10 Wrestlers Who Died In 2016
9. Gypsy Joe
A former NWA Light Heavyweight Champion, Gypsy Joe never enjoyed prolonged success in the major American promotions. He’s primarily known for his incredible longevity in the wrestling business, having debuted in 1951 and wrestled his last match at the ripe old age of 77 years old in 2011, and his June 2016 passing came through complications following an extended illness.
Joe was a renowned hardcore brawler who, legend has it, was the first wrestler to ever dive from a steel cage onto a downed opponent. He built his reputation through a series of ferocious deathmatches in Japan, and Joe’s 2015 WWE Hall of Fame induction officially recognised his status as an early hardcore wrestling pioneer.
Joe’s strongest run came in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when he was a regular fixture for All Japan Pro Wrestling. His big break came while working in Puerto Rico during the 1950s, and while he never quite broke out under the McMahons’ umbrella, he started working for the then-WWWF in 1963.
2003 saw Joe infamously run afoul of New Jack, who legitimately attacked the 69-year-old with a chain, barbed wire baseball bat, and several other weapons during a hardcore match. He was coronated the world’s oldest active wrestler (73) by WWE Magazine in 2007, and appeared as recently as 2010 as Necro Butcher’s mentor in Ring of Honor.