WWE Daily

Percy Pringle , aka Paul Bearer reopened is personal blog, Percyspots.blogspot.com, following the death of his beloved wife, Dianna.

Mr. Pringle posted an comment on the death of Andrew “Test” Martin:

I just received the news of the passing of my friend Andrew “Test” Martin. In my book, Andrew was definitely one of the good ones. May his soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed rest in the saving arms of Our Risen Christ.

Also on the note he talks about being six weeks since the death of wife Dianna and now he is an Facebook. You can follow him here at this link.

-Former WWE creative Seth Mates got an interview he covered back in 2002 with Andrew “Test” martin. You can view the interview here.

-ABC Action news interview the woman who found Andrew “Test” Martin. Harbour Island resident Amy Patterson spends alot of time on her balcony and notices that he was in an perticular positon,

“His feet were flat on the ground and he was on the sofa and he was completely back,” Patterson said.

But thinking nothing of it until Mr, Martin was in the same position the next day.

“I kept thinking, ‘I hope he gets up,’ because I could tell he was young and I thought, ‘ I hope somehow he’s okay.’ But just knew in my heart he just wasn’t.” Read the full article here.

The Petersburg Times reports that after the investigation of Andrew “Test” Martins death, police discovered prescription drugs, including painkillers and steroids, in the Harbour Place residence.

No foul play was suspected, they found Mr. Martin sitting on his couch with an half eaten pizza and soda near him when they found his body.

An neighbor saw Martin motionless for hours and got suspicious and called the police. Today would have been Andrew “Test” Martin’s 34th birthday. You acn read the article here.

TNA Wresting Results iMPACT ***SPOILERS*** (3/19)

Slam Wrestling got an interview with Test father Bob Martin on Sunday. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

He was putting a real fight up. He did that,” Bob Martin told SLAM! Wrestling Sunday. “He was here at Christmas, and he was just great and we had a great time. January, February, March, he phoned. We had great chats about a lot of things. He knew it was going to be a struggle with him forever but he was willing to do it.”

-Kevin Nash, who helped get Test into rehab, also said he was doing well. “I helped him get into rehab. WWE picked up the dollar and helped him through rehab. Andrew went in. He was doing really well, making his meetings,” Nash said, adding later that, “[t]he combination of muscle relaxers and pain pills are lethal.”

-Bob Martin said that he and his wife knew some of the battles their son was going through, but not all. “He kept a lot of it to himself, but we knew some of it,” he said. “That’s the way it is [in wrestling].”

He also stressed that no one knows the cause of death yet.

“There has been an autopsy. There was no trauma to his body, no one had tried to kill him or anything like that,” Martin said. “We don’t know what happened. I guess we’ll never know. He was actually going to France [Monday] to wrestle.”

Test has always been in touch with his family:

“We had been talking to him. His sister had been talking to him on Monday. Another friend sent him an e-mail on Tuesday,” said his father. “We were away at my daughter’s, and we came back. We had phoned him, but he hadn’t answered back. But that was just Tuesday we came home, and he hadn’t answered back. We thought he was maybe away with his friends or something like that. We never thought about it.”

Funeral arrangements are still being made, with an announcement to come as an obituary in the Toronto Star this week, probably on Wednesday or Thursday. Read the full article here.

Former WWE Creative Seth Mates, writer for the NewsDay.com has posted an article on remembering Andrew “Test” Martin. You can read an very interesting article. You can read the entire article NewsDay.com

Which has one particular quote from Mates:

WWE can say whatever they wanted about how “The Wrestler” and other problems are indicative of how the business “used to be,” provided no one bothers to point out that how the business “used to be” ended around 2005 or 2006, if even then. But — my opinion here — I defy you to look at Test’s physique during his most recent run (and his own words in his posts from above) and tell me different.

WWE, once again, has blood on its hands.

PWinsider reports:

Marty Jannetty’s blog can be found at this link. Here is the blog entry.

