wrestler Biff Wellington (Shane Bower) dies at 42
wazzzy
Calgary's Biff Wellington (Shane Bower), who was a major player in the
'80s Stampede Wrestling and a regular in Japan for years, has died. He
was 42.
Bower had had major health problems over the last few years, mostly
related to his back, as he talked about in a 2004 interview with SLAM!
Wrestling. He had suffered through multiple strokes as well.
Little more is known at this time. When found, he was believed to have
been dead for a few days.
The Calgary, Alberta trained with the Hart Brothers in the mid-'80s,
but said his primary trainers were Mr. Hito and Hiro Hase. Being a
babyface on the Stampede roster was a tough road, having to fight the
popular Owen Hart for screen time.
During his career, Bower would make a couple dozen trips to Japan.
"I did all my best work in Japan, by far. I had some great matches
with Liger, Jushin Liger. That would probably be the highlights," he
explained to SLAM! Wrestling in 2004. "Actually, one time me and Chris
Benoit had a match. We were always tag partners. We were on TV and
something happened in Sapporo, Japan, and they put me and Chris
against each other and gave us 15 minutes of live TV. I'll tell you,
that was probably a highlight. We had a hell of a match."
With was with Benoit that Wellington had his biggest North American
exposure, working on June 22, 1992, against Jushin "Thunder" Liger and
"Flyin'" Brian Pillman at WCW's Clash of the Champions XIX.