News broke overnight that another ECW legend passed away. To call Balls Mahoney a fan favorite would be a mild understatement. While he may not have achieved the success or adoration that other mainstays-like Tommy Dreamer or The Sandman-did, he was absolutely adored for his Balls-out in-ring style, and his predilection for liberal use of chairs.
Tragically, I said another, because it feels like just the other day we were remembering Axl Rotten, and before him Hack Meyers-each considered another fan favorite. Rotten and Mahoney were close, forming the tandem dubbed The Hardcore Chair Swinging Freaks for-yep, you guessed it-their frequent use of chairs as weapons, a tactic that endeared them to the ECW faithful.
I don’t know that I could pick a singular standout match. I’d rather just recall my favorite thing about Mahoney: while others using chairs would just grab whatever was laying around, or in Terry Funk’s case, have the entire audience fling them into the ring…Mahoney had a favorite, nicely decorated and personalized, that he liked to carry down to the ring. That’s a special kind of sadistic, and his fans loved him for it. He even had the odd footnote of playing an evil Santa (Xanta) in WWE-though this is not something he is most remembered for.
I can make no judgment on a man I never met personally, and thus far we haven’t seen the cause of death-but I don’t especially need to see it. A relatively young man-he just turned 44, making him just 6 years older than me-is gone. He leaves behind a family. He, like so many others who have worked in this business, is gone far too soon, and he will be missed. On behalf of the WrestleNewz family, I extend my condolences to Mahoney’s friends and family, and I pray that he may find eternal peace, wherever he may be.
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