 Candido in 1998 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christopher Barrett Candito (1972-03-21)March 21, 1972[1] Edison, New Jersey, U.S.[2] |
| Died | April 28, 2005(2005-04-28) (aged 33)[1] |
| Cause of death | Acute pneumonia brought on by surgery |
| Lifepartner | Tammy Lynn Sytch (1990–2005) |
| Family | Johnny Candido (brother) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Chris Candido[1] Sir Christopher Candido Skip[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Asbury Park, New Jersey Spring Lake, New Jersey |
| Trained by | Larry Sharpe[1] |
| Debut | 1986[1] |
Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an Americanprofessional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures withpromotions such asWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW),Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW),New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW),Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), andSmoky Mountain Wrestling, where he performed under thering nameChris Candido, as well as for his appearances in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF; now known as WWE) under the ring nameSkip, one-half of thetag teamThe Bodydonnas. For much of his career, he performed alongside his real-life partner,Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, who acted as hisvalet.[1][2]
During his career, Candito heldprofessional wrestling championships such as theNWA World Heavyweight Championship,WWF World Tag Team Championship,ECW World Tag Team Championship, andWCW Cruiserweight Championship. When he died, he was the reigning NWA Midwest Heavyweight Champion.
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Candito was the grandson of "Popeye" Chuck Richards, a wrestler for theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) from 1966 to 1974, as the WWF was known prior to 1979. He started training at age 14 withLarry Sharpe and wrestled for Sharpe's World Wrestling Association.
While attendingRed Bank Catholic High School,[3] he met and fell in love withTammy Lynn Sytch, and the two began a lifelong relationship. Sytch would later become hisvalet.
As a teenager, Candito and his friendJonathan Rechner began working forindependentprofessional wrestling promotions inNew Jersey, setting up thewrestling rings. Candito and Rechner trained to wrestle atLarry Sharpe'sMonster Factory inBellmawr, New Jersey, with Candito making his debut in 1986.[4]
In 1992, Candido and Sytch (billed as "Tamara Fytch") were signed byJim Cornette for hisSmoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion.[5]
Between September and November 1993, Candido won theSMW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship on three occasions, trading the title withBobby Blaze. He went on to win theSMW Beat the Champ Television Championship in December 1993 and again in July 1994.
In 1994, Candido formed a tag team withBrian Lee, with Fytch managing the duo.[5] On April 23, 1994, Candido and Lee defeatedThe Rock 'n' Roll Express to win theSMW Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until August 5, 1994, when they lost to The Rock 'n' Roll Express. Candido and Lee regained the titles the next day, but lost them for a second and final time on August 8, 1994. Following the second loss, Fytch fired Lee and began exclusively managing Candido.[5]
On November 19, 1994, Candido won a 10-man tournament, defeatingAl Snow,Dirty White Boy, and Tracy Smothers to win theNWA World Heavyweight Championship,[6] which had been vacated byShane Douglas and ECW that August when Douglaswon it in a separate tournament. Candido's reign came at a time when exposure for theNational Wrestling Alliance was limited, as there was no national television outlet for the organization's remaining affiliates. His title defense matches were mostly held in SMW and on theindependent circuit. Candido dropped the title toDan Severn on February 24, 1995.
In late 1994, Candido formed a tag team withBoo Bradley (a parody of theTo Kill a Mockingbird characterBoo Radley). At "Christmas Chaos" on December 28, 1994, Candido attacked Bradley after they lost a bout toTracy Smothers andCactus Jack. In a controversialangle, Fytch kidnapped Bradley's pet cat, Boots, and brought a bag supposedly containing the cat to the ring, which Candido thenleg dropped, (kayfabe) killing Boots. The angle led to a feud between Candido and Bradley, which culminated in aloser leaves towndog collar match atSunday Bloody Sunday II on February 26, 1995, that was won by Bradley. This marked Candido's final appearance in SMW before he and Fytch joined theWorld Wrestling Federation.[5]
In 1993, Candito began wrestling as Chris Candido forEastern Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he formed astable called "The Suicide Blonds" withJohnny Hotbody andChris Michaels. Wrestling under theFreebird Rule, the Suicide Blondes trio had two stints as theECW Tag Team Champions in April and May 1993, first defeatingTony Stetson andLarry Winters and then losing the titles toThe Super Destroyers, only to regain them the same evening.[7] They vacated the ECW Tag Team Championship in July 1993 when Candido left the promotion.
