Over the years we’ve seen many of our favorites leave us way too soon, and Droz passing of natural causes is the latest one.
While we’ve felt an impact from each one, Droz hit me a little different. It’s not so much that he was my favorite or anything like that, but because he was so unique.
Former NFL Player and WWE Star Darren Drozdov Passes Away
At the time he transitioned from the NFL to wrestling, I was a huge football and wrestling fan, and I even saw the Monday Night Football game where he puked on the sideline and Vince McMahon got that ridiculous name for him.
His move came when football players like Kevin Greene and Lawrence Taylor crossed over briefly, and were joined by late night talk show hosts and basketball players like Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone.
Making a name
Unlike them, he turned wrestling into a full time profession and was a hit with fans early on as he joined the Legion of Doom as their third member and insurance in case Hawk had some old habits flare up after a run as a mid card talent.
His most infamous storyline was when the WWE recreated Hawk’s substance abuse lifestyle and he climbed the titantron. Droz climbed up after him in the guise of helping Hawk, then pushed him off.
After that storyline was complete, he became a singles star again and then joined with Albert as a tag team.
Coming to an end
Droz’s career and life would change forever during a Smackdown TV tapping in October 1999 in a match against D’Lo Brown.
He took a running powerbomb but unfortunately thing went wrong as D’Lo’s grip slipped and he landed wrong. The result was Droz spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
D’Lo has said numerous times that he’s carried a huge amount of guilt over the accident, but it was just one of those things; a fluke that happens every now and then.
For his part, Droz has stated at every chance that he never blamed D’Lo for the accident and focused on the future and eventually move past being paralyzed. It was an uphill fight, but he was up for it.
While Droz did regain some movement, time moves on and his family shared a statement though the WWE that he passed away from natural causes.
He was many things to many people, and our hearts and thoughts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.
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