so young.
Curt Henning WAS Mr. Perfect... I didn't know he died though. Really? Man... I didn't know about Brittish Bulldog either.
RIP, BBB. Is it really a suprise that these guys die young? They push their bodies to the limits for decades and then finally give out. I know that much of wrestling is 'staged' but it's still extremely hard on your body to do the things they do. They also travel almost daily for their job, and that has to wear on you after a while. Not only that, wrestling is a cutthroat, 'what have you done for me lately' job, and when they start to decline, they are out of a job, which means little or no money for medical help for their ailments. As far as drugs go, even if they didn't do steroids (and I'm pretty sure that 99% of them do), many of them take pain killers for the pain. It's a classic example of 'live fast, die young'.
So the question now becomes... Who were your favorite 'old school' wrestlers and signature "finishers"growing up? Mine, from personal favorite to all around favorite: Jake "The Snake" Roberts - The DDT (As a child I couldn't get enough of this perticular finishing move- from the arm wave/twirl/wag, to the slam. I forget where it was, whether a Survivor series (back when the series held frequent 6 v 6 matches), or a Royal Rumble where he DDT'ed about three wrestlers in a row after finding himself outnumbered and fatigued, consecutively one right after the other. ) Mr. Perfect - The Perfect-plex ( Haha. From those unique exaggerate athletic falls, to the flawless gum- spit-in-the-air-slapped-to-the-audience signature attitude. And that opportunistic wrestling style that no matter how much you licked 'em, or how little the damage he'd inflict on his opponent in return, he didn't care to exert himself and could take the hits, he just needed to get you in that Perfect-plex grip and he was going to win. ) Hulk Hogan - Leg Drop ( I don't know any wrestler with an exaggerated gimmick more exciting and inspiring to kids of the world than that whole show of seemily immortal perseverence in the midst of insurmountable adversity, aslong as you 'fight for whats right'. "Eat your vitams and vegetables little hulkamaniacs", and you too can come back from the dead against all odds and kick some serious arse. It's like the butt whooping he took near the end of every match never happened. "Explode from the mat, shake it off, take a blow, shake it off, take a blow, stand on two feet, take a blow, point directly at your opponent, stare at them intently/insanely, take a blow, shake it off get pissed off while stomping around your opponent, prevent a next blow, and start beating the hell out of 'em.) Macho Man Randy Savage- Elbow Drop from the top rope ( One of the best signature 'finishers' ever. Spectacular from the perfect high dive balance at the top, that two arm point to the sky, to the precision, form (it was almost always unbelievabley exact) and strength in the drop. No high flying move more acrobatic, except maybe "Superfly" Jimmy Shnuka.)
All I know is I grew up on Hulk Hogan. He was my superhero as a child. When he finally goes to the big wrestling ring in the sky, I'll shed a tear.
If you have a bunch of free time, try the Wrestlemania drinking game. Get the Wreslemania box set, and take a shot every time you see a wrestler/announcer/personality that is now dead. Trust me, you'll be plastered by Wrestlemania III...
Or just watch any Rachel Ray show and drink every time she says "delicious" or "yummo". You'll be wasted in 5 minutes.
