British wrestling legend Adrian Street has sadly passed away.
Street’s family confirmed on July 31st that the star had passed away at Cwmbran’s Grange University Hospital. The World of Sport legend had recently undergone brain surgery.
Street’s wife Linda paid tribute to the “kindest man she’d ever known,” adding that he’d struggled with a number of health issues in recent years.
“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.”
Adrian Street Was Trailblazer for British Wrestling
After deciding that life as a coal miner wasn’t for him, Adrian Street left his hometown of Cwmbran, Wales, and set out to carve his own path. The would-be star made his debut in 1957 under the name Kid Tarzan Jonathan, but it wasn’t until he became the “The Exotic One” Adrian Street that his career truly took off.
Street flipped the image of a British wrestler on its head and began coming to the ring in outrageous outfits, complete with bleach-blonde hair and as much glitter as he could find. The Welsh star became a Glam Rock pioneer in the process, sporting looks and an androgynous character that would be made famous by the likes of David Bowie and more in the years that followed.
As his in-ring career had been winding down, Street and his wife Linda began designing and selling ring gear. Most famously creating the gear worn by Mick Foley as Dude Love as he feuded with Steve Austin in the 1990s.
Street wrestled in the United States as well as the UK, finally hanging up his boots in 2014, after a career of defying the odds.
Everyone at Inside The Ropes sends their condolences to Adrian Street’s family and friends during this difficult time.