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.
The Cosmic Commander
Howard Saunders worked as a manager for several years in both the New Jersey and Pennsylvania independent scene. He was known as ‘The Cosmic Commander of Wrestling’ and resembled none other than ‘The Grand Wizard of Professional Wrestling’ Ernie Roth. In fact, Saunders admired the former WWF manager and paid homage to him under the guise of the Cosmic Commander. Saunders was a manager in the very early days of ECW when they were known as Eastern Championship Wrestling and managed ‘The Wild Man’ Salvatore Bellomo.
Outside of his work in professional wrestling, Saunders played in several punk rock bands like Rancid Vat. He also had his own radio show on XM Radio and ran a tattoo shop in Philadelphia called Kadillac Tattoos. He had three small children named Leor, Lola and Gram. On July 25, 2013…Saunders was involved in a motorcycle crash in Pennsylvania. Saunders ended up in a coma for a couple of weeks.
Sadly, Saunders finally succumbed to his injuries at around 4pm on August 18, 2013 surrounded by his family. ‘The Cosmic Commander’ Howard Saunders was just 51 years old.