Indy wrestler dies after missing a plancha

[Nightfall 0]

Indy wrestler Dan Quirk, who wrestled under the name Spider, passed away last night after injuries occurred when performing a plancha while working for Ultimate Championship Wrestling in Taunton, Massachusetts. According to several reports, Quirk's opponent was unable to catch him, causing Quirk to crash to the floor headfirst. Quirk was out immediately with blood visible after he hit the floor. The match was immediately halted and an ambulance was called. Efforts to revive Quirk were unsuccessful. He was only 22 years old.

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone have any info of who this guy is?

[TheFranchise 0]

No, and not to sound disrespectful, but i'm shocked things like this doesn't happen more often.

 

I don't find him on my EWR, though.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Oh my God. Please don't let this be the guy I'm thinking of because I've watched him grow over the past few years. He's a really nice guy, I hope it's not the Spider I'm thinking of.

 

http://wrestlingspider.com/ - that's the Spider I'm thinking of

 

EDIT: I think it may be the guy. The Observer is saying the match was at the Elks Lodge and I know he wrestles there often. I hold out hope though.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Oh shit, it's true...I can't believe it. He was one of my favorite local workers and a damn nice guy. I met his mom once too, I can't imagine how she's feeling right now. Rest in peace, man...

 

He was so young, too. I remember the first time I saw him on a show that also featured Sabu vs. Balls Mahoney, I thought he must've been like 17, he looked so young. That was just two years ago so he was about 20.

[iliketurtles 0]

 

Sorry to hear this.

[zyn081 0]

Ive never hear of the guy, but a great shame. Hes gone way too early.

 

It reinforces my belief that wrestling should be based on psycology and not spots.

[iliketurtles 0]

I think there's more of an issue of wrestlers not knowing how to protect other wrestlers instead of not doing spots.

 

Cause the moonsault to the outside...people have been doing that for 10 years.

 

Curious thought...anyone know if they stopped the show?

[zyn081 0]

I think there's more of an issue of wrestlers not knowing how to protect other wrestlers instead of not doing spots.

 

Cause the moonsault to the outside...people have been doing that for 10 years.

 

Curious thought...anyone know if they stopped the show?

On 2nd thoughts your right, but only wrestlers who know what they are doing should use them. It makes you think the WWE is right to tone things down, as theres always that risk.

[Guest Chasing Dogma]

That's very sad. I had no idea who this guy was, but to hear someone dying actually in the middle of a match is quite tragic

[Jingus 0]

How easily people forget how dangerous this stuff really is. How easily we forget about the frailty of the human body. People die every day from slipping and falling in their goddamn shower, after all. Like Franchise said, I'd actually expect tragedies like this to happen more often than they do, sadly enough. And Lucha, I'm sorry.

 

EDIT: wow, visiting his website made me incredibly depressed. This wasn't just some backyard idiot, he was a real pro who apparently had lots of people who loved him and a real future ahead of him. So it goes...

[Jingus 0]

EDIT: so depressed in fact that I had to post it twice.

[LucharesuFan619 0]

I now realize a mistake I made in my above post. I mentioned I had met his mom before, it wasn't his mom but a mega fan of his. I don't know her real name, but she was always at any show he was on. She's always come to the shows wearing the official t-shirt of his web site, would always have signs putting him over, and would always cheer like crazy during his match. I'm not sure of her name, but she was always at Spider's matches which is why I mixed her up as being his mom. She definitely thought of him like a son, that's for sure. She attended his matches religiously. There's another thread in this forum about what makes indy wrestling better than WWE wrestling. I guess it's the fact that you can actually interact with your favorite wrestler so closely because they're so much more accessible. Damn, this day really sucks.

 

[LucharesuFan619 0]

This is the woman I was talking about. I'm going to leave it at this because I couldn't say it any better. I know a lot of people haven't seen him work, but I for one have seen him and met him many times so this is downright horrible. Spider/Dan will very much be missed. How things can change in one day, I can't believe this...

 

I am still in shock. I went numb when I first read the post on another board. I didn't want to believe it. Truth is I still can't. I was up till 4 a.m. trying to get info and make some sense of this tragedy. The fact is I can't. I broke down countless times today. My son cried for 10 minutes straight this morning. I have met a ton of wonderful people in the indy business. Spider was unique. As many of you know, I can be a bit overly passionate about wrestling and a bit chatty. Somehow I got Dan's im and talked to him often. Never did he tell me to stop bugging him. Never did he give me the feeling I was being annoying (though often I probably was). He was always courteous, thoughtful, friendly and very positive. He was a wonderful roll model for my son. He has become a close friend of our familys over the past couple of years. He helped me through a really difficult time when my husband had some major surgery last year. Without his help I would have been lost, since I have no family down in this area. Again, he didn't need to. I was "just a fan". I could go on forever. You guys know how special he was. I saw him on Thursday when he stopped by our house to pick up a table we were giving him. I wish I had told him how much his friendship meant to us. That I appreciated him always going the extra mile for me and my family. Who knew it would be the last time I saw him? I hope he knew how much he meant to us. I feel like I have lost a close friend and almost a member of my family. The hurt is so deep I don't know if/when it will stop. The world is a better place because of Spider. I can't tell you how much he will be missed. God bless you Spider. Thanks for everything. You will live forever in our hearts.

 

Holly Scofield

#1Spiderfan Forever

[Guest jcmar3x]

I only got to meet Dan/Spider a couple times, and got to see only a handful of his matches. A co-booker for my local indy had been trying to get him booked on my shows, but unfortunately I hadn't found a place on the roster.

 

He was always an incredibly nice guy and very professional the times I met him, and I know alot of people that are taking this very hard. It's basically sent shockwaves throughout New England.

 

The show was stopped immeadiately following the botched plancha (don't even begin trying to wrap around the psychology of a heel going after the babyface with a plancha, infront of 8 paying people nonetheless) and the ambulance was called right away.

 

It should be noted that the scumbag that did the plancha (who's notorious for getting blazed beyond recognition before matches) left immeadiately after the ambulance arrived and never onced called or went to the hospital. I guess when it comes down to it he was only looking out for himself, where as Dan was trying to protect his opponent.

 

R.I.P.

[tekcop 0]

Wait.... the other guy did the plancha and the spider guy died? How'd that happen?

 

This is really said anyway, though. I don't know anything about the guy but there's something horrible about hearing of an indy guy dieing. Maybe something about the fact that they do what they do more out of love for the business than money or something... I don't know. This is kind of depressing, actually.

[AnonymousBroccoli 0]

That's awful. Sorry to Lucha and jcmar, and anyone else who knew him.

 

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=10593&p=1

 

PWI updated the article. Spider was taking a moonsault, and his head somehow ended up crashing into the ground, with the opponent's weight on top of him.

[Jericholic82 0]

Wow, that's really sad. I have never seen him, but I offer my condolences to his family nonetheless. Damn he was the same age as me.

 

I agree, we too often forget how dangerous pro wrestling is sometimes.

[nl5xsk1 0]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050601/ap_on_...te_fighting_ban

 

the actual article is about MMA, but references Quirk's death, so I figured it wouldn't be a threadjack to post it here ...