In Memoriam 2021

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Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

We're overdue for a new thread this year, so here you go.

"Hacksaw" Butch Reed

Huge territory star who worked everywhere, most notably in Mid-South. At his peak, was arguably the best Black wrestler of his era, and will go down as one of the best Black wrestlers who never held a world title. After a forgettable WWF run, he quickly resurfaced in WCW as part of the memorable tag team Doom with Ron Simmons. Held titles in 11 different promotions, by my Wikipedia count. After his death, his family revealed that he was a huge fan of AEW's Will Hobbs and wanted to bestow him the "Hacksaw" nickname, so hopefully his legacy lives on much longer.

Rusty Brooks

Intermittent stints in WWF throughout the 80s and 90s. Probably best known as one of the top stars in Future of Wrestling, a late-90s indie that eventually morphed into FIP and became part of Gabe Sapolsky's WWN network.

Anibal Jr.

A longtime lucha journeyman with a handful of appearances in CMLL and AAA. Sadly succumbed to COVID-19 at just 50 years old.

Dustin Diamond

Yes, I'm including him. Best known as Screech in Saved By The Bell, Diamond dipped his toes into wrestling a few times, most notably a TNA PPV in a "boxing match" against Tiny The Bellkeeper. That was early-00s TNA for ya. Diamond never became a full-time wrestler, but made some sporadic indie appearances throughout the 00s and 10s.

Jocephus

An unabashed throwback to the 80s bruising days (even using the Brody name on occasion), Jocephus was a perfect fit for NWA, which itself was an unabashed throwback to 80s studio wrestling. His feud with Tim Storm was one of the highlights of NWA shows, culminating in a Hair vs. Hair tag match (featuring David Arquette!) that saw his mane shaved off. Shortly after Powerrr started, Jocephus resurfaced as the masked Question Mark and quickly became a fan favorite. Unfortunately, real life got in the way of his momentum -- he hadn't wrestled since January 2020 after NWA shut down for most of the year, and passed away way too young just recently.

Dean "Ho" Higuchi

A renowned bodybuilder at a young age, Higuchi got into pro wrestling in the 60s and became a mainstay of the West Coast territories, most prominently in Vancouver, Portland, and San Francisco, among many others. Mostly known as a tag team specialist, he held eight different tag titles with various partners, often in NWA affiliates or the WWWF. Had a years-long feud with NWA Worlds Heavyweight champion Gene Kiniski that saw him challenge for the title twice, coming up short both times. Throughout his career, he ran a gym in Honolulu that was very popular with both bodybuilders and pro wrestlers.

Benne fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Feb 28, 2021

# ? Feb 25, 2021 10:48

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# ? May 5, 2024 20:46

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

If there's anyone I missed so far, please let me know and I'll put them in the OP with the respectful writeup they deserve

# ? Feb 25, 2021 10:49

Roasted Donut: Aug 24, 2007; NWA WHITE POWERRR!!!!

Jocephus was a real joy to watch. RIP.

# ? Feb 25, 2021 14:42

Low Desert Punk: Jul 4, 2012; i have absolutely no fucking money

I don't care what anyone says, this poo poo was great: https://youtu.be/x0AZAg7IaXQ

I didn't watch much of his work as the Question Mark but people really seemed to dig it. I feel like he was a dude that really, really understood professional wrestling. RIP

# ? Feb 25, 2021 15:42

John Dudebro: Dec 3, 2013

bringing back the eyehole man video in memoriam. rip to a true wrestling weirdo the business needs more of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCv1EJ_QBdA

# ? Feb 25, 2021 16:24

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

https://twitter.com/mattfarmer93/status/1365920682467487745

Updated OP with his writeup

Benne fucked around with this message at 09:25 on Feb 28, 2021

# ? Feb 28, 2021 08:06

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

https://twitter.com/mattfarmer93/status/1367306170319347714?s=19

# ? Mar 4, 2021 03:55

RC and Moon Pie: May 5, 2011

I saw something yesterday that he was in poor health.

