“I recall being really surprised at the things he could do in the ring and his style as his appearance and gimmick name seemed to suggest something different. Actually, he reminded me a little of Dynamite, only bigger,” said referee James Beard. I always wondered why a guy like him never got a big break somewhere as he was as good as many of the top stars in the ’80s and ’90s. “I worked with Biff/Beef in Japan a few times and really appreciated his skills. I’ll tell you, that was probably a highlight. We were on TV and something happened in Sapporo, Japan, and they put me and Chris against each other and gave us 15 minutes of live TV. “Actually, one time me and Chris Benoit had a match. ![]() That would probably be the highlights,” he explained to SLAM! Wrestling in 2004. I had some great matches with Liger, Jushin Liger. “I did all my best work in Japan, by far. He worked a few ECW shows, had a couple of tryout matches with the WWF, and made a couple dozen trips to Japan.īiff Wellington in the mid-’80s. “I’ve known him ever since we were 10 years old.” Even today, Elzein’s parents live next to the Bowers, so he kept in touch and updated with Shayne’s trials and tribulations.īeing a babyface on the Stampede roster was a tough go, having to fight the popular Owen Hart for screen time.ĭuring his career, Bower was known at various times as Biff Wellington, Beef Wellington, and Bobby Hart in the Maritimes. ![]() He and Jeff Wheeler were the only ones coming out of the Hart camp. “My best memories of Shayne are growing up with him, and then watching him break in and doing really good. Childhood friend and neighbour Milad Elzein (later Abu Wizal) was his “in” to the closed business. The Calgary, Alberta native trained with the Hart Brothers in the mid-’80s, but said his primary trainers were Mr. He’d had a real battle with drugs, and he’d been clean for the last two years,” said Fielding. I know it wasn’t drugs, because I know Shayne. He said they don’t know if they are doing an autopsy. “His dad said that the initial report was that they think he had a heart attack. This morning his dad called me at about 8 o’clock and said that they had found him and he was dead.”īower was found dead in his bed. I phoned his dad, and his dad said, ‘Well, I’ll just wait to see if I hear from him.’ Friday, nobody had heard from him, so I phoned again. “I couldn’t get ahold of him on Wednesday or Thursday. His daughter had just moved out here and he asked me if I could keep an eye on her,” Fielding said. Nearly died last year once,” said his best friend Devon Fielding, who wrestled under various names for 10 years.įielding talked to Bower Sunday or Monday of last week. “Shayne’s been having major health problems the last two years. ![]() He was 42.īower had major health problems over the last few years, mostly related to his back, as he talked about in a 2004 interview with SLAM! Wrestling. Calgary’s Biff Wellington (Shayne Bower), who was a major player in the ’80s Stampede Wrestling and a regular in Japan for years, has died.
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