Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Russ Francis
Russ Francis was a second generation wrestler whose father was wrestler/promoter ‘Gentleman’ Ed Francis. Russ’ brother Billy was also a pro wrestler for a number of years. While Russ wrestled for over 13 years, he is best known for his professional football career as a pro bowl tight end playing for teams like the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. Russ mainly wrestled part time during NFL off seasons.
Francis wrestled primarily for his father’s territory in Hawaii, but did compete for Verne Gagne’s AWA and made an appearance for the WWF at Wrestlemania 2 in the NFL/Wrestler battle royal. Francis won regional tag team titles along with his brother Billy and actually challenged Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA world title in 1978 in Hawaii.
On October 1st, 2023…Francis was flying a Cessna 177 along with another passenger when the small aircraft crashed into a ravine in Lake Placid, New York. Both Francis and the passenger were killed in the crash. Russ Francis was 70 years old at the time of his death.