By Sir Lawrence Alegdrop
Well, wrestling fans, a lot has happened since my last column here at Wormwood, and not much of it is good news, Iım sad to say. Iım not talking about the change of the WWF to WWE. I could care less about that promotion, and Iıve thought it has been for WeeWees for a long time now anyway. What Iım talking about is the numerous deaths the sport of professional wrestling has seen in recent months. Unfortunately, the death toll since my last column is so high I donıt even have enough space here to talk about them all, so Iım going to report on the four most important: Big Dick Dudley, Davey Boy Smith, Chief Wahoo McDaniel, and Lou Thesz.

Big Dick Dudley was born Alex Rizzo. He grew to a mountainous 6 foot 4 inches and 340 pounds. He was trained by legendary WWF undercard man, ³Unpredictable² Johnny Rodz. Paul Heyman put him in the ever-growing Dudley group as a monster heel and he fit that bill pretty darn good. However, legal problems kept Heyman from giving Rizzo a bigger push.

Rizzo received his chance when WCW took ECWıs resident monster heel, 911, for their own. Unfortunately, by that time wrestlingıs third largest US promotion was on its way downhill, leaving Rizzo to look for greener pastures. He went to Xtreme Pro Wrestling in Los Angeles, and proved himself to be a hardcore legend wherever he competed, possessing one of the best chokeslams in the business. He died of kidney failure at the age of 37. He will be remembered for his ominous stature and intense looks heıd give opponents, oh yeah, and the chairshots, my gawd, the chairshots!

Davey Boy Smithıs death is still surrounded by controversy, as the circumstances surrounding of his death remain uncertain. Smith was dating Andrea Hart, Bretıs sister-in-law and Bruceıs wife at the time of his death. Police received four different stories on his cause of death, that he choked on a chicken bone, drowned in a swimming pool, that he died in bed, and the last story was not disclosed.

There is now a suspicion of murder surrounding the case, as Smith was involved with a convicted murderer, whom Davey Boy met while he himself was involved in scrapes with the law just prior to his death. This one may go down as one of the strangest pro wrestling deaths in history. Smithıs wrestling credentials speak for themselves.

He was involved in one of the greatest tag teams in history along with Dynamite Kid as the British Bulldogs. When Dynamite was forced to retire due to injuries suffered in the ring, Smith shined brightly as a singles competitor in both of the big two. He was also involved in the (then) WWFıs return to blood at an In Your House pay per-view match with Bret Hart. His final days were met with numerous injuries as well, forcing him to slow down in the ring. Smith was 39.

Chief Wahoo McDaniel was a legendary Indian wrestler of the 60s through the late 80s and he even wrestled indie shows throughout the 90s. He was born Ed McDaniel and was a true athlete, growing up playing Pony League baseball under the tutelage of former President George Bush (minus the ³W²), and went on to play football for the University of Oklahoma (eat yourheart out JR). (Wahoo still holds the record for the longest punt ever...an amazing 96 yards! - Sports hack Mality)

His wrestling career saw him involved in many blood feuds with the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair and Manny Fernandez, and Wahoo even teamed with fellow Indian-type wrestler Jay Strongbow (who was wrestling under his real name of Joe Scarpa at the time) in Georgia. McDaniel died of diabetes complications at the age of 63.

Lou Thesz was arguably the greatest of all time. He held six World Titles spanning five decades. His first World title win over Everett Marshall in 1937 still stands today as the youngest man to ever win the strap, at the age of 21. (Didn't Tommy Rich become champ at age 18?--Dr. Mality) He was trained by fellow legend Ed ³Strangler² Lewis, who also managed him throughout much of his career.

Thesz was also present during the formation of the NWA back in the late 40s, and held that belt three times, once for over six years. He held his last version of a World Title in 1977 in Mexico and continued to come out of retirement for major shows around the world up to the early 90s. Wrestling has certainly changed a lot since Theszıs heyday, but no one can argue this manıs wrestling prowess.

Behind the scenes he was well known for his knowledge of wrestlingıs ³hooks,² or holds that are technically illegal in any form of the sport. This knowledge came in handy in the shady sport of wrestling so that no one could ever beat Thesz in a legitimate shoot. This is why he he held the belt for so long; if no can beat your man in a legitimate shoot, you donıt have to worry about a rival promoter screwing you. The Virginian Pilot of Hampton Roads once reported that in a snap of the fingers Thesz could ³snap your legbone.² He died shortly after triple bypass heart surgery days after his 87th birthday.

Several other wrestlers who recently passed away which Iıll list here whom I donıt have the space to cover include Russian matman George Gordienko, and midget legend the Haiti Kid(Star of the all-time classic "Penitentiary 3"--Mality).

Sir Lawrence Alegdrop is a disgraced member of the British royalty with an affinity for pro wrestling. He is assisted by Bill Camp, who writes a wrestling nostalgia column at http:www.kayfabememories.com. To contact this writer, send your email to: alegdrop@wormwoodchronicles.com