{"id":49685,"date":"2019-07-01T23:21:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T03:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=49685"},"modified":"2019-07-01T23:23:20","modified_gmt":"2019-07-02T03:23:20","slug":"former-wcw-superstar-maxx-muscle-dead-at-56","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/07\/01\/former-wcw-superstar-maxx-muscle-dead-at-56\/","title":{"rendered":"Former WCW Superstar Maxx Muscle Dead at 56"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The wrestling community mourns the loss over another brother as word has gotten out that former WCW wrestler <strong>Maxx Muscle<\/strong> has passed away at the age of 56. Muscle &#8211; real name\u00a0John Czawlytko, passed away on Thursday, June 27. The news was announced by former WWE Superstar Marc Mero.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My condolences to the family and friends of John Czawlytko. John passed on Thursday June 27, 2019. He was best known in wrestling as Max Muscle, Bodyguard of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealDDP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RealDDP<\/a>. He was very instrumental in many of our matches. Nothing but good memories. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZKi5McmC53\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ZKi5McmC53<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Marc Mero (@MarcMero) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarcMero\/status\/1145652328214794240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A bodybuilder in the late 1980s and early 1990s,\u00a0John Czawlytko first started his career in Dallas, Texas&#8217; <strong>Global Wrestling Federation (GWF)<\/strong> in 1992 as Big Bad John. GWF had hoped to pick up from the demise of <strong>World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW)<\/strong> and was an early grooming promotion for the likes of <strong>Harlem Heat<\/strong> (Booker T &amp; Stevie Ray), <strong>X-Pac, Jerry Lynn, Raven, JBL, Buff Bagwell<\/strong>, and <strong>Eddie Gilbert<\/strong>. A year later, he headed to the WCW Power Plant to continue his training. At 6&#8217;4&#8243; and 330 lbs., the monstrous specimen had high hopes within WCW management. He spent his WCW time in 1993 working various WCW house shows in enhancement roles, still under his Big Bad John moniker.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_49691\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49691\" style=\"width: 358px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-49691\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/07\/265614078.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"358\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/07\/265614078.jpg 358w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/07\/265614078-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/07\/265614078-336x420.jpg 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 358px) 100vw, 358px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-49691\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He made his WCW TV debut in July of 1994, still as Big Bad John, in a losing effort against <strong>Ricky Steamboat\u00a0<\/strong>on\u00a0<em><strong>WCW Pro<\/strong><\/em>. That September, Big Bad John got his first title match, losing to <strong>&#8220;Hacksaw&#8221; Jim Duggan<\/strong> in a WCW United States Championship title defense on <em>WCW Pro<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BIG BAD JOHN vs. Steamboat\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Opyj8pToEY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 1995, he was repackaged as Maxx Muscle, becoming the bodyguard for <strong>Diamond Dallas Page<\/strong>. DDP had recently returned from injury and prior to that hiatus, ran <strong>The Diamond Mine<\/strong>, a faction that saw DDP largely in a managerial role with a squad that previously featured <strong>Vinnie Vegas<\/strong> (Kevin Nash), <strong>The Diamond Studd<\/strong> (Scott Hall), <strong>Johnny Flamingo<\/strong> (Raven) and others. By the time DDP returned from his torn ACL, Nash and Hall had left for WWE (to become <strong>Diesel<\/strong> and <strong>Razor Ramon<\/strong> respectively). DDP returned as a singles wrestler, accompanied by his wife <strong>Kimberly Page<\/strong> (The Diamond Doll) and Maxx Muscle as his bodyguard, effectively launching DDP&#8217;s singles career in WCW.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OtXwCRh2tPo<\/p>\n<p>By the end of 1995, he finally turned on DDP, in a story similar to that of <strong>Virgil<\/strong> and &#8220;Million Dollar Man&#8221; <strong>Ted DiBiase<\/strong>, but Maxx Muscle&#8217;s face run was short-lived. In early 1996, he joined <strong>Kevin Sullivan<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong>Dungeon of Doom<\/strong> (where his name was shortened to simply Maxx). He frequently tagged with <strong>Hugh Morrus<\/strong> (Bill DeMott) and <strong>The Shark<\/strong> (WWE&#8217;s Earthquake), as well as regular singles matches, including a WCW Television title match against champion <strong>Lex Luger\u00a0<\/strong>in his\u00a0<em><strong>Monday Nitro<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>debut on May 27, 1996.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Maxx Muscle vs Lex Luger [1996-11-09]\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XkE17HaRxj4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He would briefly reunite his feud with a now face DDP in 1997 (while still a Dungeon member), and he would make his second\u00a0<em>Nitro\u00a0<\/em>appearance in a loss to DDP on March 17, 1997. But WCW was no firmly entrenched in the Monday Night Wars against WWE, and Maxx became a casualty of war. His final WCW match was a tag team match with <strong>Rick Fuller<\/strong> in a loss to the <strong>Steiner Brothers<\/strong> on <em><strong>WCW Worldwide<\/strong><\/em> in May of 1997.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ME 5\/19\/96 American Males vs Shark &amp; Maxx Muscle- Sullivan &amp; Benoit Inv\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D7SD4NPdbTQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Following his WCW departure, he took a hiatus from pro wrestling, before returning to the indies in 1999 with his local indie promotion, <strong>Maryland Championship Wrestling<\/strong> (now MCW Pro). In 2000, he briefly worked for a new short-lived ECW rival, <strong>Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW)<\/strong> before retiring from pro wrestling. He would make a brief comeback in 2008 and 2009 for special events for Fort Worth, Texas&#8217; <strong>Insane Hardcore Wrestling Entertainment (IHWE)<\/strong>, before retiring for good in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>Last Word on Pro Wrestling sends its condolences to the family, friends, and peers of\u00a0John Czawlytko in this rough time.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for 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.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The wrestling community mourns the loss over another brother as word has gotten out that former WCW wrestler Maxx Muscle has passed away at the age of 56. Muscle &#8211; real name\u00a0John Czawlytko, passed away on Thursday, June 27. The news was announced by former WWE Superstar Marc Mero. My condolences to the family and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":49692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547,6],"tags":[5428,5427,250],"class_list":["post-49685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-memorium","category-north-america","tag-big-bad-john","tag-maxx-muscle","tag-wcw"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}