“this is sad and scary>>>>R.I.P Andrew
It’s always a sad feeling finding out that yet again one more of the boys has died …and the feeling turns sickly when I hear they are younger than me.. Andrew “Test” Martin was just 33…

I just had a couple of “the boyz” whom I consider great friends ,staying here at the Treehouse with for the past couple days as they were wrestling in nearby towns..Bobby BS Sanford, and Frank aka “JT Flash” but none of us had gotten any calls about Test, so sorry I’m mentioning this a little late..

I really didnt spend much time around Test on the road, but I saw him on a regular at Lifestyle’s Gym in Tampa..In fact I tried to do one of his workouts one time, and mang..never again, he really trained intensely when it came to the weights..but well, the guy was always nice to me, and seemed to have a lot of love and respect for the business,.and that’s what makes this brotherhood such a tight fitted family..I know he will be missed greatly, my sympathies to his family and loved ones..Rest in Peace my brother!!..
Each of these deaths is of a friend, some are close friends and then some times it’s felt like it was a family member..either way, like I said earlier, it’s scary when they are a younger age than me…and there isn’t a single one of us boyz from the Hulkamania Runs Wild era..(that would be what mid 80’s thu mid 90’s)..who doest sit back and think about running the roads approximately 300 days a year..and what toll it must have taken and left on us…especially when it’s a young one in their mid 30’s that dies. Yes it downright makes it a worry to go to sleep sometimes..but I must say..seeing this little sniplet from Andrew..with what has happened..tops all scared feelings..it’s right at creepy..eery…something more to really think about…”

Sean Morley’s, aka Val Venis blog can be found at this link. Here is the blog entry.

“Andrew “TEST” Martin RIP!
Current mood: sad
Category: Friends
Andrew was a VERY good long time friend who both Matt Bloom and I share
many great memories. Andrew’s passing is still so shocking. I am still
waiting for Johnny Ace or Christian or Edge or Jericho or somebody to
call me back in Japan and tell me it was all a mistake. It does not
feel real. Andrew “TEST” Martin along with Matt Bloom and myself became
like the three amigos as we traveled the road together and shared many
great memories. Last night before our match, as Matt and I absorbed the
news and tried to make sense of it all, the silence was broken with
Matts words which I could not have said better myself. “You know what
Val, all the friends we have lost, their deaths really sucked and
saddened. But this one HURTS DEEP!”

Drew(burg), I will always remember the great times we had and the
memories you provided. You will always have a special place in my heart
and my life. I promise, you will never be forgotten.

REST IN PEACE

Sean Morley ”

Rory MacAllister’s blog can be found at this link. Here is the blog entry.

“Sunday, March 15, 2009
Test
Haven’t done one of these in a while, not really sure if I should be doing this one but I’m a few drinks in and I think it’s nearly 4am.
I have been a wrestler for many years. I’ve accepted all that comes with that and have done my best to do my job throught all the trials and tribulations, without letting things affect me. I’ve been hungry to achieve my goals, I have been homeless, I have been cold, I’ve been injured and I have been fired. The flip side of that is I have lived! I’ve achieved all I wanted to and more. I feel through either wrestling or charity work I have touched people and I feel comfortable with that. For the most part wrestlers are a calloused people. Our business is a tough one and we deal with that by letting a lot of stuff slide off our backs. Believe it or not that goes with friends and co workers passing on. I have a tattoo on my left wrist of my best friend, wrestler “Sweet” Stevie Lee, who died a few years ago because of tis business and I add to it every year on his aniversary. I am at peace with Stevies passing. Since him there have so many others I honestly don’t even count any more, all of which I have dealt with quietly and personally. Like I said, I let them roll off my back because I knew it was the best way to deal with them. But I can’t say I’m able to do the same with Test.
We were never good friends. In fact, when I first met him, I didn’t like him at all. I thought he was arrogant and self involved. As it turned out I was way off base, and would eventually chat with him backstage whenever I saw him. I didn’t really get to know him personally though until after he had left WWE. He was doing his first indy date after WWE in Ohio for WAR wrestling and since I wasn’t on the road that weekend I decided to head on up and show him some support, since I knew it could be tough for him to adjust. Man we talked all night and shared stories and laughed. For the record, he’s a pretty funny guy. I told him, since he hadn’t done a lot of indys in the past, I would haelp him by sending him contacts and talking to promoters for him. I did this for him and would ocassionally send him texts or short calls telling him who to get in contact with and generally just shoot the shit for a little while. Nothing best buddyish or nothing just pleasanteries. Then we got a chance to chill at wrestlemania last year for a bit when he was there with Barbie. I liked the guy. I respected and looked up to him.
As I said before we were not best friends, but his passing has hit me hard. I can’t let this one roll off my back for some reason. I have no explanation why I can’t, I just can’t and I filled with thoughts and saddened. He was barely more than a kid. 33, same age as me. He talked to me about becoming a P.T and seemed psyched about it. Barbie told me a couple times he couldn’t wait to get it going. He had so much going on for him, so much life to live. But now he’s gone and people can speculate or offer opinions but what the hell does that do? Change the outcome or just make them want to say “I told you so”? I really don’t care. A family has lost one of their own and it’s a tragedy. I have had them in my prayers all day. I have had Barbie in my prayers all day but haven’t found the balls to tell her how so very sorry I am. She loved him.
I wish I’d gotten to know him better but all I can say is a good man is gone and people are hurting because of it. To them I want to say, from my family to yours, I’m so sorry, but please try to take solice in the fact he touched many people in his short life and is now is Gods blessed care. I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers for some time to come.

