Pro wrestler Chris Candido (real name Chris Candito) died of a blood clot on April 29, following surgery to mend his broken ankle suffered at TNA’s PPV last weekend. He was 33.
Boy, this is another tough loss...
I remember first seeing a video of Chris on some indy show in the early 90s and thought, “This guy’s pretty good.”
Not long afterwards, he was tearing up Smoky Mountain Wrestling as a cocky heel, then suddenly he got the callp-up from Vince McMahon and was in the WWF.
Sadly, Chris’s talents were overshadowed by the beauty of the WWF’s first diva Sunny (his real-life girlfriend Tammy Sytch). And both their talents were overshadowed by drug abuse that ended their mainstream careers.
Neither Chris nor Tammy really recovered and their stints in WCW, ECW and other indy feds ended in disaster (I remember them touring Oz in 1999 and the local workers said the couple were horrible to deal with and constantly fucked up on drugs).
In 2004, Tammy quit the biz that was destroying her while Chris got his act together and started working hard to turn his life around.
While I don’t receive TNA, from what I read, Chris was doing well in the fed and was well-respected by everyone. His accident at the Lockdown PPV was an unfortunate accident; his death an unforseen and unexpected shock.
I enjoyed watching Candido’s ring antics over the past 12 years. I’ll miss him.
The following extract comes from veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer’s web site at www.liveaudiowrestling.com/wo/. I thought it was worth reprinting.
“There are times when famous wrestlers pass away and everyone starts talking about what wonderful people they were, and sometimes, you almost have to bite your tongue. This is not one of those times.
Through thick and thin, through the bad times, and they were many, I don't think you'll find anyone arguing whether Chris Candido was a really nice guy. He made a comeback at a time when everyone in the industry had given up on him. He was recently brought into TNA just as a test to put people over, and wound up winning a roster spot and was liked by everyone. If the circumstances of his death that are stated are accurate, it is one of the greatest tragedies of all. Practically everyone in wrestling who was at death's door at one point in their lives will say or have their friends say that are reformed. As history has shown, the vast majority of the times, it isn't true. What a lot of people don't understand, is for the minority who it turns out to be true about, it is a daily battle, as some, like William Regal and Eddie Guerrero will openly talk about. Chris loved pro wrestling, even though it came close to killing him at one point in his life. It was more living out his childhood dream than making money. I think he enjoyed it every bit as much when he was barely making ends meet than when he was under a six-figure contract. He was on the road right out of high school. He had a bright future. He squandered that future. But he was determined the end the story of his wrestling career on a high note and with respect of the people in the profession that he had at times let down. He was on the road to doing all that.What happened is one of those things that happen in life. There is no rhyme nor reason. Life isn't fair. You can question all you want about a guy who fought back from something that most never come back from, but then suffered a fluke broken leg, and suddenly, with no warning, this happened. Chris was very excited about his future in wrestling, particularly because he was starting to escape from the shadow of his past. The 6/10 and potentially 6/12 (if he was to be allowed to participate) were huge deals for him, and whether he would be able to wrestle or not, he was excited to be part of them. Candido's last pro wrestling appearance will air today on the TNA Impact show. I'm told they will do a tribute graphic for him on the show, I believe at both the beginning and the end of the show. Before the show started, Candido came up with his own angle, because in a cruel twist of irony, he had been in a wheelchair at a ruse for the last few weeks on television. Candido came up with the storyline that his real broken leg on Sunday was his karma for the ruse, which led to the tag team title change and what was told to me was the best Impact match in a long time. There was debate whether the match should air at all. Shane Douglas who was his best friend in the company, felt 100% certain Candido would have wanted it to air. So that was the decision.No death of a person you know at a young age isn't sad in some form, whether you know them personally, or followed their lives simply watching them work from a young age. Many people followed Chris from when he was a very young man, and some since he was just a teenager. But for many reasons, this one is harder than most. It's not just because it doesn't appear to have been self-inflicted, but because this was the phone call for years that many people feared we could get at any time. And just when we thought we knew it would never come, it came.”
