Indie Wrestler "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder Passes Away At 48, WWE Stars Respond

By Robert Gunier

Longtime indie wrestling star "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder has passed away at the age of 48. The news was first announced by his close friend and fellow indie wrestling star Ian Rotten (John Williams) on Facebook.

Ryder has been a part of the indie wrestling scene since he was a teenager, competing with promotions like CHIKARA, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), and Indiana's Coliseum Championship Wrestling (CCW) during his career. He first debuted in 1990 under the ring name "Mitch Bell".

Ryder had the opportunity to work with WCW in 1992, and he was featured as an enhancement talent against star like Cactus Jack and "Ravishing" Rick Rude. After competing for many years in a variety of promotions, Ryder opened his own promotion in 2007, called XWC Mid-West.

Mitch was a mentor and trainer to many of the stars that fans see on their televisions today, including Drew Gulak and Chris Hero (formerly Kassisus Ohno in NXT). Those men, along with WWE's Lince Dorado, took to social media to post messages in remembrance of Ryder.

"RIP #MitchRyder. Class act, stood up for the boys, took care of me in the ring, gave me my first real outside booking, and will be missed," Lince Dorado wrote.

"Mitch Ryder was one of a kind. I spent a few short years around him & have a lifetime of stories," Chris Hero writes. "He was always good to me and an absolute PLEASURE to watch in his element. You know how Falcon Arrow = HE DID THE DEAL... That came from Mitch. Rest In Peace, friend."

"RIP to "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder. Anytime I get to share a ring with @LuchadorLD I do a little tribute to Mitch. He used to take the time to run seminars with all of the CHIKARA talent before the shows because he wanted to help everyone get better," Gulak posted.

We here at Wrestling Inc. offer our condolences to the friends and family of Mitch Ryder during this difficult time.

You can see highlights from Ryder's career below:

You can see the full tweets from Gulak, Dorado, and Chris Hero (formerly Kassisus Ohno) below:

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