Russ “Rory” Murray”

-The Sun’s UK has got an nice article on the passing of former WWE superstar Andrew “Test” Martin. Read the article here.

-Canada’s National Post got an article of fellow Canadian Andrew “Test” Martin. Martin was born Whitby, Ont., outside Toronto. Read the article here.

-Fanhouse.com has got an article on WWE superstar known as “TEST”. Got lots of good photos, go here.

Monday Night Videos would like to share exclusive video footage on Andrew “Test” Marti. Exclusive excerpt from the upcoming documentary film on pro wrestling, “The Circus”.

Andrew Martin’s words will not go unheard.

Source: Gerwerk.net

Eric Bischoff and Good Friend Kevin Nash Comments on the Death of Andrew “Test” Martin

The following is from Jim Ross Official website, JRSBARBQ.com:

Late last night I received word that Andrew Martin aka Test had been found dead in his apartment/condo in the Tampa, Florida area. Andrew would have been 34 years of age this Tuesday.

I hired Andrew in the same class with his other fellow Canadians Edge and Christian in the late 90’s in an outstanding group of young talent whose advanced training was over seen by future WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk and by Tom Prichard.

Andrew left WWE over two years ago and had wrestled off and on, briefly in TNA, and also on the independent circuit primarily on international tours. I spoke at length with Andrew, as did my wife, last year in Orlando at Wrestlemania 24 and he seemed very happy and looked to be healthy and in great physical condition. He spoke of his real estate endeavors and the fact that he was strongly considering going back to school and becoming accredited as a physical therapist. Andrew had done well in WWE, saved his money, made some good investments, and told me he only wanted to wrestle when “he wanted to” which the randomly scheduled international tours would allow him to do. He did not express interest in the American indy scene and was genuinely excited about the prospects of the aforementioned physical therapy career.

Andrew had always told me that he never wanted to wrestle past the age of 35 which was why he “listened to the lectures” as he told me with a smile that sunny day in Orlando in WWE’s headquarter hotel. I honestly had never seen him happier.

Late last summer, reacting on the suggestion of others, WWE reached out to Andrew to ask if he needed some help handling some alleged personal issues that he was rumored to have been experiencing. Andrew had been gone from WWE for over two years but had remained friends with many still associated with WWE. The rumors of Andrew’s issues were true and he was afforded the opportunity by WWE to attend The Hanley Center Rehabilitation facility in West Palm Beach, Florida for several weeks beginning in August of 2008. Andrew successfully completed the WWE funded program and was highly regarded by the Hanley Center with being such an asset to them after completing the program of which Andrew took seriously, according to the facility. Since being released from the facility after successfully completing the program, Andrew had been doing well in his 12 Step AA program and was in contact with WWE with regular phone calls. Ironically, Friday was the day for his regularly scheduled “touching base” but when called his voice mail box was full.

