The imprint of ECW can never be forgotten by the wrestling world. Their brand of Extreme wrestling helped push along the WWE’s Attitude Era and cause many companies to embrace a hardcore style matches. One of the original warriors from this revolution lost life this week.
Brian Knighton better known as Axl Rotten died at the age of 44 on Thursday. Rotten was in ECW from 1993 to 1999 as he helped their transition from Eastern Championship Wrestling to the better known Extreme brand. He also worked in WCW in the beginning of his career and also did brief spots with the WWE and TNA.
Known for barbed wire matches and his bloody feud with form tag team partner Ian Rotten of which he formed the team Bad Breed with. After a solo run Axl formed another popular tag team with Balls Mahoney which he rolled with until the completion of his career with ECW. Rotten has performed on the indies and in numerous spot shows around the world.
Axl had been battling health issues over past few years and had been confined to a wheel chair. He currently has a documentary that he recorded in 2015 that is available on Youtube. It’s definitely worth the watch to as he explains his career and how he arrived at the injures he got. The video is called “Extreme Injuries and Hardcore Recovery”. Rotten even shares his thoughts on the current product and different guys that he liked.
Police as of now have not confirmed Rotten’s cause of death. His body was found at a McDonalds across from a hotel where he was staying. Hopefully Axl can find the peace in death that he was searching for in life.
Written By
Keith B. Holt
Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr
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