Crockett had to lead the company before he was 30. Somehow, all the Crockett boys weren't being brought up as the next generation, but because John Ringley was sleeping around (while married to Crockett Jr.'s sister), it all became his.

When Jim Crockett took over, Mid-Atlantic was transitioning away from being a tag team territory. Mid-Atlantic survived that, survived a plane crash - that Jim Crockett Jr. was originally scheduled to be on - made a few good deals and became the last territory to battle McMahon.

Then Crockett made a whole bunch of lovely deals and bad decisions and blew everything within two years. Not that he was ever going to beat McMahon.

# ? Mar 4, 2021 05:03

MassRafTer: May 26, 2001; BAEST MODE!!!

RC and Moon Pie posted:

I saw something yesterday that he was in poor health.

Crockett had to lead the company before he was 30. Somehow, all the Crockett boys weren't being brought up as the next generation, but because John Ringley was sleeping around (while married to Crockett Jr.'s sister), it all became his.

When Jim Crockett took over, Mid-Atlantic was transitioning away from being a tag team territory. Mid-Atlantic survived that, survived a plane crash - that Jim Crockett Jr. was originally scheduled to be on - made a few good deals and became the last territory to battle McMahon.

Then Crockett made a whole bunch of lovely deals and bad decisions and blew everything within two years. Not that he was ever going to beat McMahon.

Mid Atlantic was on fire, doing absolutely huge business. Saying he "made a few good deals and became the last territory to battle McMahon" is really underselling what he accomplished before 1987. The expansion did not work and business imploded. Some of those are his fault, some are Dusty's bad booking, some are the realities of the territorial differences, and some are Vince's moves. But you cannot undersell how hot they were prior.

# ? Mar 5, 2021 04:22

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1367950455838363650

# ? Mar 5, 2021 22:37

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

Randy Orton's uncle, Barry O:

https://twitter.com/WONF4W/status/1373399589076692992?s=20

# ? Mar 21, 2021 01:14

Eat My Fuc: May 29, 2007

Barry Orton looked so much like Owen Hart

# ? Mar 21, 2021 01:27

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

I'm assuming WWE won't do a memorial graphic even if he is Randy's Uncle, given his dastardly act of being opposed to child molestation.

# ? Mar 21, 2021 02:55

Davros1: Jul 19, 2007; You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible

https://twitter.com/Maffewgregg/status/1376312167318876164?s=20

# ? Mar 29, 2021 00:38

Edward Mass: Sep 14, 2011; 𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen𝅘𝅥𝅮

Holy poo poo :smith:

# ? Mar 29, 2021 04:41

SatoshiMiwa: May 6, 2007

Jack Veneno, who won the NWA title cause Flair called an audible as the crowd was so wild, passed away on April 6th due to Cancer

# ? Apr 9, 2021 18:18

RC and Moon Pie: May 5, 2011

SatoshiMiwa posted:

Jack Veneno, who won the NWA title cause Flair called an audible as the crowd was so wild, passed away on April 6th due to Cancer

Obviously edited in spots, but here is one of the matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0VIbwy_C4

# ? Apr 9, 2021 21:52

LionYeti: Oct 12, 2008

RC and Moon Pie posted:

Obviously edited in spots, but here is one of the matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR0VIbwy_C4

God Flair is so good at taking a beating. I wonder what it was like to be him and not expecting to have the win like that.

# ? Apr 9, 2021 22:10

Punch McLightning: Sep 19, 2005; you know what that means; Grimey Drawer

Hearing Uncle Dave talk about the stories about the Veneno-Flair matches, and that is one thing that I'm genuinely sad has disappeared from the territory days.

# ? Apr 10, 2021 02:35

Pylons: Mar 16, 2009

According to PWInsider, New Jack has passed away.

quote:

PWInsider.com is extremely sad to report that Jerome �New Jack� Young passed away earlier this afternoon following a heart attack in North Carolina, where he had lived in recent years. PWInsider.com was informed by Young�s wife Jennifer of his passing.

https://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=146844

# ? May 15, 2021 00:23

Vertical Lime: Dec 11, 2004

new jack died

https://www.pwinsider.com/article/146844/jerome-young-new-jack-passes-away.html?p=1

quote:

JEROME YOUNG, NEW JACK, PASSES AWAY
By Mike Johnson on 2021-05-14 19:14:00
PWInsider.com is extremely sad to report that Jerome �New Jack� Young passed away earlier this afternoon following a heart attack in North Carolina, where he had lived in recent years. PWInsider.com was informed by Young�s wife Jennifer of his passing.

