38 Wrestlers Who Died In 2025
27. Bill Mercer (22 March)
Legendary sportscaster Bill Mercer, the voice behind Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling, passed away on 22 March at the ripe old age of 99 years old.
Born William A. Mercer on 13 February, 1926, he served as a United States Navy signalman during the Second World War before developing his trade as a radio broadcaster, where he became the first to report on the murder charges brought against Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of then-US President, John F. Kennedy. It wasn't until 1982, however, that Mercer finally got his break as a wrestling broadcaster, joining WCCW for an acclaimed five-year stretch, though his association with the family began way before: when Bill was a broadcaster for the University of North Texas, he called games that starred Kevin Adkisson, the future Kevin von Erich, as well as Steve Williams, who would become the iconic 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.
His contributions to the art of radio led him into numerous radio Halls of Fame, while in his later life, Bill swapped the headset for a keyboard, penning two books. He co-wrote When The News Went Live: Dallas 1963, detailing his coverage of the Kennedy Assassination, and he published a memoir, Play-by-Play: Tales From A Sportscasting Insider.