{"id":67636,"date":"2020-04-28T14:48:02","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T18:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=67636"},"modified":"2020-04-28T14:48:02","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T18:48:02","slug":"chris-candido-15-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/04\/28\/chris-candido-15-years\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Years Ago: The Passing of Chris Candido (VIDEOS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was on April 28, 2005, that the pro wrestling world was stunned to hear of the passing of former WWE, ECW, and WCW Superstar Chris Candido<\/strong>. Candido had gone to the hospital after feeling ill only to discover he had pneumonia. His condition worsened through the day and despite efforts to drain his lungs, he passed away that evening (while some stories claim Candido died from a blood clot in his leg, his brother Jonny has stated it was from “acute pneumonia”). He was only 33 years old. While his runs in WWE and WCW never quite took off like expected, Candido’s effect on the rising indie scene in the United States in the 1990s had a lifelong impact.<\/p>\n

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As NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion in 1995<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Growing up in New Jersey, Candido and his high school friend Jonathan Rechner (who would go on to become Balls Mahoney<\/strong> in ECW) would hang around the local indie and help set up the ring, and when Candido turned 14 in 1986, they began training at Larry Sharpe<\/strong>‘s Monster Factory<\/strong>. It was around this time that he would meet his lifelong companion, Tammy Lynn Sytch<\/strong> (aka Sunny in WWF) while attending Red Bank Catholic High School in New Jersey. Candido would work the local promotions, such as Sharpes’ World Wrestling Association (WWA)<\/strong>, until joining Jerry Lawler<\/strong> and Jerry Jarrett<\/strong>‘s United States Wrestling Association (UWSA)<\/strong> in 1991 as a 19-year old.<\/p>\n