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WWE legend Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart has passed away, aged 63.
Neidhart was best known for his role in the Hart Foundation tag team alongside his brother-in-law, Bret “Hit Man” Hart.
Neidhart began his ring career after playing professional football with the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys.
Show all 27 Sporting deaths 2018 Tommy Lawrence, 77 Played over 300 times for Liverpool during 14 years as keeper and nicknamed 'the Flying Pig' (14 May 1940 - 9 January 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Cyrille Regis, 59 Former England international footballer who played at West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City among other clubs and was a pioneer for black footballers everywhere (9 February 1958 – 14 January 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Dan Gurney, 86 American Formula 1 and Le Mans winner and first man to spray champagne on the podium (13 April 1931 – 14 January 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Jimmy Armfield, 82 England 1966 World Cup winner and Blackpool legend who spent all 17 years of his playing career at the club (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Jarrod Bannister, 33 Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2010, double Olympian and Australian record holder in the javelin (3 October 1984 - 8 February 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Liam Miller, 36 Former Manchester United and Celtic midfielder died aged 36 following a short battle with pancreatic cancer (13 February 1981 - 9 February 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Scott Westgarth, 31 Died after beating Dec Spelman on points in Doncaster (25 February 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 David Astori, 31 Italy international and Fiorentina captain passed away in his sleep as he prepared to face Udinese (7 January 1987 – 4 March 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Sir Roger Bannister, 88 The first man to run a mile in sub-four minutes and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist (23 March 1929 – 4 March 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Ray Wilkins, 61 Former England captain, who also played for Manchester United, Chelsea and others died of cardiac arrest (14 September 1956 - 4 April 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Johnny Valiant, 71 Former WWE star (real name Thomas Sullivan) was killed after being hit by a truck (25 November 1946 - 4 April 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Eric Bristow, 60 Former BDO and PDC world champion passed away after collapsing at a darts event in Liverpool (25 April 1957 - 5 April 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Jlloyd Samuel, 37 Former Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and England under-21 left back died in a car accident after taking his daughter to school (29 March 1981 - 15 May 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Ray Wilson, 83 Former Huddersfield Town, Everton and England footballer, who won the 1966 World Cup, died after suffering from Alzheimer's Disease (17 December 1934-16 May 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Dan Kneen, 30 Isle of Man TT rider suffered a fatal accident in practice for the 2018 event (26 June 1987 - 30 May 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Adam Lyon, 26 Adam Lyon suffered a fatal accident at the 2018 Isle of Man TT, aged 26
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Sporting deaths 2018 Leon White, 63 Vader, real name Leon White, died due to heart failure after being diagnosed with pneumonia (14 May 1955-18 June 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 William Dunlop, 31 Irish road racer was killed in a crash during practice for the Skerries 100 (23 July 1985 - 07 July 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 James Cowton, 26 Yorkshire road racer killed in a crash during the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man
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Sporting deaths 2018 Ellie Soutter, 18 The young Team GB snowboarder died on her 18th birthday (25 July 2000 - 25 July 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Brian Christopher Lawler The former WWE wrestler, who performed under the name of Grandmaster Sexay and was the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry 'The King' Lawler, died after attempting to kill himself in a jail cell (1 January 1972 - 29 July 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Josip Nikolai Peruzović. 70 Josip Nikolai Peruzović, better known as Nikolai Volkoff (left), died at the age of 70 (14 October 1947 - 29 July 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Vibeke Skofterud, 38 Vibeke Skofterud, a gold medallist at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, died in a jet-ski accident in Norway (20 April 1980 - 29 July 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Nicholas Bett, 28 World champion hurdler Nicholas Bett was killed in a car crash in Kenya (27 January 1990 - 8 August 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Jarrod Lyle, 36 Australian professional golfer died after a long battle with cancer (21 August 1981 - 9 August 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Doug Ellis, 94 Doug Ellis, the former chairman of Aston Villa, died aged 94 (3 January 1924 - 11 October 2018)
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Sporting deaths 2018 Peter Hill-Wood, 82 Peter Hill-Wood, the former Arsenal chairman, has died aged 82 (25 February 1936 - 28 December 2018)
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He was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart in the infamous Hart Dungeon in Calgary, Canada, and earned his ring nickname, “The Anvil”, after winning an anvil-throwing contest.
Bret posted on Twitter after hearing the news. He wrote: "Stunned and saddened. I just don’t have the words right now."
Neidhart last completed in WWE in 1997.
In a statement released following news of the American’s death, WWE said: “WWE extends its condolences to Neidhart’s family, friends and fans.”
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