As with the 2000 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Main-Stream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. As a no big surprise, 1999 had virtually no links to it since wrestling deaths were not on the radar like they are today. Again, please note that much of, if not most, of this information may be culled from "non-official sources" like blogs and websites, but I have tried to insure the information was accurate. It is still my goal to make this section as up-to-date and accurate as possible for Wade and visitors so please feel free to email...
Longtime wrestler, father of WWF/WCW/NWA and WWE Hall of Famer wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, confined to a wheelchair after same plane crash that nearly killed Ric Flair, Texas-eight time Texas Heavyweight Champion, NWA (three-time Toronto-United States Champion, four-time American Tag Team Champion, three-time American Heavyweight Champion, Mid Atlantic-United States Champion, Georgia Heavyweight Champion, three-time United States Tag Team Champion, three-time Florida Heavyweight Champion, two-time Mid Atlantic Heavyweight Champion, Canadian Heavyweight Champion, two-time Southern Heavyweight Champion, International Tag Team Champion...
As with the 2002 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Main-Stream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. As a no big surprise, 2001 had virtually no links to it. Again, please note that much of, if not most, of this information may be culled from "non-official sources" like blogs and websites but I have tried to insure the information was accurate. It is still my goal to make this section as up-to-date and accurate as possible for Wade and visitors so please feel free to email me at tomphoenix@optonline.net with any questions, comments, updates, links, corrections, or anything else you like...
Longtime wrestler, used strongman gimmick, won Bodybuilding championship Mr. Michigan, trained by Bert Ruby, NWA (Detroit-Tag Team Champion, Detroit-United States Champion), WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Champion, AWA (Midwest Heavyweight Champion, AWA World Heavyweight Champion); Los Angeles-International Television Tag Team Champion...
As with the 2003 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Main-Stream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. 2002 had less links than 2003 did. Again, please note that much of, if not most, of this information may be culled from "non-official sources" like blogs and websites but I have tried to insure the information was accurate. It is still my goal to make this section as up-to-date and accurate as possible for Wade and visitors so please feel free to email me at tomphoenix@optonline.net with any questions, comments, updates, links, corrections, or anything else you like. I'll give you a shout-out and thanks for any updates or corrections. I hope to update this section at least once per week with one entire year per update so the next one will cover 2001...
As with the 2003 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Main-Stream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. As a mild surprise, 2003 actually had more links than 2004 did. Again, please note that much of, if not most, of this information may be culled from "non-official sources" like blogs and websites but I have tried to insure the information was accurate. It is still my goal to make this section as up-to-date and accurate as possible for Wade and visitors so please feel free to email me at tomphoenix@optonline.net with any questions, comments, updates, links, corrections, or anything else you like...
As with the 2005 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Main-Stream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. As a mild surprise, 2004 actually had more links than 2005 did. Again, please note that much of, if not most, of this information may be culled from "non-official sources" like blogs and websites but I have tried to insure the information was accurate. It is still my goal to make this section as up-to-date and accurate as possible for Wade and visitors so please feel free to email me at tomphoenix@optonline.net with any questions, comments, updates, links, corrections, or anything else you like...
As with the 2006 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Mainstream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. As the years go further back, I suspect that I will have fewer and fewer MainStream Media articles to post since the current media really didn't report on wrestlers' deaths. So, 2005 has even fewer links than 2006 did. I'm not expecting the situation to get much better the further we go back in time...
As with the 2006 edition, I will list the information by Wrestler's Name, Real Name, Date of Death, Cause, Age and a brief snapshot of his/her career. I will also provide any Main-Stream Media links to the wrestlers if applicable. As the years go further back, I suspect that I will have less and less MainStream Media articles to post since the current media really didn’t report on wrestlers’ deaths. So, 2006 has fewer links than 2007 did...
Hi, everyone. I promise that the above quote from Paul Bearer will be the extent of the jocularity in this section. I have volunteered to handle the obituary section of the Torch website. I will list the deceased wrestlers by the following information...
THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.
He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.
He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).
He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)
REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
