Wrasslin' Ramblins: Grim Thoughts on the Royal Rumble

I'm watching the Ric Flair DVD the WWE put out recently...it's a good collection.

I like that it contains the entire 60 minute Royal Rumble from 1992, when Flair was the last man standing to win the World Title.

I got to wondering, since wrestlers have quite the low average lifespan, how many were dead.

Two of the 30 participants in the 1992 Royal Rumble are no longer with us. Which is actually a lower number than I thought had died. 1991's Rumble takes the cake....a whopping 6 out of the 30 participants have left us. Those from 1992, however, are: The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, who suffered a heart attack in 2002, and the Texas Tornado Kerry von Erich, who took his own life in 1994.

But notable from around the ring.....referee Joey Marella died in a car wreck in 1994....ring announcer Gorilla Monsoon died due to diabetic complications in 1999....Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig, who acts as Flair's manager and escorts him to the ring, died in 2003....and former WWF President Jack Tunney, who appears briefly at the Rumble's beginning, died earlier this week.