Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ Wrestling Deaths...the continuing story, 5/9: Shibuya

[jaderock]

Just when you think the worst was over after Andrew "Test" Martin passed away...now....

As reported by the Wrestling Observer:

Andres Palomeque, better known as Abismo Negro in AAA, was apparently found dead in a river in Mexico. He was 37.

We don't have other news other than a couple of wrestlers in the AAA promotion confirmed the story, but knew no details.

Palomeque was also known as Winners, a masked male dancer, who teamed with Super Calo during the early glory days of the AAA promotin. At the second year's first TripleMania show, Winners formed a trio with Rey Misterio and Rey Misterio Jr., and lost his mask in a feud with Calo in 1995.

He became Abismo Negro in 1997, and was on the 1997 Royal Rumble show in San Antonio that drew 60,000 fans to the Alamo Dome and wrestled on a few episodes of Raw that year.

He also worked as part of Team Mexico in the 2004 World X cup tournament for TNA.

Throughout his career he was plagued by drug problems, and had a reputation for no-showing events.


---

Steve Doll, best known as part of the tag team of the Southern Rockers, passed away earlier today at the age of 44.

Little details are available, although he had a major health scare a few years ago, and was taken off life support systems today.

Doll & Scott Peterson were the most popular tag team in the Pacific Northwest promotion of the 80s. Later, Rex King (Mark Smith) replaced Peterson on the team. Doll & Smith were used as a prelim tag team in the WWF in 1993 under the name Well Dunn. Smith wrestled as Timothy Well and Doll s Steven Dunn.

With King, they held the USWA tag team titles five times and the Northwest tag team titles four times.

This post has been edited by jaderock: May 9 2010, 04:06 PM

[dodgerblue38501]

I hadn't heard the story about Negro yet but I read about Doll earlier today. I knew he had been in pretty bad health the last few years. He was only 44 but had major liver/kidney problems I believe.

[dd316]

Huh, I didn't even know Test died.

[jaderock]

As I thought, I did see Abismo Negro on AAA's Saturday TV in which Black Abyss used a flamethrower to "tourch" him...OH my gosh!

He had a good roided up body, decent worker, excellent gimmick.

[dodgerblue38501]

Huh, I didn't even know Test died.

Sadly, today the news came out that Martin died of an accidental overdose of oxycodone.

[jaderock]

For Chad's earlier post:

WrestlingObserver.com reported early this morning that former WWF and Portland Wrestling star Playboy Buddy Rose (Paul Perschmann) was found dead by his wife on Tuesday afternoon.

Rose, who was extremely heavy the last time I saw him in 2005, had been dealing with diabetic issues in recent years.

Rose originally broke into the business in the old Verne Gagne AWA, having been trained by Gagne and famed shooter Billy Robinson. He went on to become a true star heel for Don Owens' Portland Wrestling.

In his 2002 autobiography, Roddy Piper credited Rose for helping put him on the map in the Portland area, providing him a forum to hone his interview skills and become a true main eventer. Piper noted in the book that Rose invited him to come work the territory. Piper initially turned him down as he had been working regularly in Los Angeles, then reconsidered and took the job, setting him off to stardom.

Rose worked for the WWF at different points in his career. He was pushed as a top heel at one point in the late 1970s, including a series of matches against then-WWF champion Bob Backlund.

Rose also wrestled on the first Wrestlemania event as the masked Executioner, losing to Tito Santana in the opening contest, becoming the answer to an immediate trivia question.

Rose's final run with WWF was as an undercard comedy heel who was out of shape, setting the stage for the infamous "Blowaway Diet" vignettes. During that run, he mostly worked comedic opening matches on house show, playing off his weight by doing jumping jacks and other exercises while on offense. The vignettes were so silly they ended up becoming memorable among fans. Rose would always correct the ring announcer when he was introduced and make the announcer say that he was "weighing in at 225 lbs." even though he was obviously closer to 300 lbs.

Rose, who was considered a good talker and great bumper, also held the AWA World Tag Team championships with Doug Somers in 1986, defeating Scott Hall and the late Curt Hennig. They later dropped the belts to the then-Midnight Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. Rose & Summers had some great matches with the Rockers. bloodbaths with awesome crowd heat. I believe one of these matches may have been included on the Shawn Michaels DVD release that WWE put out last year.

What is believed to be Rose's last match took place at the first WrestleReunion convention event in Tampa, Florida in January 2005. Rose, long-time close friend Col. DeBeers (Ed Wiskoski) and Bob Orton lost to Jimmy Valiant, Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka in what was billed as Valiant's retirement match.

In recent years, Rose maintained an official website at www.playboybuddyrose.com. The website had noted that Rose was working on a book, although how far into the writing process he was I can't confirm at this time.

[jaderock]

For me I only got the chance to see Playboy Buddty Rose when he was overwieght ...still a great worker and talker!

[dodgerblue38501]

For me I only got the chance to see Playboy Buddy Rose when he was overweight ...still a great worker and talker!

Indeed he was. I still remember his one handed push ups and his schtik making the ring announcer introduce him at 217 lbs. I actually had no idea that he was the masked Executioner at WM I against Tito until I read his biography yesterday. He was one of the most underrated talents of the late 70s-80s.

[jaderock]

Reported on WON:

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9465/

John Tolos, best known for being the heel counterpart of Fred Blassie in one of pro wrestling's all-time greatest feuds, passed away last night at the age of 78.

The death was believed to have been from kidney failure.

