In Memory of Conrad Efraim - Special Delivery Jones

On Monday, Conrad Efraim, better known as wrestler "Special Delivery Jones" died of a stroke at the age of 63. The former WWF star of the 80's was said to be in good health by his wife Kay.

SLAM! Sports reported the following from Efraim's wife:

"On Wednesday, he was laughing and singing and all of that," she told SLAM! Wrestling from Antigua. "He went to feed the dogs, and when he came back, he called my name. He said, 'Kay.' He showed me his fingers, and the next thing I know, his body went limp. We went to the doctor's, and he had three-quarters of his brain bleeding, covered with blood."

In the hospital, he could write but not speak. "He wrote, 'I want to go straight to New York,'" she recalled with a chuckle. "He recognized me, and squeezed my hand"

Born in 1945, in Antigua of the West Indies, Efraim began his wrestling career in the 70's working with WWWF. He eventually went on to win the NWA Tag team titles several times, and after being known as Roosevelt Jones for some time, he finally adopted the nickname "Special Delivery". The 6'1" 260 pounder was known as a great entertainer, capable of winning or losing a match in very believable fashion. At the first ever Wrestlemania, Jones lost to King Kong Bundy in a record 9 seconds. Jones told SLAM! Sports that the loss didn't hurt him all that much as it offered a big, big payday. S.D. Jones would go on to team up with wrestling greats like Rocky Johnson and Andre the Giant for many tag team matches. At one point, Jones teamed up with Tony Atlas and the two men tried several times for the WWWF tag team titles. The duo couldn't do it, with Jones saying it was his fault. Eventually, Rocky Johnson teamed up with Atlas and they won the titles, only to lose them 3 weeks later. Jones retired after over 20 years of wrestling action (1971-1991).

At SLAM! Sports, Jones' wife offered the following about Jones being a fan favorite:

"He loved it. He loved to be a wrestler," she said, explaining that he got energy from his fans; "They were a part of his life for years and years and years, and we do appreciate a lot of them. He really, really loved the fans."

Jones was last seen at a WWE event for Wrestlemania 22, where he presented the legendary Tony Atlas into the WWE Hall of Fame. He is survived by his wife, Kay, his son, two daughters, Donna and Abigail, and four grandchildren.

WWE.com has a writeup about the wrestler as well as photos and videos.

Info Sources:

S.D. Jones dies in Antigua

Conrad Efraim - Wikipedia.org