Former WWE Superstar Virgil Dead At 61

Best known to wrestling fans as Virgil or Vincent, Michael Jones has sadly passed away.

by Andrew Pollard
Virgil AEW
AEW/TNT

In some tragic news, Michael Jones - best known to wrestling fans as Virgil or Vincent - has died.

Taking to Facebook, Virgil's friend Mark Charles III announced that the former WWE and WCW star passed away earlier today. He was 61 years of age.

"My dear friends, it is with great sorrow that I bring news from the Jones family of the passing of our beloved Michael Jones, whom we know and loved as Virgil, Vincent, Soul Train Jones and more.Virgil passed peacefully at the hospital this morning and I ask that you pray for him and for his family.May his memory be eternal!"

Virgil had been dealing with various health issues in recent years, including two major strokes and early stage dementia.

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Michael Jones' pro wrestling career began back in 1985, working in Memphis under the Soul Train Jones moniker. The following year would see Jones land in the then-WWF as an enhancement talent known as Lucius Brown, before 1987 saw him repackaged as Virgil and made the bodyguard of Ted DiBiase.

Virgil would operate alongside DiBiase through until 1991, helping the Million Dollar Man score wins by any means necessary. The pair would split at the '91 Royal Rumble, DiBiase turning on Virgil and making the powerhouse a fan favourite who, having taken some pointers from the babyface Roddy Piper, took Ted's Million Dollar Title at that year's SummerSlam.

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After departing the WWF in August 1995, Virgil would head to WCW in '96, taking on the Vincent name and becoming the nWo's Head of Security. That WCW spell would last until 2000, with him changing from Vincent to Shane, to Curly Bill, to Mr. Jones, and finally going by his real name of Mike Jones during his final months with the promotion. Occasional WWE appearances followed in subsequent years, and more recently Jones had a couple of outings in AEW during Chris Jericho's run as the inaugural AEW World Champion.

The thoughts of all us at WhatCulture Wrestling go out to the family, friends, and fans of Michael Jones at this sad time.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.