I was not aware that Andrew was having problems and did not know of is rehab stint until recently. Test, a name provided Martin after he portrayed a security person who tested the band Motley Crue’s mic with the obligatory, ‘test…test…test,” always seemed to be a bright young man who knew what he wanted in life and was seemingly looking forward to his future and getting an education in physical therapy.

It is comforting to know that Andrew was receiving support from WWE and it was also encouraging to know that he was seemingly on the road to recovery in the past several months. The exact cause of Andrew’s death won’t be determined for a few days after the results of an autopsy have been released.

I will remember this young man as a bright, intelligent individual and am thankful that my last conversation with him was so positive and that he was excited about his future in a new field. Our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans and may God rest his soul.

Various fans of Andrew “Test” Martin are putting up tributes on Youtube in his honor. Here is just one in particular.

Andrew Martins former girlfriend WWE Diva Kelly Kelly Issues statement

World Wrestling Entertainment issued the following statement on the passing of former WWE talent on the Death of Andrew “Test” Martin:

Test passes away
Written: March 14, 2009

World Wrestling Entertainment® has been made aware of the passing of Andrew Martin. The WWE extends its deepest condolences to the Martin family. Mr. Martin was under contract with WWE at various time periods and performed under the name “Test.” He last performed for the WWE in February 2007.

WWE Diva Kelly Kelly, former girlfriend of Martin Releases statement on his Death

PWInsider reports:

Here is the official comment from the Tampa Police Department on the passing of Andrew “Test” Martin. 33 years old is just way too young to die.

At approximately 8:00pm on Friday, March 13, 2009, Tampa Police Officers responded to the Post Harbour Apartments, located at 725 Harbour Place Drive to check on the welfare of Mr. Andrew J. Martin. A neighbor reported that she could see into his apartment through a window and that Mr. Martin appeared motionless for several hours.

Officers entered the apartment and discovered Mr. Martin to be deceased. At this time there is no indication of foul play. The deceased was transported to the Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The date of the autopsy is undetermined at this time. The next of kin has been notified of the death.

Andrew “Test” Martin is a former wrestling champion with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

Lieutenant William Ferguson

Tampa Police Department

The Calgary Sun has got an recent video of Martha Hart and the family on how they are dealing with the death of Owen.

Moondog Cujo AKA Cousin Juniors Funeral Arrangements Made

WWF 80s star, later Moondog, passes away

Lanny Kean Jr., best known as Hillbilly Cousin Junior in WWF in the 80s, and later for Jarrett Promotions as as Moondog Cujo in the 90s, passed away at 1 a.m. last night from a heart attack in Jamestown, KY, where he was living.

Kean Jr. was a friend of Jim Morris, who later became Hillbilly Jim, as the two started out together working for Dale Mann in Bowling Green, KY. When the WWF expanded the Hillbilly stable to include Uncle Elmer (Plowboy Stan Frazier), Morris got Kean into the WWF, but it was shortlived.

Kean had worked under his real name for years on WWF television but changed his look to play a Hillbilly, and later changed his look a second time to play a Moondog, a role he continued to play on independent shows until his death. Teaming with the late Larry Booker as Moondog Spot, the Moondogs vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jerry Lawler was one of the last great long-term programs of the Jarrett territory.

Kean Jr. was 48.

Funeral arrangements for Kean Jr.

are as follows:

Viewing is Thursday 4-9 p.m. and Friday 8-11 a.m. with the funeral at 11 a.m. on Friday at H.E. Pruitt Memorial Chapel, 202 N. Main St., Jamestown, KY.

Top Notch Wrestling posted this bulliten:

R.I.P Moondog Cujo, AKA Cousin Junior

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I Regret To Inform Everyone That Former United States Wrestling Association Star Moondog Cujo AKA Cousin Junior Whose Real Name Was Lanny Kean
Passed Away Today January 13th, 2009 And Will Be Greatly Missed. An Email Will Be Sent Out As Soon As Arrangements Are Made If you Have Any Questions You Can Call: (270) 991- 7118.