Tolos, one of the best promos in wrestling, was chosen by Blassie to be his opponent in a 1971 match at the Los Angeles Coliseum which was one of the biggest events in wrestling of the time.

In the angle, Tolos, the Americas' champion, was jealous that Blassie was awarded the Wrestler of the Year honors, and threw Monsel's powder from the bag of Dr. Bernardt Schwartz, a boxing/wrestling doctor who used it to close cuts when he was doing boxing.

They sold it was if Blassie's career was over due to blindness, an angle repeated with similar results years later by Michael Hayes and Junkyard Dog which still holds the record for attendance in New Orleans.

Blassie actually was taking time off for knee surgery and to tour Japan, and came back for what is the most famous match in California for a generation of fans.

Tolos had a long career, spanning three decades, working regularly into his 50s. He was known in particular for his conditioning, as he was distance running and remained in great shape well into his 60s. He had slowed down in recent years from a near fatal stroke.

He held championships throughout North America, often with brother Chris, although he achieved his greatest fame after the tag team broke up in the late 60s, as a top star in Southern California, where he was the dominant main eventer from 1971-75, both as a babyface and a heel.

[dodgerblue38501]

I remember Tolos as Mr. Perfect's manager, The Coach, in the early 90s WWF.

[5toosweet]

I remember Tolos as Mr. Perfect's manager, The Coach, in the early 90s WWF.

I cant picture him. Does anyone have a pic of him as Mr. Perfects manager?

[jaderock]

As reported here:
http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9617/

Mitsuharu Misawa, one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all-time, was declared dead at 10:10 p.m. Saturday night at a hospital in Hiroshima from an apparent heart attack after being being given a back suplex in a tag team title match.

Misawa would have turned 47 on June 18th.

Misawa, the president of Pro Wrestling NOAH, was teaming with Go Shiozaki in a match challenging Bison Smith & Akitoshi Saito for the GHC tag team championship in Hiroshima. Misawa was given the move at about 8:45 p.m. and knocked unconscious. They were about 27 minutes into the match when the referee immediately stopped the match seeing what had happened.

According to eye witness reports, Saito gave Misawa a "routine" back suplex that was described as a "7" in danger on a scale of one-to-ten. He did not get up. It was chaos in the ring as they attempted to revive him using CPR and the crowd was hushed for a while, and began a "Misawa" chant. He turned purple in the ring and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

His heart stopped beating in the ring.

The wrestlers were told on the bus that he had passed away.

While it is being reported that he passed away at the hospital, he may have actually passed away in the ring.

Misawa was the Japanese high school national wrestling champion at 187 pounds in 1980, and was recruited by Giant Baba into All Japan Pro Wrestling. He gained his first taste of stardom in 1984 when he was chosen to be the second Tiger Mask. After unmasking in 1990, he became an even bigger star after a series of singles matches with Jumbo Tsuruta.

He was Japan's biggest pro wrestling star of the 90s, and one could make a strong case for him as the top wrestler of the decade. He was the Wrestler of the Year in 1995, 1997 and 1999.

After the death of Shohei "Giant" Baba, Misawa wrestled a little over one more year for All Japan Pro Wrestling, while working as company president. After consistently butting heads with owner Motoko Baba, the widow of Shohei Baba, he and 90% of the All Japan roster quit the company to form Pro Wrestling NOAH.

The movie "The Wrestler" opened tonight in Japan. Because of the finish of the movie, this has become part of the story in some outlets in Japan.

===
If anyone has ever seen Misawa wrestle in his prime in AJPW, you know he was one of the greatest workers. Wow this was sad!

[osufan2383]

i remember tolos did he also manage the beverly brothers at one point or am i wrong

[jaderock]

reported here:

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9637/

Ted Tanabe, one of the best known referees in Japan, passed away on Monday in Japan from a heart attack.

Tanabe suffered a heart attack while officiating in a match on a Sunday show for Osaka Pro Wrestling. He was rushed to the hospital and passed away the next morning. He was 46.

Tanabe worked for several independent promotions. He probably gained his most fame during the heyday of Michinoku Pro Wrestling, where he did part of the comedy Lucha routines. He also did a heel ref gimmick during his career.

[dodgerblue38501]

i remember tolos did he also manage the beverly brothers at one point or am i wrong

That is correct! He managed them before The Genius took over.

[dodgerblue38501]

reported here:

http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/9637/

Ted Tanabe, one of the best known referees in Japan, passed away on Monday in Japan from a heart attack.

Tanabe suffered a heart attack while officiating in a match on a Sunday show for Osaka Pro Wrestling.  He was rushed to the hospital and passed away the next morning.  He was 46.

Tanabe worked for several independent promotions.  He probably gained his most fame during the heyday of Michinoku Pro Wrestling, where he did part of the comedy Lucha routines.  He also did a heel ref gimmick during his career.

Tanabe also was the ref for one of the Japanese bouts on one of the early ECW PPVs.

[jaderock]

Captain Lou Albano, long-time wrestling manager and actor who as the father of Cyndi Lauper in the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" video helped launch the Rock & Wrestling Connection in the 80s, passed away today at the age of 76. He had been in poor health for awhile and was recently moved to hospice care.

[osufan2383]

umaga is in bad condition and it is now being reported that he possibly has died

[aceecards]

Umaga..really?

Wow..

[jaderock]

Umaga..really?

Wow..

Bobby Lashley tweeted "A good friend is gone"

Umaga was only 36 years old.