Lots and lots of heart problems on this list. Lots. Eddie Guerrero - 2005 Moondog Spot - Oct 2003 Crash Holly - Oct 2003 Road Warrior Hawk - Oct 2003 Miss Elizabeth Naoto Mori****a The Sheik Ox Anderson Curt Hennig Michiaki Yoshimura Tony Altimore Sailor Art Thomas Kodo Fuyuki Bruiser Brian Cox Les Kellet Ray Mendoza Babs Wingo Jackie Nichols Kurt Von Poppenheim Fred Blassie Core Jack Curran Danny Johnson Mickey Gold Tug Wilson Giant Ochiai Marva Scott Great Antonio Pitbull #2 Frank Zela Stu Hart Floyd Creatchman Mitsu Hirai Dick Hutton Joey Rossi Ted Pretty -2002, 40, heart attack Davey Boy Smith 1963-2002 39, heart trouble Lou Thesz 1916-2002 86, natural causes Wahoo McDaniel 1938-2002 64, renal failure and diabetes Maniac Mike Davis 1956-2001 45, heart attack "Gentleman" Chris Adams 1955-2001 46, murdered Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy 1961-2001 40, heart trouble Yokosuna 1965-2000 34, heart attack Bobby Duncam Jr. 1966-2000 34, pain killer complications Owen Hart 1965-1999 33, wrestling accident Rick Rude 1958-1999 41, heart attack The Renegade 1966-1999 33, suicide Giant Baba 1938-1999 61, cancer Bobo Brazil ?-1998 heart trouble Junkyard Dog 1953-1998 45, auto accident Fritz Von Erich 1929-1997 68, cancer Stan Staziak 1937-1997 60, heart failure Gorilla Monsoon 1918-1997 79, natural causes Brian Pillman 1962-1997 35, heart attack Dick Murdoch 1947-1996 49, heart attack Ray Stevens 1936-1996 60, heart attack Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell 1950-1995 44, pneumonia Big John Studd 1948-1995 47, liver cancer Eddie "Hotstuff" Gilbert 1962-1995 33, heart attack Andre the Giant 1949-1993 44, heart attack Kerry Von Erich 1960-1993 33, suicide Dino Bravo 1949-1993 44, murdered Uncle Elmer 1931-1992 61, kidney failure Buddy Rogers 1921-1992 71, stroke Buzz Sawyer 1960-1992 32, overdose Chris Von Erich 1971-1991 20, suicide Haystacks Calhoun 1933-1989 56, diabetes Adrian Adonis 1964-1988 24, auto accident Bruiser Brody 1946-1988 42, murdered Mike Von Erich 1964-1987 23, suicide Gino Hernandez 1957-1986 29, overdose David Von Erich 1959-1984 25, overdose Abdullah Farouk 1929-1983 54, heart attack
http://prowrestling.about.com/od/whatsrealwhatsfake/a/wrestlersdeaths.htm Famous Wrestlers That Have Died Since 1985 Before the Age of 65 Chris Von Erich - 21 Mike Von Erich - 23 The Renegade - 23 Louie Spiccoli - 27 Art Barr - 28 Gino Hernandez - 29 Jay Youngblood - 30 Rick McGraw - 30 Joey Marella - 30 Ed Gatner - 31 Buzz Sawyer - 32 Crash Holly - 32 Kerry Von Erich - 33 D.J. Peterson - 33 Eddie Gilbert - 33 Owen Hart - 33 Chris Candido - 33 Adrian Adonis - 34 Gary Albright - 34 Bobby Duncum Jr. - 34 Yokozuna - 34 Big Dick Dudley - 34 Brian Pillman - 35 Marianna Komlos - 35 Pitbull #2 - 36 The Wall/Malice - 36 Leroy Brown - 38 Mark Curtis - 38 Eddie Guerrero - 38 Davey Boy Smith - 39 Johnny Grunge - 39 Vivian Vachon - 40 Jeep Swenson - 40 Brady Boone - 40 Terry Gordy - 40 Bertha Faye - 40 Billy Joe Travis - 40 Larry Cameron - 41 Rick Rude - 41 Randy Anderson - 41 Bruiser Brody - 42 Miss Elizabeth - 42 Big Boss Man - 42 Earthquake - 42 Ray Candy - 43 Dino Bravo - 44 Curt Hennig - 44 Bam Bam Bigelow - 45 Jerry Blackwell - 45 Junkyard Dog - 45 Hercules - 45 Andre The Giant - 46 Big John Studd - 46 Chris Adams - 46 Mike Davis - 46 Hawk - 46 Dick Murdoch - 49 Jumbo Tsuruta - 49 Rocco Rock - 49 Moondog Spot - 51 Ken Timbs - 53 Uncle Elmer - 54 Pez Whatley - 54 Eddie Graham - 55 Tarzan Tyler - 55 Haystacks Calhoun- 55 Giant Haystacks - 55 The Spoiler - 56 Kurt Von Hess - 56 Moondog King - 56 Gene Anderson - 58 Dr. Jerry Graham - 58 Bulldog Brown - 58 Tony Parisi - 58 Rufus R. Jones - 60 Ray Stevens - 60 Stan Stasiak - 60 Terry Garvin - 60 Boris Malenko - 61 Little Beaver - 61 Sapphire - 61 Shohei Baba - 61 Dick the Bruiser - 62 Wilbur Snyder - 62 George Cannon - 62 Karl Krupp - 62 Dale Lewis - 62 Gorilla Monsoon - 62 Hiro Matsuda - 62 Bulldog Brower - 63 Wahoo McDaniel - 63
