Paul Perschmann, better known as professional wrestling's "Playboy" Buddy Rose, has died at the age of 56. His wife found him dead Tuesday afternoon at their home in Portland, Oregon. No cause of death was immediately known, but Rose suffered from type II diabetes. In the later years of his career, Rose put on a lot of weight and got even bigger when he retired.
Rose's last match was at the 2005 WrestleReunion in Tampa, Florida in a six-man match that was hyped as "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant's retirement match. The match was Rose, Col. DeBeers, & Bob Orton Jr. vs. Valiant, Roddy Piper, & Jimmy Snuka. Rose only made personal appearances after that match.
Rose was a star in the Portland territory before moving on to the WWF and the AWA. He held the AWA Tag Team Title with "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers.
He was in the very first match at the first WrestleMania as the masked Executioner, losing to Tito Santana.