Jeff Gaylord, Frequent Jeff Jarrett Tag Partner And Sid Vicious Sidekick, Dead At 64

Joey Gaylord has announced that his brother, former pro wrestler Jeff Gaylord, has passed away at the age of 64 after "a short illness," via Slam Wrestling. Gaylord wrestled from 1985 until the mid-90s, competing in his final match in 1998, and has since recently helped his church in Denver with outreach work.

Gaylord spent much of his in-ring career competing for the USWA — where he was able to win tag team gold on three separate occasions. Two of those three reigns were with the USWA Southern Tag Team Championship, coming alongside WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett, who he teamed with from March 1990 until May of the same year. His third and final reign came when he and Mike Anthony held the USWA Tag Team Championship in 1993 for a week. Gaylord also formed a partnership with former WWE Champion Sid Vicious, and eventually took on Vicious for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, coming up unsuccessful twice. Following his wrestling career, Gaylord fell on hard times, and was ultimately arrested for robbing or attempting to rob multiple banks.

While Gaylord would not make much of a mark in major promotions like WWE or WCW, his most notable match in that regard came during Survivor Series 1993. At the event, under the name The Black Knight, he teamed up with The Red Knight, The Blue Knight, and Shawn Michaels, ultimately losing to Bruce, Owen, Bret, and Keith Hart in a eight-man tag team elimination match. Gaylord also wrestled a few other house shows for the promotion, along with competing in one dark match for WCW in late 1994.