2025 Wrestling RIP thread

[ka-to]

Osamu Nishimura has died from cancer. I'm saddened by this. I had run into him occasionally over the years and he was a gentleman.

プロレスラーで文京区議会議員の西村修さんが５３歳で死去　２０２４年からステージ４の食道がんで闘病 | 東スポWEB

[jaedmc]

That sucks. Only 53. Nish was so good as an old vet technician in Puro Love era All Japan.

[odessasteps]

I would have thought he was a little older.  I guess that’s why people were discussing his ECW with Al Snow earlier. 

Forgot to mention: great as The Calamari Wrestler. 

Edited February 28 by odessasteps

[Zimbra]

What a shame, 53 is too young.

Gonna watch some MUGA tonight in his honor.

[WebConn89]

 

[odessasteps]

I had forgotten he once had a match in Chikara.

And Wiki tells me his original Florida trainers were Brian Blair, Hiro Matsuda and Don Jardine. That’s a trio.

[WebConn89]

@odessasteps I could not find the Chikara match but I did find this

 

[BrianS81177]

On 2/26/2025 at 8:55 PM, odessasteps said:

 

Coss was a really good announcer. Shame he never got a chance on the national level.

[colonial]

AAA is reporting that one of its former wrestlers, Australian Suicide, recently died at just 32.

He popped up during AEWs pandemic shows as enhancement under the name "El Australiano."

Remember hearing he was a decent prospect, but he just vanished post-pandemic.

[Dewar]

32 is way too young to die. RIP. 

[iwcnorm]

I worked with Osama in Detroit a few times when Phyllis Lee and Dan Severn were promoting shows.

He had one match against Frank Stalletto, in which I managed Frank back in 1995. I have a VHS of it somewhere. Will have to revisit it. 

Edited March 12 by iwcnorm
Misspelling

[ka-to]

Rico Suave (Crazy Sheik) from Puerto Rico has died. I think that he was supposed to be this year's honoree at WWC Anniversario.  

[Cobra Commander]

reading reports that Bill Mercer passed at 99

[Curt McGirt]

Yeah I'm reading reports and it looks legit. Nobody's got to Wiki yet. If so, that's one helluva run. He beat Lance Russell, who only made it to 91. 

Reading about him is pretty wild. He was a Navy man in WWII in Guam and the islands (my granddad was a Marine sergeant on Iwo Jima and Guadalcana, so a personal connection), he became a news anchor who covered the Kennedy assassination IN Dallas. Check this:

Quote

Mercer covered the topic extensively from the field for KRLD and later became the first reporter to inform the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, that he would be charged with murder for his actions.

Whoaaaaaaa.

Then here is his sports announcing history prior to wrestling, which is very significant.

Spoiler

In his 60+ year career, Mercer provided play-by-play broadcasting for several minor league teams: First, the Muskogee Giants of the Class C Western Association, then the Dallas Rangers (Triple A baseball) from 1959 to 1964, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs (Texas League baseball) from 1965 to 1971. He then moved up to broadcast for major league baseball's Texas Rangers (major league baseball) in 1972 (with Don Drysdale) and Chicago White Sox in 1974. Mercer also provided play-by-play for University of North Texas (known as North Texas State College until 1961, and North Texas State University from 1961 to 1988) football and basketball from 1959 to 1994. Mercer's first broadcasts for professional teams began with the Dallas Texans (American Football League) in 1960 with Charlie Jones, then for the Dallas Cowboys (National Football League) from 1966 to 1971. Initially, Mercer provided color commentary with Jay Randolph in 1965 for the Cowboys, then became the play-by-play announcer when Randolph moved to St. Louis the following year. In the 1980s, Mercer broadcast Southwest Conference football and basketball for Mutual Radio. In the 2000s, he assisted Mike Capps with play-by-play for Round Rock Express minor league baseball of the Texas League (currently in the Pacific Coast League,) and for three years with Scott Garner of the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League. While at KRLD-AM/TV in Dallas, he served seven years as color commentator for CBS Radio's annual broadcasts of the Cotton Bowl Classic college football game.[1] Mercer is also noted for calling the "Ice Bowl," the NFL championship game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers in 1967, along with the Cowboys' second Super Bowl appearance in January, 1972.

If you don't know about it, read up about the Ice Bowl sometime because it's fuckin' crazy.

Someone needs to call a "sleep hold" next week in his honor. 

RIP

[Cliff Hanger]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Yeah I'm reading reports and it looks legit. Nobody's got to Wiki yet. If so, that's one helluva run. He beat Lance Russell, who only made it to 91. 

Reading about him is pretty wild. He was a Navy man in WWII in Guam and the islands (my granddad was a Marine sergeant on Iwo Jima and Guadalcana, so a personal connection), he became a news anchor who covered the Kennedy assassination IN Dallas. Check this:

Whoaaaaaaa.

 

This is like when I found out that Michael Cole was the reporter I heard every morning on the way to school during the Waco standoff.

[Cobra Commander]

just found out that Emma Tiedemann (PBP announcer for the Portland Sea Dogs, former PBP for the Lexington Legends, commentated a game for the Red Sox last August) is the granddaughter of Bill Mercer

[odessasteps]

 

[Curt McGirt]

Incredible seeing him as a young man at the end there. Just a shock. 

[odessasteps]

 

[Curt McGirt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX3eBGjpW5M&ab_channel=NFLFilms

I was exposed to it from the 30 for 30 on it but this is close enough.

[ka-to]

20 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

 

  Hide contents

 

Someone needs to call a "sleep hold" next week in his honor. 

RIP

Get Shawn Mick-els to do it.

[Curt McGirt]

That's what he called Shawn? 

[Technico Support]

23 hours ago, Cliff Hanger said:

This is like when I found out that Michael Cole was the reporter I heard every morning on the way to school during the Waco standoff.

Oh man, now I can’t stop imagining Waco coverage conducted through Vince-isms.  “David Koresh compromised himself to a permanent end.  Word is many of his followers have been taken to a local medical facility.”

Edited March 24 by Technico Support

[Spaceman Spiff]

49 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Oh man, now I can’t stop imagining Waco coverage conducted through Vince-isms.  “David Koresh compromised himself to a permanent end.  Word is many of his followers the Koresh Universe have been taken to a local medical facility.”

Ooh, almost perfect.

[Cliff Hanger]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

Oh man, now I can’t stop imagining Waco coverage conducted through Vince-isms.  “David Koresh compromised himself to a permanent end.  Word is many of his followers have been taken to a local medical facility.”

Amazing. (Given that his two big stories for CBS Radio, the ones he won awards for, were being their man on the ground for Waco and OKC, it's really no wonder he preferred putting up with Vince's shit for 30 years after.)