WWE NXT GM William Regal saddened at death of ‘Mr Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff
Professional wrestling legend ‘Mr Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff is no more after his death was announced at the age of 71 in Georgia.
He was known to be suffering from dementia in his last few years, but the cause of death is unknown. The wrestling world came together to pay tributes to the late star after WWE confirmed the news.
William Regal, the current NXT General Manager was one of the men who was full of gratitude for Orndorff. He took to Twitter saying:
“I’ve had a bit of a different day myself but I’m absolutely heart broken to hear of the passing of my friend Paul Orndorff. He help me so much when I first arrived in the US and taught me so much on how to adapt my style to fit in to the US. A true great.”
Regal made his debut in 1993, after coming as a relative unknown to the wrestling scene coming from Wolverhampton in England. He went on to achieve numerous titles in WWE and attributes it to Orndorff’s assistance in his younger days. The former WWE European Heavyweight Champion is still in the WWE in an executive role in NXT, where his son also made his debut.
Who was Paul Orndorff?
Orndorff started his professional wrestling career back in 1976 in the Mid Southern wrestling promotion. In 1983 he came to WWE, as a heel and he was a favourite of Vince McMahon. He was even in a feud with Hulk Hogan during his days with the company.
The “Mr. Wonderful” nickname is given by his former manager “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. He made a memorable debut on January 23, 1984, with a win over Salvatore Bellomo at Madison Square Garden. Orndorff captured his first major championship in WCW beating Erik Watts to become Television Champion.
After his retirement, he became a trainer developing the likes of Mark Jindrak, Stacy Keibler and Goldberg.
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