25 Professional Wrestlers Who Died Way Too Young

Former WCW star, who also had a short-lived career in WWE, Chris Kanyon may be remembered best for one of the most fun gimmicks of all time -- near the end of WCW's existence, he emulated DDP and was all over TV giving people random Kanyon Kutters. Sadly, at 40 years old, shortly after coming out as gay, he committed suicide by overdosing on antidepressants.

After some success at the end of WCW as a young, up-and-coming tag team wrestler who won the Tag Titles with two different partners, he came to WWE in a small role teaming with Chuck Palumbo. After being cut down to developmental for a while, he reemerged on SmackDown in highly acclaimed video packages as sort of a devil's advocate persona, but it never clicked on live TV and his WWE career was soon over. He was found in his home after committing suicide by hanging himself at age 43.

Best known as a multiple time ECW Champion and for his brutal matches with Masato Tanaka, Mike Awesome also played unfortunate roles in WCW, such as portraying the "Fat Chick Thriller" and "That 70s Guy." He also holds the distinction of being the first WCW wrestler to win a WWE title during the Invasion angle. He is another wrestler who ended his own life, hanging himself at 42.

Known as one of the most talented women ever in the wrestling business, Sherri Martel was a wrestler, and more prominently a manager for the likes of Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Harlem Heat. Her most high-profile work took place in late-80s and early 90s WWF, as an integral part of the Savage/Ultimate Warrior retirement angle and the manager that led Michaels into the "Sexy Boy" character that defined his career. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, but was found dead from a drug overdose at age 49.

Andrew "Test" Martin's first big role was as the on-screen love interest of Stephanie McMahon, but he lost her to her future real-life husband Triple H. He was a fairly successful singles and tag wrestler, and held multiple titles. He returned to the new ECW and was very different physically, coming back with a huge muscular physique. He was released after being suspended for a Wellness Policy violation and died of an accidental overdose on pills just days before his 34th birthday.

Chris Candido found success in the WWF as Skip with his manager Sunny, whom were later joined by Zip and became known as short-term Tag Champions The Bodydonnas. He wrestled in ECW as a member of the Triple Threat group with Shane Douglas and Bam Bam Bigelow. He had relationship problems with long-time girlfriend Sunny and fell off the map for a time until returning as a wrestler and manager in TNA. He died of an unexpected blood clot in his leg at the age of 33 just four days after a bad broken leg that occurred during a cage match.

Bam Bam may be best known as the wrestler who lost to football star Lawrence Taylor in the main event of WrestleMania XI. He was a skilled big man who made his name being incredibly agile for his large size and had great success in ECW and WCW, along with the WWF. He was found dead due to an accidental drug overdose at 45 years old.

Rick Rude was a big star in the WWF in the 80s, feuding with Jake Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior. He portrayed a full-of-himself womanizer and was famous for airbrushed tights that he wrestled in. After leaving the WWF at the tail-end of the 80s, he won the NWA Heavyweight Title in JCP/WCW, and was the company’s top champion three times. Rude is infamous for appearing on WWF RAW and WCW Nitro on the same night. He died at age 40 of an accidental drug overdose.

Louie Spicolli became well-known in the United States after wrestling on the famous AAA When Worlds Collide PPV. He wrestled for a short time in the WWF before being let go following a drug overdose that almost took his life at 25. He wrestled in both ECW and WCW for short periods of time afterward, but died at only 27 years old after overdosing on Somas and wine when he relapsed after getting clean when he learned that his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Former friend and tag team partner of Eddie Guerrero, Art Barr innovated the frog splash, which Eddie adopted after his passing. He left a big mark on professional wrestling in his short time, becoming, along with Guerrero, one half of the most hated tag team in Mexico. He began drinking and using drugs due to loneliness and missing his wife and child, and died at 28 of a possible heart attack caused by the drugs and alcohol.

Hot Stuff ended up in WCW, where he was involved with the likes of Ric Flair and Sting. Gilbert is most fondly remembered by those in the business as a booker, and he broke into the business with Paul Heyman, who took over for him in ECW. Gilbert died at 33 when he had a heart attack, attributed to complications from his car accident and his significant use of painkillers for the years after.

Lance Cade made his biggest impact as one half of the Cade & Murdoch tag team, who came to some prominence during one of the many down periods of the WWE tag team division. He was unable to gain traction as a singles wrestler after Murdoch was released, and eventually was released as well; he wrestled for a short time in Japan and the US independents. Cade died at 29 years old of a heart problem, ruled as coming from an accidental drug overdose.

The lightest superheavyweight of all time, Crash Holly entered the WWF in 1999 as Hardcore Holly's cousin. He is known for his time carrying a scale to the ring along with his "cousin," as well as his prolific 22 Hardcore Title reigns. He started the popular 24/7 defense rule for that title. Crash was found dead at 32 after an overdose on pills mixed with alcohol, which was ruled a suicide. He had just received divorce papers from his wife.

