Remembering Big John Studd

 

Remembering Big John Studd

John William Minton was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd. Studd is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation in the 1970s and 1980s.

Studd held a number of championships over his career, including the NWA American Heavyweight Championship, NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship, and WWF World Tag Team Championship, and was the winner of the 1989 Royal Rumble. 

He was posthumously inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1995 and the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004.

In the fall of 1993, Minton noticed a lump in his armpit, and a doctor found a large tumor in his chest. 

It remitted after chemotherapy, and he was told he might wrestle again in six months, but it returned in 1994. 

When no suitable bone marrow donor was found, and he was given around a month to live, Minton underwent an autotransplantation procedure with a 7% success rate. 

Again, the tumor remitted and he went home. Around September 1994, Minton's lungs collapsed and he went back to the hospital.

In February 1995, Minton returned for another round of chemotherapy, and it was found that the tumor had spread widely. 

He died from lymphoma cancer on March 20, 1995.

He is buried at Saxonburg Memorial Church Cemetery in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.