WWE fans... Curt Hennig?

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » February 10, 2003, 11:02 pm

Anyone know the story on this? Saw the "In Memory of" at the start of Raw, anyone who's in the know have a clue what happened?

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » February 10, 2003, 11:11 pm

Did a standard search on Google and Yahoo and came up with nothing special. His dad was a cool wrestler way back when I was a kid. Larry "The Axe" Henning.

Found it! Curt Henning

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » February 10, 2003, 11:15 pm

Was hoping for somthing a bit more in depth than that.. what happened to him, other than the obvious fact that he's dead..

Karae · Post by **Karae** » February 10, 2003, 11:16 pm

BRANDON, Fla. -- Professional wrestler Curt ``Mr. Perfect'' Hennig was found dead in a hotel room Monday. Officials said foul play wasn't suspected.

Hennig, 44, of Champlin, Minn., was scheduled to appear Monday night at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.

A housekeeper at the Homestead Suites Hotel found Hennig in a room about 1:30 p.m, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Hennig was not breathing and was pronounced dead at the scene.

His body has been turned over to the Medical Examiner's Office, and the sheriff's office was investigating.

Hennig, the son Minneapolis wrestler Larry ``The Axe'' Hennig, has wrestled professionally for more than 30 years, according to an online biography. He worked for the World Wrestling Federation and most recently wrestled for Jimmy Hart All-Star Wrestling.

--Will be interesting to see what the cause of death turns out to be.

Legenae · Post by **Legenae** » February 10, 2003, 11:19 pm

The WWE site says he passed away. No other info.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » February 10, 2003, 11:19 pm

I just saw a blurb on TSN (canadian ESPN). So far they only know that he was found dead in his hotel room.

It's kind of sad. I used to watch wrestling twice a week with my dad when I was little, and I remember always rooting for "mister perfect" because he was so cool and confident and almost always won. Even though he was almost never a face, he had enough charisma to always have a fan base years and years before being bad was "cool" in the WWF.

Most wrestlers die early because the way they physically and chemically abuse their bodies so badly, but 44 is pretty young.

Revs · Post by **Revs** » February 11, 2003, 1:12 am

Brian Pillman, Ravishing Rick Rude, The British Bulldog and now him?

Knibble · Post by **Knibble** » February 11, 2003, 2:25 am

Revs.. Don't forget Owen Hart as well.

Sparck · Post by **Sparck** » February 11, 2003, 2:26 am

Rick Rude used to be one of my favorite wrestlers because he was so arrogant. I didn't know he died....what happened?

Knibble · Post by **Knibble** » February 11, 2003, 2:28 am

Think Rick Rude died of a drug overdose.

Spankes · Post by **Spankes** » February 11, 2003, 3:54 am

Heart attack.

Trek · Post by **Trek** » February 11, 2003, 4:08 am

Can't believe I know all those names, I havent watched in 15 years or something. Thats to bad about all of em.

Xaem · Post by **Xaem** » February 11, 2003, 4:53 am

Henning probably just died of a drug overdose..

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » February 11, 2003, 9:52 am

I truly am sad that Mr. Perfect has passed on. As a child, I was a huge wrestling fan, and revived that fan base during college. Mr. Perfect has, and always will be, one of the greatest wrestlers to grace the entertainment ring.

/salute

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » February 11, 2003, 10:26 am

Don't forget the Von Erich kid that died from toxic shock syndrome....and Andre the Giant. If I remember correctly, wasn't Rick Rude also a national arm wrestling champion before he went on to wrestling in the NWA?

Long live the perfect-plex! <sigh>

Bigno · Post by **Bigno** » February 11, 2003, 11:09 am

When did the British Bulldog die?..

Shashonna · Post by **Shashonna** » February 11, 2003, 1:38 pm

He died May 17th 2002

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 11, 2003, 2:18 pm

I used to watch him wrestle back in the day.

Didn't WWF spin this one as sort of a bad guy at one point?

Anyhow, Very sad. Condolences to the family.

Knibble · Post by **Knibble** » February 11, 2003, 3:51 pm

Ahh Jake the Snake Roberts died of a drug overdose.
During the last part of Tough Enough 3 a wrestler died..Who was it again

Post by **Sylvus** » February 11, 2003, 4:09 pm

I think the one that died during Tough Enough 3 was really old. Whoever that trainer guy with the long goatee and all the tattoos was that started crying when he told the kids, he said that the guy who died had brought him up in the sport. I'm assuming it was an old-timer.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 11, 2003, 4:33 pm

Knibble wrote:Ahh Jake the Snake Roberts died of a drug overdose.

What the fuck are you talking about?
As of a few weeks ago, Jake the Snake was still alive.

Masekle · Post by **Masekle** » February 11, 2003, 4:37 pm

Thats what I thought. I watched a documentory on his life the other night. The guy is old and fat and doing the on the road autograph thing circuit, at various grange halls and highschool gymnasiams, throughout the midwest.

