UPDATED: WWE Issues Statement On ‘The Patriot’ Del Wilkes’ Passing

UPDATE: WWE has issued a statement commenting on the passing of Del “The Patriot” Wilkes. The company’s statement can seen below:

Del Wilkes, known to WWE fans as The Patriot, passes away
WWE is saddened to learn that Del Wilkes, known to WWE fans as The Patriot, has passed away at the age of 59.

Before making a name for himself in the squared circle, Wilkes was a standout on the football field for the University of South Carolina, where he earned the distinction of being voted a consensus All-American. After making the switch to sports-entertainment, Wilkes competed all over the world before arriving in WWE in 1997 as The Patriot.

A Superstar quickly on the rise, The Patriot proudly donned the red, white and blue of America in the midst of a rivalry with The Hart Foundation, leading to a memorable match against Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at In Your House: Ground Zero just two months after his WWE debut.

WWE extends its condolences to Wilkes’ family and friends.

ORIGINAL: Del Wilkes, best known to wrestling fans as The Patriot in WWE and WCW, has passed away. PWInsider reports that Wilkes’ mother announced the news on Thursday afternoon, noting that Wilkes passed following a heart attack. He was 59 years old.

Wilkes’ wrestling career began in the late 1980s following a successful college football run where he was a consensus All-American starter in 1984. Wilkes failed to translate that into an NFL career and turned to wrestling, where he was trained by Verne Gagne and The Fabulous Moolah. He began his in-ring career in Gagne’s American Wrestling Association as The Trooper, a police gimmick with which he won the AWA World Tag Team Championships with D.J. Peterson at the final AWA TV taping in August of 1990.

Folling the AWA’s closure, Wilkes moved onto the Global Wrestling Federation, where he adopted the Patriot gimmick and was the first GWF Television Championship. He feuded with Al Perez over the GWF North American Heavyweight Championship, becoming its inaugural champion, and then with Doug Gilbert who was portraying the “Dark Patriot.” Wilkes would eventually have a short run in the WWF in 1991 and 1992 before moving to AJPW, teaming with Jackie Fulton who was working under a gimmick of “The Eagle.” They had a three-month run with the All Asia Tag Team Championship.

Wilkes signed with WCW in 1994 for one of his highest-profile runs, where he held the WCW World Tag Team Titles with Buff Bagwell as Stars and Stripes. He returned to AJPW for a three-year run and teamed with Johnny Ace for a while, as well as Kenta Kobashi. The three teamed up toward the end of Wilkes’ run for a stable called GET, though Wilkes would leave soon after and join WWF again. During his final WWF run he would feud with the then-anti-American Bret Hart more or less until he left in 1998.

Wilkes retired from the ring after he left WWE due to the torn tricep he had suffered there. He had worked as a car salesman in Columbia, South Carolina for the past 16 years.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Mr. Wilkes.