A WWE Star's Career Was Ruined By A Devastating Accident

Bam Bam Bigelow was known for being one of the first big men in wrestling who had scarily good agility. Even in his less-reputable days in WCW and ECW, the former ECW World Champion always found ways to make his size and his speed stand out. Bigelow was a staple of the late '80s and all of the 1990s, getting his start in his early 20s, impressing many in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, before working everywhere from WWE to WCW, to the UWA, the UWF, and others. While road-weary and certainly beat-up, Bigelow had plenty of life left in his career after WCW shut down in 2001. Bigelow continued to wrestle on the independent scene as the 2000s wore on, but his career never recovered from a 2005 motorcycle injury.

In October 2005, Bigelow was traveling on his motorcycle with his girlfriend, Janis Remiesiewicz, when they crashed on the highway, putting Janis in critical condition. Bigelow suffered a broken nose and several lacerations. Janis made a full recovery, and ended up staying with Bigelow until his death. While Bigelow's injuries were not life-threatening, Bigelow's career, at that point already slowing, never recovered. After a fairly busy 2004, Bigelow seemingly spent little of 2005 wrestling, and following his accident, Bigelow would only wrestle two more matches before dying on January 19, 2007, at the age of 45. Bigelow had a number of health issues that were exacerbated by a mix of drugs in his system.

While many from Bigelow's generation died untimely deaths in their 40s, it doesn't change the fact that many wrestlers today wrestle well into their 40s. For comparison, when Bigelow died, he was just three years younger than John Cena is currently.