Playboy Buddy Rose Dead at 56

Legendary wrestling superstar "Playboy" Buddy Rose was found dead in his home this past Tuesday in Vancouver, Washington. Rose who was in the first ever match on a Wrestlemania card was found dead on his couch. He was just 56 years old.

Rose's major star status as a wrestler came during the 70's and 80's, with his work for both the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and WWF. At the first ever Wrestlemania, in the opening bout, Rose played the part of a masked wrestler named "Executioner" who lost to Tito Santana. Also to Rose's credit may be the rise of Rowdy Roddy Piper. Rose and Piper engaged in an early classic wrestling feud while both men were part of Don Owen's Pacific Northwest Wrestling. While Rose didn't achieve any titles within the WWF he shared the tag team titles several times while a part of the AWA and various NWA's. ESPN Classic had been airing many of Rose's classic matches and Buddy Rose himself wrote fans a personal message regarding them at his official website. After his retirement from wrestling, Rose opened his own training school for aspiring wrestlers and also hosted a call-in talk show on a Portland radio station.

There's no official cause of death yet, but a family friend reported that Rose was suffering from a variety of health issues including diabetes. RIP to Playboy Buddy Rose, and deepest condolences to his friends, family and fans.

More info about Playboy Buddy Rose at Wikipedia.org