Rocky Johnson’s cause of death was a blood clot, according to a friend of the late wrestling icon. B. Brian Blair, who wrestled in WWE (then WWF) as a member of the tag team The Killer Bees, spoke with Tampa Bay Times and claimed Johnson died of natural causes, specifically a blood clot that entered one of his lungs.
“A blood clot traveled from his leg into his lung,” Blair told the newspaper. “He died of natural causes.”
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Blair also noted that Johnson, who was 75 years old at the time of his death, had not been feeling well for a couple weeks.
“Every Sunday we’d go together to church,” Blair told the outlet. “But he hadn’t been able to make it the past two weeks.”
Fearing he had the flu, Johnson apparently went to a doctor on Tuesday, which was the day before he died. The WWE Hall of Famer died on Wednesday at his home in Florida.
In addition to being one of half of the The Soul Patrol with Tony Atlas, Johnson is also known as the father of another wrestling icon: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Johnson followed in his father’s and maternal grandfather Peter Maivia’s footsteps and became a wrestler for WWE before transitioning to acting work.
“The Rock” spoke out about his dad’s death on Friday, posting a classic clip of Johnson in the ring as his then-teenage son watched in awe from the crowd.
“I love you. You broke color barriers, became a ring legend and trail blazed your way thru (sic) this world. I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar,” he wrote in an Instagram caption. “The boy you raised to always be proud of our cultures and proud of who and what I am. The boy you raised with the toughest of love. The intense work. The hard hand. The adoring boy who wanted to know only your best qualities. Who then grew to become a man realizing you had other deeply complicated sides that needed to be held and understood.
“Son to father. Man to man. That’s when my adoration turned to respect. And my empathy turned to gratitude. Grateful that you gave me life. Grateful you gave me life’s invaluable lessons. Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side. But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning. Gone in an instant and no coming back. Im in pain. But we both know it’s just pain and it’ll pass. Now I’ll carry your mana and work ethic with me, as it’s time to move on because I have my family to feed and work to accomplish.
“Finally, I want you to rest your trailblazing soul, Soulman. Pain free, regret free, satisfied and at ease. You lived a very full, very hard, barrier breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son. Go rest high.”
Photo Credit: WWE
