WWE Alumnus Darren ‘Droz’ Drozdov Passes Away

Darren Drozdov, best known for his WWE run during the Attitude Era as “Droz,” has passed away. PWInsider reports that Drozdov passed, though no details have yet been revealed. An official statement is said to be on the way. He was 54 years old.

Drozdov was a former NFL player before he found his way into professional wrestling, having played defensive tackle for the University of Maryland before having a short run in the early to mid-90s with the New York Jets and Denver Broncos. He gained media attention after he threw up on the ball during a Mondey Night Football game, a result of a chronic vomiting problem. After his NFL run, he moved into wrestling and worked on the independent scene before signing with WWE, being initially farmed out to ECW in order to get experience where he was seen as part of a group of WWE “invaders.”

The vomiting incident drew the attention of Vince McMahon and, in a scene immortalized in Beyond the Mat, he met with McMahon at Titan Towers where he showed off his ability to vomit on demand. McMahon decided his name would be “Puke” and Drozdov made his WWE Raw debut in 1998 as an ally of the Legon of Doom. He was involved in the highly unfortunate storyline that played off of Hawk’s alcoholism, with the story being that he was enabling Hawk’s issues in order to undermine him and get on the team. This included a reveal that Hawk had not jumped off the TitanTron as originally thought; rather, Droz had pushed him off.

Droz was repackaged after that and was set up as the head of a heel alliance, which was cut short by the tragic incident that left him paralyzed for life. On the October 5th, 1999 episode of Smackdown, Drozdov slipped during a powerbomb during a match by D’Lo Brown and fractured two vertebrae in his neck. Drozdov told Brown while being stretchered out not to blame himself and he would eventually regain some movement in his arms and upper body, though he would never walk again. He had repeated stated that he held no animosity toward Brown or WWE for it, and WWE kept him employed for years in other capacities including as a writer on WWE.com. Through he never went after WWE for damages, the company nonetheless approached Drozdov and came to a settlement to help him out financially.

Drozdov made occasional appearances at conventions and did interviews. He lived with his sister in Southen New Jersey and needed 24 hour medical care.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Mr. Drozdov. He will most certainly be missed.