Longtime indie fans were saddened to hear of the passing of Big Slam, a 31-year veteran of the US indies who got his start in 1989 as Crybaby Waldo. His death was originally announced by his wife on her Facebook page. He was just 54 years old.
Philadelphia’s Walter MacDonald began his journey into professional wrestling in 1989 as Crybaby Waldo, and started working in the East Coast indies with the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA). In 1992, he joined Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW), but left before the company went “Extreme” in 1994. In the mid-90s, he changed his name to Big Slam Vader, and began working for the likes of Virginia’s Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance (IPWA), North Carolina’s NWA 2000 and Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW), and many other regional indie promotions on the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic area.
He was no stranger to some of the heavy-hitting, making his debut with Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in 1999, and in 2001, he made his debut with Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW, the promotion that became Game Changer Wrestling in 2015). He won multiple championships over his 31-year career, including the NWA National Heavyweight Championship (currently held by Aron Stevens, formerly Damian Sandow, in the new NWA) in 1997, as well as the IPWA Heavyweight Championship and the NWA Jersey Heavyweight Championship. He continued to work up until recent health issues, including promoting his own shows.
Last Word on Pro Wrestling sends our deepest condolences to Walter MacDonald’s family, as well as his friends, peers, and colleagues in the pro wrestling community. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
Rest in Peace Walt McDonald aka Crybaby Waldo aka Big Slam Vader. You were a good dude and were very kind to me. Rest easy my friend.
— Brian Heffron aka The Blue Meanie (@BlueMeanieBWO) July 27, 2020
I am so sad to hear Big Slam passed away. I’ve known Waldo from day one of my career. First to manage him as one of The Monks prior to us both being part of Tri State Wrestling.
Rest well my friend.#RIPSlam
— Jim Molineaux ✌️❤️ (@jimmolineaux) July 28, 2020