Big Bossman was a big star in the 1980s, originally as Big Bubba Rogers with the NWA feuding with Dusty Rhodes and then playing foil to megastar Hulk Hogan in the WWF. He left there in the early 1990s and went back to WCW, where he feuded with Vader and later was part of the nWo angle. He is known best by Attitude Era fans as the bodyguard of Mr. McMahon, dressed in all black. He died of a heart attack at age 41.

He gained his biggest success as Samoan savage Umaga. Umaga ran through everybody in preparation to challenge John Cena, a feud which saw an amazing Last Man Standing match. He had various other feuds, and his last WWE match was a strap match against CM Punk. Umaga was released from WWE after refusing to go to rehab after his second Wellness Policy violation, and died a few months later after suffering two heart attacks due to a drug overdose at the age of 34.

The No. 1 female in the wrestling industry, possibly of all time, Miss Elizabeth was classy and dignified. She was the real-life wife and on-screen wife and valet of Randy Savage. She was used in many storylines as being the jealous Savage's much sought after wife. They went to WCW together, and Elizabeth adopted a tougher persona, fitting in with the mid-1990s style and attitude. She had a tumultuous real-life relationship with Lex Luger after her divorce from Randy Savage, and she died of acute toxicity due to painkillers and vodka.

Mr. Perfect may be the best wrestler to never win the WWF Title. He was a stellar wrestler who embodied his gimmick in the WWF in the 80s and 90s before going to WCW and using his real name, Curt Hennig. He didn't join the WWF after WCW folded, but appeared in the 2002 Royal Rumble match and stayed for a short time before being let go after an incident on a plane with Brock Lesnar. Hennig was found dead in a hotel room at 44, dying from acute cocaine intoxication.

One half of the legendary Legion of Doom with Road Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk was a giant man who was known for loud and crazy prematch promos. They traveled the world and wrestled as a star tag team for virtually every major company. Hawk fell into a drug and alcohol abuse problem, which was exploited on WWF TV, causing the Road Warriors to leave the company. Hawk beat his demons, but in 2003 his heart succumbed to the damage caused by the addictions and died of a heart attack in his sleep at 46.

A member of the long history of Samoan heritage in wrestling, Yokozuna wrestled in the WWF as a giant sumo, representing Japan. He won two WWF Championships (and was the first Samoan to win the WWF Title) and main evented two WrestleManias in a row. He won the 1993 Royal Rumble and was credited with ending Hulkamania in 1994. He passed at only 34 of a pulmonary edema, partially caused by his weight, which was more than 580 pounds at the time of his death.

Dr. Death was a major star in Japan as a singles and tag team wrestler, known to many as one of the hardest-hitting wrestlers of all time. He was the favorite when the WWF held the first and only Brawl For All shoot fight tournament, but lost in a fluke to Bart Gunn. He wrestled in WCW, WWF and ECW in the United States. He died at the age of 49 of lung cancer, not being able to beat it for a second time.

Maybe the biggest star in the history of Japanese pro wrestling, Mitsuharu Misawa wrestled for New Japan and All Japan and had classic battles against the likes of Kenta Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada. After becoming the president of All Japan, he decided instead to form his own wrestling company, NOAH, which became, for a time, the top promotion in the country. He wrestled only two matches on American soil, both for independent company Ring of Honor, which occurred shortly before his death in 2009. He died at 46 after receiving a back suplex that impacted his spine. An official cause of death was never released.

Brian Pillman was one of the first wrestlers to truly bring the high-flying lucha libre influenced style in the the United States. He gained notoriety as Flyin' Brian in WCW and teamed with Steve Austin as one half of the Hollywood Blondes. He created the Loose Cannon gimmick that he became known for. He died of a congenital heart condition on the day he was supposed to wrestle Dude Love on PPV at the age of 35.

The tragic Von Erich family saw much success in the business, with the five brothers all gaining different levels of achievements through the years. Four of them died young; Michael (self-inflicted gunshot at 23), Chris (drug overdose at 21) and Kerry (self-inflicted gunshot at 33) all committed suicide. While the accepted story is that David died of inflammation of the lower intestine at 25, many wrestlers believe his death was suicide by drug overdose. All four died before their father.

Owen Hart may not have ever stepped out of the shadow of big brother Bret, but his accomplishments speak for themselves -- Slammy Award winner, multiple time Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion and part of some of the best matches in WWF history. His sad demise came shortly after his 34th birthday when he fell from near the top of the Kemper Arena due to a cable malfunction.

Eddie was the most successful member of his legendary family, winning multiple titles all over the world, including in WCW and WWE, where he became WWE Champion in 2004. He had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse that ended up with him out of the company for a period of time before coming back and finding his greatest success. Sadly, even though he was clean, his years of abuse caught up with him and he died of an enlarged heart at 38.