Pro wrestler Curt Hennig of Champlin, Minn., found dead in Florida hotel

Minneapolis Red Star ^ | February 11, 2003 | Associated Press

[GreatOne]

BRANDON, Fla. -- Professional wrestler Curt ``Mr. Perfect'' Hennig was found dead in a hotel room Monday. Officials said foul play wasn't suspected.

Hennig, 44, of Champlin, Minn., was scheduled to appear Monday night at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.

[Kryptonite]

Speaking of trivia, who would ever have known that Hulk Hogan and Baron Von Raaschke once were tag team partners? Hogan was known as "Terry Boulder" then.

By contrast, who doesn't remember Jesse Ventura partnering with Outlaw Bobby Duncum? Ventura would later become Governor of Minnesota.

[rintense]

Davey Boy Smith of the British Bulldogs is dead? What happened?

[rintense]

My mom was a huge wrestling fan. I went with her to a match when I was 13. I had my picture taken with Rick Rood, Buzz Sawyer and Pistol Pez Whatley. Tommy Rich, Brett Wayne and the Road Warriors were also there. Rick Rood gave me his towel, and Buzz Sawyer bummed an ear ring from me since he lost his in the fight.

[rintense]

Buzz Sawyer is dead!?!?!?!?!

[Commander8]

I remember the Road Warriors, they were something weren't they?

[Commander8]

Yeah he did, in '92 of an overdose.
http://www.deansplanet.com/deadwrestler9095.html

[CounterCounterCulture]

Davey Boy Smith of the British Bulldogs is dead? What happened?

A sad end to a sad downward spiral...

Wrestling's "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith dead at 39

[RonPaulLives]

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Harley Race two weeks ago, when he made an appearance here in the Louisville, Kentucky area, on an IWA Mid-South Wrestling card.

If you are in the Louisville, KY area, or visit the area, you need to check out IWA Mid-South Wrestling. They wrestle every weekend (some Friday nights, but mainly Saturday nights) right across the river from the Louisville skyline, and right under the Colgate Clock.

WWF (or WWE as they are now called, since losing a court battle against the World Wildlife Fund) is definitely a joke. IWA is everything WWF is not. It is local, low-key, hard workers making very little pay, putting their bodies on the line. IWA is similar in style to the old ECW out of Philadelphia. Ian Rotten runs IWA, and he wrestled with Axl Rotten, his mentor, in the old ECW. In some matches, they give blood and guts in the crowd (literally), in others they give you high flying acrobatics, and in others they give you scientific amateur wrestling. Just this past weekend, Chris Hero and C.M. Punk wrestled a scientific match that lasted 92 minutes !!

[L`enn]

He died of what they say was a heart attack. Found dead in his bed, kinda "woke up dead". Followed the time-honored script, steroids, painkillers, early death.

[sushiman]

Anybody remember HAYSTACK CALHOUN or KILLER KAWALSKI ?

[L`enn]

Add to that like a month after that Bret Hart had a stroke at age 45. Lotta bad karma for the Hart clan lately. Still got some catching up to do to get up there with the von Erichs.

[RonPaulLives]

Wrestling in general, and this wrestling circle in particular, has suffered terribly lately.

At one time or another Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Rick Rude and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart were all married to sisters in the famous Hart wrestling family.

So Hennig dies this week at 44. Rick Rude died in 1999 at 41 of a heart attack. Davey Boy died last year of a heart attack at 39 years old. As mentioned earlier on this thread, right before his death Davey Boy Smith was dating the wife of his ex-brother in law Bruce Hart. And the matriarch of the family, Helen Hart recently died of diabetes complications. Owen Hart died in 1999 at 34 years old in a wrestling accident. Brian Pillman, who was trained by the Hart family, died in 1997 at 35 years old of a heart attack.

[AnAmericanMother]

'course I remember Bill "Haystacks" Calhoun.

Lawyer I worked for back in the 70s had to serve a subpoena on him one time. You gotta understand that this lawyer was a little wisemouth New York guy, about 5 foot 4 and maybe 120 pounds wringing wet.

One of the funniest things on earth was this little tiny guy chasing Haystacks around under the bleachers at the old City Auditorium in Atlanta, trying to hand him the papers, and Haystacks running like the devil himself was after him . . . wish somebody had had a camera . . .

But he was a really, really nice guy. Folks around here liked him a lot and were really sorry when he died back in '89. He'd been out of wrestling and sick for awhile, but IIRC his funeral was well attended.

I never cared much for wrasslin', but my grandfather-in-law was a big, big fan and would tell me all about it.

He's got the headlock on Happy Humphrey (remember him?)

[winin2000]

Man, what a depressing thought. The fate of Gary Coleman being dished out to a talent like that.

[billbears]

how do you explain Terry Funk?

You can't. Funk, Foley, and Flair will probably be wrestling into their 70s. Certain people take the pain and come back for more, while the ones like Hennig and one of the latest pretty boys, HHH, wither away from too much steroid use. I don't watch wrestling as much as I used to (hey, it's fun to watch sometimes) but I've flipped by a couple of times and it seems you can tell when HHH has just had his 'shots' recently.

BTW, put the Undertaker in that first group. That's another of the old school wrestlers. They don't pump up as much as prepare their body to go through pain

[thegreatbeast]

Hatteras wrote, "To old Vinny Mac, you're nothing but a piece of meat." Well, what do you suppose you are to your employer? Why does an inanimate thing (a business) have to have organs and feelings? Vince MacMahon pays well, and in American dollars. What's the bitch?
Sushiman, that's Killer Kowalski and he's still alive and ran a 'Rasslin College in Worcester, MA. I heard him tell a hilarious story of being on a flight with Haystack and having Haystack be overtaken by a case of the "trots". Not being able to fit in the plane's lavatory, Calhoun had to make use of a one of those big US mailbags while the stewardii held a blanket around the Haystack to afford him some privacy. The resulting change in atmosphere nearly brought down the plane it is said.
KK by the way got his name when he knocked the ear off a competitor one night. After that he was forever the Killer.

[WolfsView]

Really? Then how do you explain Chris Benoit, or Kurt Angle, or Dean Malenko. Their are many very skilled wrestlers, the problem is they don't get all the air time it goes to shmucks like Hogan. As for Mr. Perfect, looks like God gave him the ultimate perfect-plex, to bad.

[Unwavering Conservative]

You are making some very good points. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko are awesome scientific wrestlers. Ian Hodgkinson, aka El Vampiro Canadiense, is also a very skilled martial artist. The scientific wrestlers are not promoted to the extent that the steroided-up bodybuilder types are is the problem.

[Bernard]

They all started using Dynapower, which Vern Gagne did commercials for on Chicago TV - "I do not don't mind telling you, this stuff is great!!"

[Erasmus]

I'm sure the 'roids don't help, either.

Hemor or Ste?