12 Wrestlers Who Lost Their Lives In The Ring
As much as fans find wrestling matches to be one of the most entertaining sporting events to watch, these matches can also be immensely dangerous for the wrestlers.
In fact, some have even died in the ring, including:
- Luther Lindsay
- Kevin Cawley
From a blow to the head ending in severe brain trauma to heart attacks in the ring, these deaths are nothing short of terrifying.
Granted, some of the wrestlers who have died in the ring had pre-existing health conditions that contributed to their death. But others were perfectly healthy and ended up getting badly hurt to the point of death.
These are the 12 wrestlers that died while performing in the ring:
1. Moondog Spot – was a wrestler performing at one of Jerry Lawler’s shows in Memphis when he suffered a heart attack. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
2. Jeanette Wolfe – had been complaining of a headache after her first match but decided to continue the show. In her second match, she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at the age of 18. She died from a brain hemorrhage and a ruptured stomach.
3. ‘Iron’ Mike Dibiase – died on July 2, 1969, in a match against Mountain Mike. He collapsed after having a heart attack. He was declared dead shortly after, at the age of 45.
4. British wrestler Kevin Cawley performed under a number of different names, under a hood. While performing as The Black Baron for All-Star Promotions, Cawley collapsed into the corner after suffering a heart attack. Officials removed him from the ring, and the match continued, with everyone in the audience unaware that he had passed away.
5. Luther Lindsay – held the NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship, and the All Asia Tag Team Championship. He was one of the first African-Americans to break through racism and become a major wrestling star. Luther was wrestling an opponent and defeated him with a big splash that wasn’t executed properly. Right after that, he had a heart attack in the ring and didn’t get up after the referee counted the pinfall.
6. Emiko Kado died during her match on March 31, 1999, against Mariko Yoshida and Mikiko Futagami. After the twenty-minute mark, Kado received a stiff blow to the head and collapsed to the mat. It was determined that she suffered an acute sprained membrane. She was rushed to the hospital to receive treatment. The 23-year-old died from bleeding in her brain.
7. Malcolm Kirk was a British wrestler who had previously been a coal miner. He later wrestled under the name King Kong Kirk’ where he entered a feud with Big Daddy and teamed up with King Kendo to take him on. A heart condition occurred moments after Big Daddy hit him with a Big Splash for the finish.