At one point, Chris Candido had the world in his hands. He was one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, he married one of WWESunny’s most popular divas, quickly rising through the ranks in both WWE and ECW. However, life doesn’t always go as planned. Her time in WWE ended sooner than she expected. Addiction problems arose and her marriage ended on the rocks.
It was after he overcame his addiction problems and got his life back on track that things ended tragically. Cándido was back on an important stage of national wrestling. His marriage was intact. He even looked like he might be a big star again. However, just like that, he died at age 33 after what should have been routine surgery.
Chris Candido’s path to WWE began with ECW and Jim Cornette
Chris Candido got his start in wrestling as a teenager in New Jersey. In 1986, he and a friend began working in the ring mounting industry. He then went on to train at Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory and then made his in-ring debut that same year. Cándido was 14 years old when he worked his first game. In 1993, Candido came to ECW before Extreme, where he worked in a stable known as The Suicide Blondes. This led Jim Cornette to take notice of the fighter.
Candido had developed a crush on Tammy Lynn Sytch in high school and the two joined Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling together, where she worked as his manager. He won several titles while working for Cornette and then even won his only world title when he captured the NWA World Championship after Shane Douglas vacated the title when ECW broke up. He held the title for three months and then a year later he and Tammy signed with WWE.
WWE changed her name to Skip and turned Tammy into Sunny, and they faced off against a tandem of fitness gurus who often mocked other wrestlers for being out of shape. It was here that Sunny became one of WWE’s biggest stars and Candido found his greatest national success as part of the Bodydonnas with Tom Prichard (Zip). However, it was also here that his life began to unravel. Reports that Sunny cheated on him with various wrestlers strained her marriage. It was also when both fighters began to experiment more with drugs.
Chris Candido had stints in ECW and WCW after leaving WWE
In an interview, Chris Candido’s brother Jonny said that when they came to WWE, they started abusing drugs more. He was in eighth grade when this happened, but he said that he remembered a lot of bad things that happened with his and Sunny’s brother. Many of his stories were horrible and it was obvious that things had to change fast or Chris could end up dead. In 1996, Chris left WWE for ECW, and Sunny eventually joined him there.
This was a new beginning for Cándido. Sunny was only in ECW for a limited time, but Candido himself became part of Shane Douglas’ Triple Threat faction with Bam Bam Bigelow. He had a long tag team title reign with Lance Storm before he finally left after three years. After this, Candido worked in WCW for a short time in 2000, but mostly disappeared from the world of professional wrestling outside of independent promotions.
The tragic death of Chris Candido occurred after an injury in TNA Wrestling
According to Jonny, Chris Candido was using more and more drugs to block out the idea that Sunny was cheating on him. “He desperately didn’t want to believe it because she came home to him every night, and he literally had this unconditional love for her,” Jonny said. “He was so nice and so naive; he…would believe anything she told him.”
However, this is not how his life would end. Chris reportedly got his life back under control. He even got another chance to wrestle on a big stage again when he signed with TNA Wrestling in 2005. He worked with some top stars including AJ Styles, Dustin Rhodes and Diamond Dallas Page. Candido was climbing the ladder, but it all came crashing down when he broke his leg in a tag team match at Lockdown 2005. TNA kept him involved in the storylines, even making him go out in a wheelchair to help The Naturals win the titles. of labels. However, that episode aired days after his death.
At age 33, Chris Candido had titanium plates and screws inserted into his legs after the injury. While he was recovering, he ended up developing a blood clot in his leg. Although many people believe the blood clot killed him, his brother Jonny said the autopsy indicated the cause of death was acute pneumonia, caused by a sleeping pill he received against doctor’s orders. His lungs reportedly filled with fluid and he died while he was recovering from surgery. TNA honored him with a tag team tournament in his name and in 2009, the Hardcore Hall of Fame inducted him into its membership.