Former Wrestler Adrian Street Dead at 82: 'Changed the Wrestling World Forever'

The wrestler's wife announced on Monday that he died on July 24

Former wrestler and Welsh wrestling icon Adrian Street has died. He was 82.

News of Street's death was made public by his wife Linda on Monday in an interview with the BBC. The fellow wrestling personality shared with the outlet that Street died on July 24 after recently undergoing brain surgery.

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"He'd had a heart problem a while ago which was resolved," she explained. "But then he had a stroke earlier this month which resulted in a bleed on the brain. He was recovering from that at home when he developed colitis - a chronic inflammatory bowel disease - which later turned into sepsis. That's what killed him."

Street had previously been diagnosed and survived throat cancer in 2001, per Wales Online, but Linda shared with the BBC that his recent health battles "all came about so quick."

"I've still not come to terms with it yet," she added while expressing that she plans to have his ashes scattered near their home in Cwmbran, Wales, and remembering him as "the kindest, most loving man you could ever meet."

The BBC reports that Street and Linda first met in 1969. According to the WWE, the former wrestler worked alongside his wife who served as his in-ring manager through different promotions in the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, and Canada, before finding a home at the Continental Championship Wrestling promotion in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Known for his flamboyant and charismatic in-ring persona, the WWE also celebrated his nearly 60-year-long career as being one that included designing wrestling attire worn by Mick Foley and appearing in the 1981 film Quest for Fire.

After news of his death was made public, famous friends across the world of wrestling paid tribute to Street on social media.

WWE Hall of Famer Paul "Triple H" Levesque remembered Street as a "genre-bending pioneer whose larger-than-life presence and ruthlessness between the ropes changed the wrestling world forever." He shared two photos of Street on Twitter and added that he was "honored to have called Adrian Street a friend."

Fellow WWE wrestling personality William Regal (real name Darren Kenneth Matthews) echoed the same sentiments, writing on Twitter, "I’m deeply saddened to hear of the passing of my friend and truly a one off talent Adrian Street. My deepest condolences to Linda and Adrian’s family. Rest well.x"

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Andrew McLean Galloway IV — who currently wrestles for the WWE under the name Drew McIntyre — paid tribute on Twitter by reflecting on Street's career. He wrote alongside an image of two, "Adrian Street was before his time, a genuine trailblazer and one of the toughest men you could wish to meet. My thoughts go out to his wife Linda & the rest of his family and friends. RIP."

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