29 Wrestlers Who Died In 2019

In late June, WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page announced that his friend and former on-screen bodyguard John 'Max Muscle' Czawlytko had died. He was 56.

In the early '90s, Czawlytko swapped bodybuilding for bone-bending, working around the independent circuit as The Brute alongside Bryan 'The Beast' Carreiro. In 1993, he earned his big break, when WCW took a chance on the 315 pounder, signing him up to a developmental contract.

After graduating from the company's Power Plant, Czawlytko was parachuted into the WCW prelims under the prosaic name 'Big Bad John'. Two years on, he was repackaged as 'Max Muscle', and could most regularly be spotted providing protection for Diamond Dallas Page. This 'protection' generally extended to cheating in Page's favour.

The alliance was short-lived however, and in 1996 Muscle split from his employer, with the two inevitably clashing in the ring. DDP had no trouble putting away his former charge, who subsequently went on a brief, unsuccessful run as a babyface. By 1997, he was once again heel, his name reduced simply to Maxx as part of the Dungeon of Doom stable. He contested with Page once more, with similar results.

Czawlytko was let go by WCW that year, after which he took a two year hiatus from the industry. He continued to make sporadic appearances on the independent circuit until 2009.