January:
4 - Jose de Jesus Diaz Mendoza, who gained great fame
in Mexico competing as Villano I, dies of a heart attack at the age of
54.
March:
12 - Ozzie Timmins, a former wrestler, referee, and
historian of the sport, dies at the age of 81. He had been hospitalized
iwth heart and kidney ailments prior to his death.
16- Dave Vicious, a New England-based independent wrestler,
dies of a heart attack at the age of 32.
26 - Johnny "Red Shoes" Dugan, one of the most famous
referees of the 1970's, dies of Parkinson's disease at the age of 89.
Dugan, was officiated at recently as the mid-1980's, refereed some of
the biggest matches ever in Los Angeles.
28 - Benny McGuire, a former wrestler who once made the Guinness
Book of World Records for being one-half of the world's heaviest twins
(with brother Billy, also a wrestler) at a combined 1,600 pounds, dies
at the age of 54 in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
29 - Rolando Vera, a former NWA middleweight champion and one
of the biggest stars in Mexico in the 1950s, dies of a heart attack
at the age of 86.
April:
2 - Reisor Bowden, a broadcaster/ring announcer for Bill Watt's
Mid-South Wrestling in the 1980s, dies of cancer at the age of 74.
24 - Former wrestler Johnny Valentine, father of wrestler Greg
Valentine, dies at the age of 72. Valentine, who was one of the toughest
wresters of all-time had great feuds with the likes of Wahoo McDaniel
and Buddy Rogers. He had his career cut short by the injuries he suffered
in a 1975 plane crash that also injured Ric Flair (though not as seriously).
He never fully recovered from injuries he suffered in a fall from his
pourch in the fall of 2000.
June:
29 - Alex Perez, a former Golden Gloves boxing champion who went
on to become a wrestler under the tutelage of Dory Funk Sr., dies at
the age of 71.
July:
9 - Former wrestler/promoter Ace Freeman dies in a nursing home
in Western Pennsylvania at the age of 87.
16 - Terry Gordy is found dead of a heart attack in his home
in Soddy~Daisy, Tennessee, by his girlfriend. He was 40. Gordy, who
started wrestling at the age of 13, found fame as a member of The Fabulous
Feebirds with Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts. He was also a former
All-Janpan Triple Crown champion.
27 - Former WWF women's champion Rhonda Singh (a.k.a. Bertha
Faye) dies at the age of 40 in Calgary. A trainee of Mildered Burke,
Singh initially gained fame in Japan as Monster Ripper, but she also
had success in Mexico and Pureto Rico and a brief run during the Vince
Russo era in WCW.
29 - New Jersey-based promoter Dennis Coraluzzo, who helped
to spearhead the NWA, revival of the 1990s, dies of a brain hemorrhage
at the age of 48. Coraluzzo was instrumental in the early success of
wrestlers such as Chris Candido, Tammy Sytch, Crowbar, Billy Kidman,
Simon Diamond, D-Lo Brown, Steve Corino, and Russ and Charlie Haas,
and he appeard on WWF TV in the mid 1990s as part of the NWA storyline.
October:
7 - British star Chris Adams is shot to death by his friend William
Parnell at the age of 46 in Waxahachie, Texas. Parnell claimed the two
had been drinking heavily and that he shot Adams in self-defense when
innocent roughhousing turned violent. Adams had hsi greatest success
in Texas-based World Class promotion in the 1980s. He wreslted briefly
in WCW as a member of a British clique as recently as 2000.
November:
4 - Helen Hart, matriarch of the famed Hart family in Calgory,
dies at the age of 76. She had been in a coma since suffering seizures
several weeks earlier and also suffered from diabetes.
December:
4 - Ed Whalen, long time broad-caster for Calgary's Stampede
Wrestling, dies several days after suffering a massive heart attack
while on vacation in Florida. He was 74. Whalen was one of the featured
speakers at the furnal of Helen Hart a month earlier.
15 - WWF developmental wrestler Russ Haas dies in his sleep
of heart disease at his appartment in Cincinnati. Haas was 27. He had
suffered a heart attack on September 24 and hadn't wrestled since, though
he was hoping to get clearance to return on December 18. Russ and brother
Charlie were assigned to the Heartland Wrestling Association at the
time of his death were considered promising prospects as a team by the
WWF.
25 - "Maniac" Mike Davis, a journeyman wrestler who
gained some fame as a member of the Rock 'n' Roll RPM's tag team in
the 1980s, dies of a heart attack at the age of 46 at his home in Grandbury,
Texas.
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