In 1995, Candido and Sytch were signed by theWorld Wrestling Federation, with Candido renamed "Skip" and Sytch renamed "Sunny". Debuting on WWF television in May 1995, the duo were given thegimmick of a pair of arrogant fitness gurus who would mock their opponents and members of the audience for being unfit, with Candido performingpush-ups during his matches.[5][8]
In July 1995, Candido beganfeuding withBarry Horowitz, a careerjobber, after Horowitz scored an upset victory over him on an episode ofWWF Wrestling Challenge using aroll-up while Candido performedpush-ups. Candido faced Horowitz in a bout atSummerSlam on August 27, 1995, with Horowitz once again defeating Candido.[9][10]
In late-1995, the portlyRad Radford joined Candido as a "Bodydonna in training". AtSurvivor Series on November 19, 1995, "The Bodydonnas" (Candido,Tom Prichard, Radford andThe 1-2-3 Kid) teamed together to defeat "The Underdogs" (Horowitz,Hakushi,Bob Holly andMarty Jannetty), with Skip personally eliminating Bob Holly with a schoolboy rollup, but getting pinned by Jannetty with a top-rope powerbomb.[11] On the December 23, 1995, episode ofWWF Superstars of Wrestling, Sunny "fired" Radford after he and Candido lost toWWF World Tag Team ChampionsThe Smoking Gunns. On the January 6, 1996, episode ofWWF Superstars of Wrestling, Candido defeated Radford with the assistance of Prichard, who had been repackaged as Candido's cousin, "Zip". Skip and Zip began teaming together asThe Bodydonnas, with Sunny as their manager.[12]
On January 21, 1996, at theRoyal Rumble, The Bodydonnas unsuccessfully challenged The Smoking Gunns for the WWF World Tag Team Championship. In February 1996, The Smoking Gunns forfeited the WWF World Tag Team Championship afterBilly Gunn sustained a neck injury. The Bodydonnas won a tournament for the vacant titles, defeatingThe Godwinns on March 31, 1996, in the finals of theWrestleMania XII pre-show, after Sunny ran interference.[13] They held the titles until May 19, 1996, when they were defeated by The Godwinns.[14] Following their loss, Sunny left The Bodydonnas and briefly aligned herself with The Godwinns before joining The Smoking Gunns.[8][15]
Following the departure of Sunny, The Bodydonnas would eventually turn face, and announced that they were seeking a new manager. AtKing of the Ring on June 23, 1996, they introduced their new manager, thetransvestite "Cloudy" (portrayed by Candido's friend Jimmy Shoulders).[16]
In late-1996, Candido left the WWF and rejoined Eastern Championship Wrestling, which had since been renamedExtreme Championship Wrestling.
After leaving the WWF, Candido returned to ECW atHigh Incident in October 1996. He became part of the revivedTriple Threat stable alongsideShane Douglas.[17] While in the Triple Threat with the nickname "No Gimmicks Needed", he developed a rivalry with fellow memberLance Storm, who was soon replaced byBam Bam Bigelow. However, Candido teamed with Storm to win theECW Tag Team Championship on December 5, 1997, atBetter Than Ever, fromDoug Furnas andPhil Lafon.[17][7] Despite being a reluctant team who hated each other, Candido and Storm had a lengthy championship run. The duo held the titles for approximately six months until they lost them on June 26, 1998, toSabu and Rob Van Dam.[7]
Candido made his final appearance with ECW in December 1999.
He was supposed to show up at theOne Night Stand Pay-per-view for a match but he died two months beforehand.
