Former WWE Developmental Talent Found Dead

[DodgerBlue]

Steve Bradley, a long-time WWF developmental talent in the late 1990s, was found dead earlier today in a parking lot across the street from a where he once operated a wrestling school in Manchester, NH. Bradley was only 32 years old.


Bradley, who had been wrestling independently since he was 15 or 16 years old, was signed to a WWE developmental deal in 1998 and was assigned to WWF developmental when it was based in Memphis, TN. He started about the same time as Kurt Angle, with the two feuding over the Power Pro Wrestling championship.
In 1999, Bradley won the third annual ECWA Super 8 tournament promoted by Jim Kettner, defeating current TNA star Christopher Daniels.


Bradley remained in the WWF developmental program through 2002 when he was released by the company. His work during his time in WWE developmental was largely similar to Rob Van Dam and in a way, he was lost in the shuffle when Van Dam signed with WWF in 2001. He was never brought up to the main roster beyond dark matches, but worked for the HWA, Ohio Valley Wrestling and other promotions affiliated with WWF at the time, including IWA Puerto Rico, where he held the promotion's Tag Team belts with Andy Anderson.


After he was released, Bradley returned to the New England area and opened a wrestling school, which he is believed to have shut down within the last six months.


Bradley was said to have had personal issues in recent years and I was told by one source that he was one of the former WWF contracted talents who took the company up on their offer of getting help over the past year.

[Geebi]

Rasslin' must be really hard on those guys, too many young guys dying in the past couple of years.

[DodgerBlue]

Originally Posted by Geebi

Rasslin' must be really hard on those guys, too many young guys dying in the past couple of years.

You're right Geebi. It's a very hard business. I'm not excusing the bad decisions that many of those folks have made but most people just say wrestling is fake and people don't realize what really goes into training not to mention the toll taken on your body and the brutal travel schedule. I saw Bradley work against Kurt Angle in Memphis when they were both coming up through the ranks. The guy was good. Sounds like his personal demons held him back. Sad indeed.

[DodgerBlue]

WWE Diva Victoria posted the following comments in her MySpace blog:



"I did hear some disturbing news today, which has me very introspective. A wrestler that I worked with when I was in Memphis Championship Wrestling passed away. He wrestled as Steve Bradley. I was his valet for most of my time in Memphis. He was only 32. As I mentioned in a previous blog, it is easy to lose touch with people in this industry. I went to Louisville, to work with Ohio Valley Wrestling. He went to Cincinnati to work with HWA. I can't sum up what kind of person Steve Bradley was in a paragraph or two. But he was good people, who went on to battle personal demons. And without having details on his passing, I can only assume that with that history, that when someone passes at 32, that in some way this contributed to his death."