Professional wrestler King Kong Bundy has died at age 61.
Promoter and longtime friend David Herro says Bundy died on Monday. Herro posted on Facebook: “Today we lost a Legend and a man I consider family.”
The cause of death and other details were not disclosed.
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The World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) released a statement following the news of Bundy’s passing.
“WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Legend King Kong Bundy has passed away,” the statement read.
It continued: “Bundy was appropriately called the ‘walking condominium,’ standing at an impressive six foot four inches and weighing 458 pounds. The sight of Bundy stepping between the ropes was intimidating enough, but his crushing offence proved that he was every bit as destructive as advertised. In fact, Bundy was so dominant that he demanded referees count to five when he pinned his opponents to show that there was no way they were getting up.”
They said that Bundy “broke into WWE in the 1980s, dominating at the first WrestleMania and memorably challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship inside a Steel Cage at WrestleMania 2.”
“WWE extends its condolences to Bundy’s family, friends and fans,” the statement concluded.
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Bundy, whose real name was Christopher Pallies, was born in Atlantic City, N.J. The wrestler made his World Wrestling Federation debut in 1981.
He was best known for facing Hulk Hogan in 1986 in WrestleMania 2. Hogan won.
Bundy had guest appearances on the sitcom Married…with Children.
He was planning to appear next month at WrestleCon in New York City.
Many fans of the wrestler and people in the WWE community took to Twitter to share their condolences.
— With files from the Associated Press