In March 2000, Candido debuted inWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW).[18] He immediately began competing in the cruiserweight division, winning the vacantWCW Cruiserweight Championship in a six-way match atSpring Stampede on April 16, 2000, by pinningThe Artist with assistance from the debuting Tammy Lynn Sytch.[19][20][21] On the following episode ofWCW Monday Nitro, Candido and Sytch defeated The Artist and his valetPaisley in amixed tag team match. AtSlamboree, Candido successfully defended his title against The Artist. His reign lasted until May 15, 2000, when he and Sytch facedCrowbar andDaffney in a mixed tag team match with Candido's title on the line, with Daffney pinning Sytch to become the new Cruiserweight Champion.[18][21]
In June 2000, Candido briefly aligned himself withThe New Blood before reforming the Triple Threat with Shane Douglas andBam Bam Bigelow. He left WCW later that month.[18]
Candido had two runs withXtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW). The first was in 2000, and he won theXPW World Heavyweight Championship before leaving for WCW. The second run was from late 2002 until the company's final show in 2003. Candido and Tammy Sytch also wrestled in Puerto Rico for theWorld Wrestling Council in 2003 feuding withPrimo Colon and in addition held the WWC World Television title.
Candido wrestled forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2001 and 2002.
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Candido debuted inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in January 2005, when Candido faced AJ Styles in a losing effort. On the January 14 episode ofImpact!, Candido lost toDustin Rhodes. On theFinal Resolution preshow, Candido defeatedCassidy Riley. On the January 28 episode ofImpact!, Candido defeatedSonny Siaki. On the February 11 episode ofImpact, Candido lost toDiamond Dallas Page. On the February 18 episode ofImpact!, Candido defeatedShark Boy andChris Sabin in a Triple Threat match. On the February 25 episode ofImpact!, Candido lost toElix Skipper. On the March 4 episode ofImpact!, Candido andThe Naturals (Andy Douglas andChase Stevens) defeated Elix Skipper,Petey Williams, andMikey Batts in a six-man tag team match. At theDestination X preshow, Candido and Andy Douglas defeated Lex Lovett andBuck Quartermain. On the March 18 episode ofImpact!, Candido and The Naturals lost to Dustin Rhodes andAmerica's Most Wanted. Candido competed in his final match atLockdown when he andLance Hoyt facedApolo and Sonny Siaki in a losing effort. During the match, Candido broke his leg when Siaki landed on it after a flying dropkick early in the match. The injury would lead to Candido dying of acute pneumonia on April 28, 2005.[22] His last performance was taped to air later in the week, as he was featured on an episode ofTNA Impact! after his death, using a wheelchair, where he helped The Naturals win the NWA World Tag Team Championships.
AtLockdown on April 24, 2005, Candido fractured both histibia andfibula and dislocated his ankle during asteel cage match withLance Hoyt againstApolo andSonny Siaki.[17] He underwent surgery the next day to have titanium plates and screws inserted into his leg. He was at the followingImpact! tapings managingThe Naturals to defeatAmerica's Most Wanted to win theNWA World Tag Team Championship.[17]
On April 28, 2005, Candido felt ill and his condition worsened during the day. He collapsed in the evening and was rushed to theRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital inNew Brunswick, New Jersey.[2][17] He was diagnosed withpneumonia. Doctors drained his lungs, but Candido died soon afterwards. He was 33 years old. His brotherJohnny initially believed that Candido died due to ablood clot, a complication from surgery.[17] In a 2016 interview, Johnny would reveal that Chris' autopsy confirmed that he did not die from a blood clot, but rather acute pneumonia brought on by his surgery.[22] This death had a profound effect on fellow wrestlers such asCM Punk, who in 2014 voiced his concern over the possibility of a post-elbow surgery clot similar to what had erroneously been believed to have killed Candido.[23]
TNA subsequently held theChris Candido Memorial Tag Team Tournament in his honor in late 2005. In 2009, he was inducted into theHardcore Hall of Fame.[24]
Both Candido and Sytch were featured on theVice TV docuseriesDark Side of the Ring, aired on May 30, 2023.[25]
1Candido defended the championship with either Hotbody or Michaels under theFreebird Rule.
So I get that elbow surgery, and I'm right back on television, and I'm right back at it, and I'm scared that I'm going to get a blood clot and die, because that's what happened to Chris Candido.
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