Former WWE and NFL star Darren Drozdov died Friday of natural causes. He was 54 years old.
“Darren, affectionately known as ‘Droz,’ was involved in a tragic in-ring accident while wrestling for WWE in 1999 that left him a quadriplegic,” his family told the World Wrestling Entertainment organization in a statement Friday.
His family praised the former athlete for maintaining “a championship mentality” for nearly a quarter of a century. His loved ones added that Drozdov “lived every day to the fullest” before using his words as a testament.
“There’s always another day,” Drozdov admirably proclaimed in the past, according to his family. “Just because I’m paralyzed and stuck in a wheelchair doesn’t mean my life is over. I have learned to live again, and my life is far from over”.
The New Jersey native reportedly had a brief football career with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos from 1993 to 1995. However, his claim to fame as a player came from vomiting on the field during a “Monday Night Football” game.
Drozdov was nicknamed “Puke” for his so-called talent of vomiting on command.
Determined to reach his potential as an athlete, however, he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1997. However, it only took Droz a year to sign with his most famous WWE competitor, the former CEO of which Vince McMahon once asked to see Droz throw up.
On October 5, 1999, however, Drozdov was seriously injured in the ring while fighting D’Lo Brown and fell on his head. The accident saw Drozdov break two priceless vertebrae in his neck and consequently crippled him for the rest of his life.
Drozdov later admitted that the condition was often overwhelming despite his courage to accept it, saying in 2014 that he was regularly forced to lie down for long stretches and take dozens of medications daily for muscle spasms and pain .
“For some reason, even as a kid, I always had a strong premonition that I was going to die young,” he told Fox Sports. “I don’t know why, but I’ve had this feeling for as long as I can remember. I guess in a way, when the accident happened, a big part of me did die.”
Drozdov added that cannabis helped him get rid of constant headaches.
“Drozdov captivated audiences in the late 1990s with his time in the Legion of Doom teaming with Animal and his Droz’s World vignettes,” WWE wrote in their statement. “WWE extends its condolences to Darren Drozdov’s family, friends and fans”.
Former teammates, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, shared their condolences online.
“Man, I’m so sorry to hear that one of our ring brothers has died,” the ex-wrestler tweeted on Friday. “We wrestled many cards together. Such a great guy. Great personality and great wrestling talent. We always talked about football and fishing.”
Johnson continued: “Sending love, strength, mana and light to his family. RIP bro.”
