10 Things You Didn't Know About Balls Mahoney
Dead cats, blood and Satanism; let's talk Balls.
Another day passes, and another professional wrestler dies. Such news comes with depressing regularity, and this time it is the name 'Balls Mahoney' that is etched into the news columns and twitter feeds of peers and contemporaries alike. Balls, real name Jonathan Rechner, was found dead yesterday at his home in New Jersey. He was 44 years old.
Balls is best remembered for his time in ECW, where he gained a decent following due in large part to his 'hilarious' name and fondness for taking more chair shots than any sane man should. Balls also had a brief run as part of the revamped WWECW in the mid 2000s, where strangely enough he was part of romantic storyline with Kelly Kelly of all people.
As with the death of any young wrestler, it is easy to throw accusations of this, that and whatever at the departed, to say you saw it coming or something equally crass. Rather than heading to that low level, let's look at some of the lesser known facts about the man and his life.
Here's 10 things you may not have known about the Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freak, Balls Mahoney.
10. Chris Candido Was His Best Friend
Way before he became Balls Mahoney, Jonathan Rechner was a slightly overweight kid who had one real obsession; professional wrestling. There isn't anything particularly unusual about this, but as with many stories one chance meeting would change his life forever.
Aged 10 (or 11, Balls was a little fuzzy on this), Rechner met a kid by the name of Chris Candido. The two were on opposite teams in a game of baseball, but neither wanted to be there. They were there because their parents wanted them to pursue a sport that wasn't wrestling. Maybe it was fate, divine intervention or even just a foul ball, but the two started talking and happened upon their connection.
It transpired that they lived only five blocks apart from each other, and a friendship was born. Candido was the grandson of 'Popeye' Chuck Richards, and as a result the two worked on ring crew in New Jersey promotions. Their careers would mirror each other, through the halls of New Jersey to Smokey Mountain Wrestling and eventually to ECW.