The new year began with four fatalities in the professional wrestling industry.
A look back at the performers that passed away in January is provided below:
BLACK BART
On January 9, Richard Harris, popularly known to wrestling fans as Black Bart, passed away.
He was seventy-six.
The announcement was made a few days after his family posted on his Facebook page that he had entered hospice care and stopped receiving chemotherapy in his fight against cancer.
A message on his Facebook page on Thursday said, “You may know him as Black Bart, but to me he was my husband Ricky.”He departed from us this morning. This morning at 5:26, he was declared. He is at peace now.
On January 4, his condition was first disclosed by his family.
Although I had not yet made a statement, I made the decision to inform his family that he is on hospice care, as stated in the post on his Facebook page. We are grateful for the prayers and hope they will continue, however as I previously stated, he is no longer receiving chemotherapy, and his illness was found to be stage 4 in 2022.
He revealed his Stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis to his followers for the first time in 2023.
Beginning his wrestling career in 1975, the 6-foot-4, 350-pound native of Arkansas worked for numerous promotions.
Harris played Black Bart in the WWE for a brief period of time, from 1990 to 1991. In 1991, he also worked for WCW, and he kept wrestling until 2002 after leaving that organization.
Colonel DeBeers
Ed Wiskowski passed away on January 26. He was best known as professional wrestler Colonel DeBeers.
He was eighty years old.
Ed Wiskowski, also known to wrestling fans as Colonel DeBeers, passed away at the age of 80. The Cauliflower Alley Club posted on X to announce the news with great regret. We send our deepest sympathies to his loved ones, friends, and supporters around the globe. I appreciate the recollections. Goodbye, sir.
One of the greatest of all time, Harley Race, trained DeBeers, who also competed as The Polish Prince. According to Wrestle Zone, he started his career in 1972 and had a successful tenure in the AWA, where he engaged in feuds with past stars like Scott Hall and Jimmy Snuka.
The 275-pound, 6-foot-4 fighter’s last bout took place in 2005.
Up until 2006, Wiskowski also operated a wrestling school.
HUNTER Q ROBBINS III
Fightful.com reports that Hunter Q. Robbins III passed away on January 11.
According to the website, Robbins III, whose real name was Robin Hunt, managed famed wrestler Sabu during his ECW debut. In ECW, he oversaw The Suicide Blondes and The Super Destroyers as well.
According to Fightful, Robbins produced and directed a number of movies after wrestling, including Coming Undone.
SWEET DADDY SIKI
The news of Sweet Daddy Siki’s death didn’t get out until 2025, even though he passed away on New Year’s Eve.
He was ninety-one.
After a protracted fight with dementia, Siki passed away at Humber Hospital in Toronto.
He wrestled until the 1980s, having started his career in the 1950s. According to the website, he subsequently trained a few well-known wrestlers, including as Christian Cage and Adam Copeland.
According to SLAM, Sika was a native of Grimes, Texas, and his true name was Elkin James. According to SLAM, James was a veteran of the United States Army who supposedly entered the world of professional wrestling after leaving the military.
He was one of the first African-American heels, according to SLAM, which means he was not scared to push the boundaries and played a villain in the ring. According to the website, after the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, he changed his name to Mau Mau Siki, and his angry admirers were waiting for him outside.
According to SLAM, he claimed that I was the last one to exit the dressing room and that there were others waiting for me outside. Up up the tree, they had a rope.
You can read more about the talented, groundbreaking, envelope pushing in SLAM s in-depthremembrance of his career and life here.