Jarori Bloodletter · February 11, 2003, 4:57 pm

Anyone remember Playboy Buddie Rose?

heheheeh

I saw The Claw in Portland when I was a kid..ya I am old~

Masekle · Post by **Masekle** » February 11, 2003, 5:07 pm

Lonnie mayne the origanal blonde bomber

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » February 11, 2003, 5:12 pm

I think I heard The Sheik (the original from way back) died recently as well. And Owen Hart in that ugly fall on pay per view.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 11, 2003, 5:13 pm

I heard the Iron Sheik was doing a small-time circuit with King Kong Bundy and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart.

Badabidi · Post by **Badabidi** » February 11, 2003, 5:19 pm

Yokozuna is another dead wrestler to add to the list...

It shocked me when I heard about Hennig being found dead in his hotel room yesterday on the radio. He was supposed to wrestle at the fair that night, I wonder wtf happened

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » February 11, 2003, 5:20 pm

Different Sheik. The Iron Sheik from the 80's is still alive and kicking. The Sheik from the 60s and 70s that was around with Bruno Samartino and co is the one I heard died.

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » February 11, 2003, 5:43 pm

Rocko Rock from public enemy died during TE3.

Texas Tornado also died a while back.. took his own life.

Always liked Curt Henning.. A sad thing.

Klydon · Post by **Klydon** » February 11, 2003, 11:01 pm

I can't find the link, but there is a site out there that was off of Arn Anderson's old site called wRESTin peace. It had a listing of all the people associated with wrestling that had died and listed the cause many times.

Speculation in the case of Rude and Bulldog is that constant steroid abuse finally did them in. It is becoming rather noticble that many of the wrestlers are suddenly dropping dead in their mid to late 30's early 40's. How guys like the Ultimate Warrior and Hogan keep going is anyones guess with the amount of crap they took. Scott Steiner is another one that is going to drop some day suddenly.

Heard an interview from Animal of the Road Warriors that Jake is quite the crack head these days and that is why he can't really get on with any promotion.

Sad to hear Henning has passed on and it will be interesting to hear what the results of the medical examiners report say.

Trek · Post by **Trek** » February 11, 2003, 11:05 pm

We all know Bonesaw is teh win!

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » February 11, 2003, 11:34 pm

Steiner ain't going to drop suddenly.

He's going to explode.
Literally.

Badabidi · Post by **Badabidi** » February 12, 2003, 12:58 am

Yeah you can say that again Akaran, that guy has so many problems as it is, I'm surprised he can do any kind of lifting without breaking his back or something.

Masekle · Post by **Masekle** » February 12, 2003, 3:29 am

When I first started going to wrestling matches there was Dutch Savage, Lonnie Mayne, Bull Ramos, Jimmy Snuka, Sandy Barr, Rick Flair, Jesse Ventura, Roddy Piper, Rick Martel, John Ansom and the Iron Shiek were a tag team, Jay Youngblood

Hell there were so many more that arnt around now. Bah I am way old =(

Mplor · Post by **Mplor** » February 12, 2003, 3:44 am

Karae · Post by **Karae** » February 12, 2003, 3:59 am

Holy shit..Mplor~

Mplor · Post by **Mplor** » February 12, 2003, 4:00 am

I figured I'd re-introduce myself with a self portrait. Hi Karae!

Forthe · Post by **Forthe** » February 12, 2003, 4:02 am

http://www.deansplanet.com/deadwrestler.html

Karae · Post by **Karae** » February 12, 2003, 4:04 am

Akaran_D wrote:Steiner ain't going to drop suddenly.

He's going to explode.
Literally.

God yes...that's what I think everytime I see him. He looks incredibly unhealthy.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » February 12, 2003, 5:15 am

Forthe wrote:http://www.deansplanet.com/deadwrestler.html

Its pretty sad to see so many faces I remember from watching wrestling when I was little dead of a heart attack at like age 39-40. Vince Mcmahon should be thrown in jail for ruining so many lives.

Kelfain · Post by **Kelfain** » February 12, 2003, 8:59 am

I used to love the old promos they used to have with Mr. Perfect on Saturday Night's Main event. Basically they would consist of him doing things like sinking an insane number of 3 point basketball shots in a row, hitting a string of pitches out of the park, and sinking every ball on a pool table on a break. All were obviously done with camera tricks, but Hennig played up the "Mr. Perfect" attitude so well I just loved him. A buddy of mine told me he had died on the phone earlier and I was pretty bummed out.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » February 12, 2003, 10:56 am

The Ultimate Warrior is not alive. The one you have seen over the last few years is his replacement. The original died probably 10 years ago.

edit: Just went to that site and read the list. Jesus that is depressing. I remember nearly every one of them. I can't even imagine how the mother and other family members in the Von Erich family can cope with all that.

Trek · Post by **Trek** » February 12, 2003, 12:04 pm

lol @ Brutus teh Barber!

