Wrestling legend Adrian Street passes away at 82

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31st Jul, 2023. 09:53 pm
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Adrian Street passed away on Monday at the age of 82 due to sepsis.
Street was a flamboyant wrestler who used his unique looks.
He was also a multifaceted individual involved in music.

The wrestling world is in mourning as it lost a legendary figure, Adrian Street, the Welsh wrestler known for his fearless fighting approach.

His family has announced that he passed away on Monday at the age of 82 due to sepsis, following brain surgery at Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran.

Back in 2001, Street had successfully battled and defeated cancer, but his doctor had warned him to be prepared for the worst. Unfortunately, this recent health challenge proved to be too much for him, as his wife Linda, 77, had predicted.

“He’d had a heart problem a while ago which was resolved,” she said. “But then he had a stroke earlier this month which resulted in a bleed on the brain.

“He was recovering from that at home when he developed colitis — a chronic inflammatory bowel disease — which later turned into sepsis. That’s what killed him. It all came about so quick. I’ve still not come to terms with it yet,” she said.

On Sunday, she honored her husband, who was also a grandfather of five, describing him as the most gentle, affectionate man she had ever known, a stark contrast to his on-stage behavior, as per reports.

Linda further stated her plan to cremate Street and scatter his ashes in the nearby mountains near their home in Cwmbran.

“He loved the outdoors and we’d go on long walks in the countryside all the time. He’d really be at peace up there,” she said.

Street, hailing from Blaenau Gwent, gained fame as a prominent wrestler during the ’70s and ’80s due to his unique looks and unorthodox fighting approach. He chose not to follow his father’s path into the mines and instead pursued a successful career in the world of wrestling.

“Too dark down there, I was born for the spotlight,” he confessed in an interview.

During his adolescence, Street ran away to London and joined a wrestling promoter who gave him the ring name “Kid Tarzan Jonathan.” However, facing ridicule and heckling from the audience, he decided to embrace a unique persona.

He started using his real name and donning an extravagant outfit with a feather boa, vibrant face paint, and peroxide pigtails to catch people’s attention.

Responding to the audience’s taunts, he adopted an exaggerated behavior, including skipping around the ring and even kissing his opponents’ foreheads.

In 1971, he achieved a significant victory by defeating Jimmy Savile, a once formidable wrestler who later became a controversial DJ and TV presenter.

“Back in those days the promoters were trying to get proper wrestlers to throw their matches with him – it was all part of some big stupid gimmick,” said Street in 2013.

A Welshman named Street became well-known in the 1980s in both Canada and the US.

He achieved fame by founding The Bizarre Bazaar, a costume-making business, and Skull Krushers Academy, a wrestling school, along with his wife and manager, Linda. Street’s journey was later portrayed in a biopic titled “You May Be Pretty, But Am Beautiful,” which premiered in Wales upon his return in 2019.

The film showcased his evolution from a “man in tights” to a revered cultural icon, even contributing to the rise of glam rock in the UK. Throughout his career, Street also won championship belts and pursued music, recording songs, and writing autobiographies, including “The Merchant of Menace.”

Street was a multifaceted individual, involved in music and writing autobiographies like “The Merchant of Menace.” One notable moment in 1973 was when a photograph taken by Dennis Hutchinson of Street and his father wearing wrestling attire gained significant recognition.

Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller referred to this image as “the most important post-war picture ever taken,” symbolizing the UK’s shift from heavy industry to the entertainment era.

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Wrestling legend Adrian Street passes away at 82

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