In a Facebook post in late October, Axl Rotten (Brian Knighton) shared a photo of himself with Jake Roberts along with the caption "We've both been to Hell & Back several times and WE are STILL here." This week, he didnt come back. Axl passed away at the age of 44. Another sad loss in the world of wrestling. And once again, far, far too young. Theres the hardcore heroes like Mick Foley whose bodies endured a tremendous amount of abuse, but had the support system and money after wrestling to lead a relatively normal life. Then theres the guys like Axl, who emerge physically and financially broken. It may not have been wrestling itself that caused his issues, but the rockstar lifestyle and brutal beatings he suffered through surely took their toll. Go back to the ECW Heat Wave pay-per-view of 1998. There were seven matches on the show, only two of which dont have someone in the match or featured at ringside who are now deceased. These are men that should be in their mid 40s and 50s, and either wrestling safe matches at local indy shows, or signing autographs at conventions, or just living their lives. Axl was an interesting guy, in the documentary Extreme Injuries, Hardcore Recovery we got a glimpse into the life of the man, that sadly was very close to his final act. He came across as well-spoken, intelligent, and open about giving everything he had to give for the sport he loved. In the end, he gave too much. Time to kick out.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
