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Wrestler Took Drugs, Had Heart Problem

Posted: Mar 4th 2007 By: CMBurnham

Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, the popular professional wrestler with the fiery tattoo on his skull, had toxic levels of cocaine and the antianxiety drug benzodiazepine in his system when he was found dead in January, an autopsy revealed.

A contributing factor in Bigelow's death was arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, narrowing of small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart, said Bill Pellan, director of investigations for the Pasco-Pinellas Medical Examiner's Office.

The death was ruled an accident.

Bigelow's girlfriend, Janis Remiesiewicz, found the 45-year-old dead inside his Hudson home Jan. 19. After Bigelow's death, Dave Meltzer, editor and founder of the internationally distributed Wrestling Observer newsletter, characterized a trend of pro wrestlers who died at 45 and younger as "just ridiculous."

On Friday, Meltzer said the presence of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease on wrestlers' death certificates has been "pretty consistent" in recent years.

Bigelow is one of several prominent professional wrestlers to have died in the Tampa Bay area since 2003, when Curt Hennig, 44, who also wrestled as Mr. Perfect, was found dead of a cocaine overdose in his Tampa hotel room before a match that February.

Eight months later, Road Warrior Hawk, also known as Michael Hegstrand, 45, was found dead at his Seminole home. He was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition in 2001.

Last month, Michael Lee Alfonso, 42, of Tampa, who wrestled in several prominent organizations for 17 years as Mike Awesome, was found dead at his Tampa home. An obituary did not state his cause of death.

In November 2005, Tampa native Eddie Guerrero, 38, a major World Wrestling Entertainment star, was found dead in a Minneapolis hotel room.

Guerrero's widow, Vickie, told The Associated Press that Guerrero's autopsy showed signs of heart disease, which she blamed on past alcohol and drug abuse combined with an aggressive workout regimen.

By 2002, Bigelow, a Neptune, N.J., native who had wrestled all over the globe since the 1980s, had all but retired from pro wrestling.

Life outside the ropes was often turbulent. He divorced and said in an interview last year that he didn't see his sons, Shane and Colton, and daughter, Ricci, all of New Jersey, as often as he wanted.

In October 2005, Bigelow was involved in a motorcycle wreck on State Road 50 in Hernando County that nearly killed Remiesiewicz, his girlfriend. The Florida Highway Patrol said the motorcycle was traveling 80 to 90 mph when it crashed.

Bigelow was charged with driving under the influence with serious bodily injury, driving under the influence, driving without a motorcycle license and driving with a suspended New Jersey license. The case was not resolved when he died.