At times, Young was one of the most controversial wrestlers in professional wrestling, but he was also one of the more intense and charismatic performers over the last several decades. The New Jack name was inspired by the film New Jack City once Young imagined fans chanting it while he was in the ring, a vision that certainly came true countless times over.

After breaking into the business in Georgia while mentored by the late Ray Candy, New Jack formed The Gangstas with Mustafa for a run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling that put the duo, empowered by Jack�s incredible, edgy interviews, on the map, leading to the team headlining against everyone from The Rock N' Roll Express to The Undertaker.

After SMW, the duo moved to Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1995. Jack and ECW were a perfect match as the product pushed everything as far as the envelope would allow at the time, providing Jack with a perfect backdrop to paint violent, bloody pictures as he and partners brawled all over buildings while Ice Cube and Dr. Dre�s Natural Born Killaz blasted over, creating a real life movie fight scene like never before or since in pro wrestling.

While Jack held the ECW World Tag Team Championships several times, he might be far better remembered for diving out of balconies to put hapless opponents through tables, something that he devised as a way to make sure that the audience�s attention and their memories were about him no matter whether he was booked to win or lose. Over time, his fearlessness at doing the dives took its physical toll (especially after a planned fall at Living Dangerously 2000 went completely wrong) but any highlight reel of ECW would be incomplete without those insane moments.

Young�s life and career were chronicled during the second season of Dark Side of the Ring and he also made a memorable appearance in the Barry Blaustein documentary Beyond the Mat back in 1999, where Blaustein famously remarked that none of his other friends had justifiable homicides on their record.

There will be a lot written about Jerome Young in the days to come, good and bad, but the reality was this - he loved to perform and he loved to be New Jack in the public eye. He put himself through a lot of physical and mental pain in order to live his life as New Jack and once famously told our own Dave Scherer that he made the decision to do so, that he knew what he was getting into and that he would have no regrets, because it was the decision he chose to make.

PWInsider.com will have far more on the life and career of New Jack to come, but there is no denying his place in wrestling history and that he blazed a trail as a performer unlike anyone before and likely, like no one who will ever follow.

Everyone at PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to New Jack�s family, especially his wife Jennifer as well as his friends and fans.

# ? May 15, 2021 00:24

Roasted Donut: Aug 24, 2007; NWA WHITE POWERRR!!!!

RIP to a fuckin real one

# ? May 15, 2021 00:28

Beer_Suitcase: May 3, 2005; Verily, the whip is ghost riding.

I hope the devil hears Natrual Born Killaz and just steps aside

RIP To the Original Gangsta

# ? May 15, 2021 00:39

stab: Feb 12, 2003; To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high

Roasted Donut posted:

RIP to a fuckin real one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6HwTaQFmN0

# ? May 15, 2021 00:40

Critical: Aug 23, 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lXuIh_2hmE

oj line was an all timer

# ? May 15, 2021 00:40

RealityWarCriminal: Aug 10, 2016

e: I made a New jack thread

RealityWarCriminal fucked around with this message at 01:15 on May 15, 2021

# ? May 15, 2021 01:08

Eat This Glob: Jan 14, 2008; God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Who will wipe this blood off us? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent?

not a big wrestling fan in 2021 but I absolutely tuned in for new jack's "dark side of the ring" last year. i had a buddy who'd order ecw and hardcore Japanese death match bootlegs on vhs off of ebay back in the late 90s. ice cube and dre playing from bell to bell while a maniac did maniacal poo poo made new jack my favorite in ee-cee-dub. i hope the dude rests in peace, or at least leaves the angels and demons out of his vendetta against anyone who puts up a fight

# ? May 15, 2021 03:52