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Who's Next?
By: Brady Lewis

The phrase was uttered by Bill Goldberg many times during his run.

"Who’s next?"

Today I find myself wondering just who is next.

In the past three weeks, we’ve had four wrestlers die, all of whom I respected for their work.  First it was Bam Bam Bigelow, then it was Mike Awesome.  Now it is Ernie Ladd and, perhaps saddest to me, Bad News Allen.

I understand that each death was separate and in no way related.  Hell, there is no evidence that the wrestling business had anything to do with their fates.  Supposed causes of death include:  drug overdose, suicide, cancer, and heart attack, respectively. 

I’m not going to blame wrestling or Vince McMahon as some might.  While there is some truth to these allegations, I’m not here to throw blame around. 

All I want is to say that these men worked hard for our entertainment.  They may not have been the most famous names, or the most successful stars, or the best wrestlers, but they did what they could to entertain us. 

The past few years have seen a number of deaths in wrestling.  Eddie Guerrero, Rick Rude, Curt Henning, Chris Candito, Davey Boy Smith, Johnny Grunge, Ray Traylor, John Tenta, Owen Hart, and Michael Hegstrand to name a few. 

Again, they were not the biggest stars, but they deserve the respect of us fans.  As a fan, I hope you have a memory of each of these men somewhere.

I’ll remember the Big Boss Man beating the Mountie, who then had to spend the night in jail.  I’ll remember Earthquake crushing Jake Robert’s snake.  I’ll remember Bigelow vs. RVD.  I’ll remember Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka.  I’ll remember Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect and vs. Owen Hart.  I’ll remember Rude beating the Warrior with Heenan’s help.  I’ll remember the Ghetto Blaster.  I’ll remember the final seconds of WrestleMania, with Guerrero and Benoit locked in an emotional embrace.

I’ll remember all that and more.