I did not see the Ultimate Warrior dead, unless it was that Renegade guy in the dead wrestler list.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 12, 2003, 12:15 pm

The Real 'Ultimate Warrior' = Jim Hellwig = Alive
The New 'Ultimate Warrior' = Rick Wilson = Suicide

Trek · Post by **Trek** » February 12, 2003, 12:16 pm

Thanks for clearing that up, I never saw the new guy.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 12, 2003, 12:19 pm

Here's the lowdown on the Ultimate Warrior:

How many wrestlers have played The Ultimate Warrior?
One. Jim Hellwig is the only wrestler to ever play the Warrior. He had used different hair styles and ring wear but it is the same guy. When he returned to the WWF after one of his leaves he also looked smaller which led to rumours of a different wrestler portraying The Warrior. But this was due to the fact that he had stopped using steroids and his physique had suffered as a result.

Is Ultimate Warrior still alive?
He certainly is. These rumours surfaced from time to time whenever Warrior disappeard from wrestling. Around 1993 there was a big rumor that he tied his arm bands he wears to the ring too tight and cut off his blood supply. The rumour, apart from being ridiculous was of course false.

Where is he now?
Warrior currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona where he works on numerous Warrior related projects. At the time of writing this, Warrior is working on a book as well as building himself a career as a motivational speaker.

Will he ever return to wrestling?
In Warriors commentary on ultimatewarrior.com dated 06/06/02 he rules out a return to Titan Sports.
He was also in talks with WWA but these broke down when WWA started advertising Warrior for their events before he had signed or even formally agreed to work for them.
He states he has been in negotiation with NWA/TNA but decided against appearing on their programming.
He also states however that he would consider working in the independants for a promoter who wants to do something decent and good-natured. He would consider this a step up rather than a step down.

Who were Power Team USA and The Blade Runners?
Power Team USA was a group of bodybuilders put together by Red Bastien and Rick Bassman in California in 1985. Bastien planned to train them to become wrestlers but soon after he broke up the groups when he found out they couldn't do anything decent in the ring. The group consisted of Jim "Justice" Hellwig, Steve "Flash" Borden, Mark "Commando" Miller, and Garland "Glory" Donnoho.
After the split Miller quit the wrestling business and so did Donnoho after a short stint wrestling in California as "The Myth".
Hellwig and Borden teamed together in independent federations as the Blade Runners. The group did not last long and Hellwig went on to be The Dingo Warrior in Texas and then the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF. Borden went on to be Sting in NWA/WCW.

Did he change his last name to Warrior?
Yes. In order to keep his Ultimate Warrior gimmick and name Jim Hellwig had his last name legally changed to Warrior. The change took place after the left the WWF in 1991. When Warrior signed with WWF again in 1996 part if the deal was that Warrior would obtain all legal rights to the Warrior gimmick which meant that Warrior could use the name anywhere outside the WWF and would get all the revenues generated from the name.
After Warrior left WWF in 1996 both filed lawsuits against each other claiming they had the rights to the name. WWF claimed Warrior did not get to keep the name because he didn't live up to his contract. Warrior claimed WWF was unfair to his contract and that he owned the name before 1996 anyway. The case was settled in a court in Arizona sometime around 2001. Warrior won the case.

Why did he leave the WWF in 1991?
Going in to Summerslam '91 Warrior requested that he be paid the same money as Hulk Hogan for competing in the main event vs Slaughter, Mustafa & Adnan and also that his salary matched Hogans after the PPV. Vince McMahon agreed to Warriors demands but went back on his word after Summerslam prompting Warrior to leave.

Why did he leave the WWF in 1992?
Before Survior Series 1992 Warrior found out he was going to be moved into a lesser position and would be starting a long feud with Nailz. Warrior's contract let him leave at anytime so instead of being de-pushed he decided to leave the WWF. He was rarely seen or mentioned on WWF television until 1996.

Why did he leave the WWF in 1996?
The Warrior returned to the WWF in 1996 on condition that he have full rights to Ultimate Warrior merchandise and that he have creative control over his charachter. The WWF agreed to this and the Warrior resumed work for WWF.
The Warrior missed some house shows to spend time with his dying father and eventually to mourn his death. The WWF then fired him citing him as unreliable and tried to regain the rights to the Ultimate Warrior name, merchandise etc. This led to a court battle for the rights to the name which Warrior eventually won.

Trek · Post by **Trek** » February 12, 2003, 12:36 pm

I guess theres a really good reason why I never saw 'the new guy'.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » February 12, 2003, 2:17 pm

That was interesting Miir, thanks for posting it. A good friend of mine (and ex-roomate) works with a guy whose brother is what I guess you would call a script-writer for the WWF. He was the one who told us that the Ultimate Warrior was not the original and that the first died, etc. Can't always rely on second hand info, but he did usually come through with some really good stuff.