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Chris Candido

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Chris Candito
File:Candido-nwatag.jpg
BornMarch 21, 1972
Spring Lake, New Jersey
DiedApril 28, 2005
Matawan, New Jersey
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Skip
Chris Candido
Billed height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Billed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Billed fromSpring Lake, New Jersey
Trained byLarry Sharpe
Debut1986
Retired2005

Chris Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005), better known by his ring names, Chris Candido and Skip, was an American professional wrestler best known for his participation in the World Wrestling Federation tag team known as The Bodydonnas with Zip, and his girlfriend and valet Sunny.

He was most successful during his tenure with Extreme Championship Wrestling, although he had a short stint in World Championship Wrestling in 2000. He worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling before his death at the age of 33 as a result of a blood clot, just days after an in-ring accident in which he badly injured his ankle and lower leg.

Career

Chris Candido started wrestling at the age of 16 on the independent circuit. He had grown up loving professional wrestling due to his grandfather, "Popeye" Chuck Richards, being a wrestler. While he was still in high school, he met Tammy Lynn Sytch.

Candido debuted in the World Wrestling Association, a promotion operated by his trainer, Larry Sharpe. After winning several titles, he moved on to Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he had his first real success, winning the Television, United States Junior Heavyweight and Tag Team titles. He was managed by his girlfriend, then known as "Tamara Murphy Fytch." At the same time, Candido also worked for Eastern Championship Wrestling. At just 22, he won a tournament to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

The World Wrestling Federation signed Candido and his girlfriend in 1995 and renamed them Skip and Sunny respectively, giving them the characters of a fitness obsessed couple, The Bodydonnas which featured the handsome Candido frequently flexing his enormous biceps. Though Candido's success was overshadowed by the popularity of Sunny, he eventually gained a tag team partner Zip (Tom Prichard), and went on to win the WWF Tag Team titles at WrestleMania XII in a tournament final against their nemeses, The Godwinns. Candido left the WWF in 1996, possibly because of friction between him and the Clique. He later claimed that both Prichard and he disliked the gimmick.

As part of Extreme Championship Wrestling, Candido was a member of the Triple Threat which consisted of him, Shane Douglas (the leader of the group), and Bam Bam Bigelow. Candido also enjoyed a seven-month Tag Team title reign with Lance Storm, with the champions constantly bickering with one another. Tammy left the WWF soon after Candido, and followed him to ECW, resuming her position as his manager. In addition to being a performer, he was also the travel agent for the company, responsible for booking plane flights.

Candido, along with Tammy departed from ECW at the end of 1999. Candido appeared briefly with Xtreme Pro Wrestling before signing with World Championship Wrestling in 2000, competing (and winning gold) in the cruiserweight division. He was part of the New Blood, the stable formed by Eric Bischoff, to oppose the older, more powerful wrestlers dominating the promotion. Candido left WCW in late 2000, allegedly as a result of drug abuse by his girlfriend. A syringe containing Nubain was found in the women's restroom and Kimberly Page told management that it was Tammy's. Tammy volunteered to take a drug test and passed, but was released nonetheless. Tammy's well-known history of drug abuse did not help her case. Candido would leave WCW soon after.

Candido then wrestled for numerous independent promotions and toured Japan, winning several regional titles. At one point he and Tammy relocated to Puerto Rico for eight months to work for the World Wrestling Council. In January 2004 he gave up drugs after his addiction to Somas led to him suffering a heart attack.

Candido's career underwent something of a revival in early 2005, as he was hired by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, the second largest wrestling promotion in North America. He regularly competed in six-man tag matches with his allies, The Naturals, and was a founding member of Planet Jarrett. Candido had meetings with WWE official Jim Ross in 2004, and had speculated that a successful tenure in TNA could lead to his being rehired by the WWE.

Death

On April 24, 2005 at TNA Lockdown, Candido fractured both his tibia and fibula and dislocated his ankle when Sonny Siaki landed awkwardly on his leg while performing a dropkick. He underwent surgery on April 25, 2005 to have steel plates and screws inserted into his leg. He was expected to be out of action for approximately six to eight weeks, but that did not stop him from appearing at the tapings on April 26, 2005 for the April 29, 2005 episode of TNA iMPACT!. There, he helped The Naturals defeat America's Most Wanted to regain the NWA World Tag Team Championship.

On April 28, 2005 Candido died from a blood clot at the age of 33. Chris was taken to the hospital and was told that he had pneumonia and that his lungs had to be drained of fluid. Twenty minutes after he was administered local anesthesia to perform the fluid drain, Chris died of a blood clot in his leg. The blood clot was caused from the altitude pressure on his plane flight home from the wrestling event where he suffered the injury. Chris's long time girlfriend Tammy Sytch is contemplating a lawsuit against the hospital, which had treated Chris immediately after his injury, for negligence. According to Tammy, the hospital never told Chris not to fly while he was recovering from his injury. The results of Candido's autopsy were sealed by his family on October 5, 2005 as he was declared dead in New Jersey where autopsies are not on the public record. His brother, Johnny, claimed the next day that Chris had died of acute pneumonia and not a blood clot as was originally presumed by insiders. Tammy confirmed in a recent interview with RF Video that he indeed died of the blood clot. Because she was never legally married to Chris, she was not allowed any input as to his funeral arrangements. According to Tammy, Chris's parents decided to have Chris cremated against her wishes.

Candido's funeral was in New Jersey. Draped over his casket during his funeral was one of the NWA World Tag Team Championship title belts. This served as inspiration for the Chris Candido Memorial Tag Team Tournament, which ran in August and September 2005 to commemorate him.

TNA gave a ten-bell salute for him at TNA Hard Justice 2005. A pre-recorded bit at the beginning of the pay-per-view showed an unfolded steel chair in the middle of the ring, carrying his trademark towel, his wrestling boots, one of the Tag Team title belts, and a photo of him. During the show, The Naturals brought a yellow towel out with them to symbolize Chris Candido. They gave the towel to Candido's family at TNA Unbreakable when they came to watch the winners of the Candido Tournament fight in a four-way tag-team match for the Tag Team Championship, which The Naturals successfully defended.

WWE recognized his death by publishing a full-page photo of him in the July 2005 issue of SmackDown! Magazine as well as mentioning it on both RAW and SmackDown! that week. At ECW One Night Stand 2005, ECW paid tribute to Candido as well as other ECW stars who had died in recent years by showing a music video of clips from the deceased star's days in ECW. The crowd were also chanting "Chris Candido" during Lance Storm's match against Chris Jericho at the same event.

Wrestling facts

File:DelayedVerticalSuplex.jpg
Candido holds A.J. Styles up in a delayed vertical suplex during an episode of TNA iMPACT!
  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Managers
  • Sonny Blaze
  • Cloudy / Jimmy Shoulders
  • Sunny
  • Nicknames
  • "Hard Knox"
  • "No Gimmicks Needed"
  • "Mr. Charisma"

Championships and accomplishments

References

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