On-Topic RIP

[BomberPat]

At risk of becoming the Angel of Death for this thread...

Ed Wiskoski, best known as Colonel DeBeers of the AWA, aged 80. As ever, Greg Oliver at Slam Wrestling has done a great job with the obituary:

https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2025/01/26/colonel-debeers-ed-wiskoski-dead-at-80/

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Don't worry BomberPatsChutneySpoon you keep adding those Greg Oliver obituaries as they are always quality. 

[JLM]

Few days late,  but RIP Gran Hamada, aged 74.  

Pioneer of the "lucharesu" lucha-libre/Japanese Junior hybrid style of wrestling as seen in Michinoku Pro, Toryumon and just about everywhere else in one form or another. I love that style of wrestling dearly, so he has my gratitude.  I only saw him from the late 90s onwards, by which point he was already pushing 50, and he could still sprint with the best of them. Also notable to Western fans for being part of that six man tag at Barely Legal 97, during which he hit Mens Teioh with one of the finest headbutts ever captured on film:

 

Edited February 18, 2025 by JLM

[Hugh Thesz]

Hi,

 

Just a post to say that today is the thirtieth anniversary odlf Eddie Gilbert's death.

In my opinion, one of the greatest of all time.  

Terribly flawed, no one can dispute that, but the car accident changed wrestling history.

An insanely talented promo guy.

Can someone more tech talented than me please post his chain match with Terry Funk.from 1993 as a tribute.

Always missed.

RIP Eddie Gilbert

 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5c5ahb

done

 

Its on Daily motion

Edited February 18, 2025 by Tim Healys Chutney Spoon

[air_raid]

10 hours ago, JLM said:

Few days late,  but RIP Gran Hamada, aged 74. 

One of the weirdest matches I ever saw live was featuring daddy Hamada at Ayako’s anniversary show at Shinjuku Face. He wrestled Kana (Asuka) and spent most of the match just trying to grope her tits before finally pinning her. Always thought it was an odd match to do on your daughters show.

[SaitoRyo]

Former New Japan and All-Japan star Osamu Nishimura has passed away from cancer at the age of 53. He wrestled twice after his stage four diagnosis, notably in that Dory Funk Jr. tag for Onita's promotion last year. 

He'd already beaten cancer once in the late 90s and was also involved in politics, getting re-elected four times and serving in the Tokyo Bunkyo Ward Assembly until his death. ECW fans might remember his brief excursion there in the mid-90s, where he had a standout technical encounter with Al Snow. 

RIP. 

 

[Carbomb]

Well, that's rubbish news to wake up to. It was because of the late, much-missed @$tew and his love of Muga that I came to appreciate Nishimura and his "Zen" wrestling. Not for everyone, but I thought it was ace.

Fucking cancer. Sick of it. RIP.

[Dai]

Horrible news. Never saw it mentioned here before that he had cancer, so has come as a shock. The other huge fan of Nishimura from years back on this board was the guy who used to work for Silvervision, whose name escapes me at the moment (Steve I would like to say). He had a really lovely NJPW website, and his enthusiam for Muga got me into really enoying that NJPW run Nishimura had. This was still the days of buying DVDs, so I can remember buying plenty of DVDs where Nishimura was one of the main reasons. There was a tag match that he would always rave about which would be nice to rewtatch as a tribute, but cant remember the particulars. Maybe Tenzan/Kojima vs Nishimura/Nakaknishi. The taking off the boots spot was always superb too, to the point Im suprised no one has nicked it for themselves in the years since.

[JLM]

@Midnight Zeus

Midnight Express/Zeus/Zeusy Steve was definitely the first name that sprung to mind when I saw this news. The UK’s biggest NISH fan I’d say. 

 

[tiger_rick]

Bill Mercer passed away at the weekend, aged 99. The incredible voice of WCCW in it's heyday. He was also a longtime sportscaster and news anchor prior and served in World War 2. An iconic voice of wrestling and lived an incredible life.

[kidzero]

Yeah Bill I liked him form the episodes I watched of world class he was a bit dry but he did add that sportscaster feel to the show.

[Just Some Guy]

Picked up from another forum but Mick West has died.

Here he is against Clive Myers.

https://youtu.be/3Ge8nOLGgOQ?si=J77zf_YsON8g4Gjt

Edited April 9, 2025 by Just Some Guy

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

From Facebook.

Scott Conway

Rest in Peace, Scott Conway

 

We woke up this morning to the sad news of the passing of former wrestling promoter, second, and wrestler, Scott Conway.

 

Scott began his journey in the wrestling world in the 1980s, working as a second before stepping into the ring himself. He would go on to work with Brian Dixon before branching out to launch the Wrestling Alliance tours.

 

Later in life, Scott relocated from Southampton to Thailand, where he promoted shows under the TWF banner for a brief period. He also opened a British-themed restaurant and pub called World of Sport, a fitting tribute to the legacy of British wrestling.

 

Eventually, Scott returned to the UK, becoming a familiar face at the annual reunion events at The Bridges. In more recent years, he found a new passion running antique auctions. Despite health struggles, including a recent kidney transplant, Scott remained deeply connected to the wrestling community.

 

He leaves behind his partner Glenda and his beloved daughter. On behalf of everyone on this page, we send our heartfelt condolences to Scott’s family and friends.

[BomberPat]

a couple of big ones for the sickos...

Legendary luchadore Black Terry passed away on April 20th, aged 72. He wrestled for 50 years, was still taking bookings up until the end, and was one of the great old man wrestlers. Even though he never worked there i's kind of fitting, in a way, that I'm talking about him the week that WWE purchased AAA - one of my worries for that situation is that WWE have a very narrow idea of what a "luchadore" is, and that's played into a pet hate of mine, of using "lucha" to just mean hurricanranas and high-flying, when there's so much more to it; Black Terry combined some of the best of the Llave technical side of Lucha with the mad bloody old man brawling. Because lucha wasn't televised for a large chunk of his career, we're missing a ton of footage from his "prime", but what we have of him as an old man is incredible - the closest comparison I can think of is somewhere between Terry Funk and Tracy Smothers; someone who grew into their role as an elder statesman, who reinvented himself, and who kept up with trends and changes in wrestling rather than being stuck in the past.

 

Hisashi Shinma died on April 21st, aged 90. Possibly the most underappreciated figure in shaping wrestling history in the second half of the twentieth century, in Japan and beyond. He was a key business partner of Antonio Inoki's, and often the power behind the throne at NJPW - he's been credited with developing their junior division, with brokering the talent trade agreement with the WWF (and was an on-screen WWF President pre-Jack Tunney), and with recommending Satoru Sayama for the Tiger Mask gimmick, as well as moving NJPW away from the traditional formula of Japanese babyface vs. foreign heel and developing more all-Japanese main events, making the promotion more robust and sustainable rather than dependent on foreign stars. Beyond that, he was involved in the creation of the UWF and the development of shoot style, and was one of the key players in putting together Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali.