DrVenkman PhD 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2007 http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/03/06/3704792.html Former Olympic judo bronze medalist Allen Coage -- better known to wrestling fans as Bad News Allen and Bad News Brown -- has died suddenly. He was 63. Coage died early Tuesday morning in Calgary at Rockyview Hospital, having been rushed to the hospital, complaining of chest pains. Three weeks ago, Coage underwent hip replacement surgery and had been making progress on his recovery. Monday night, he was home alone and called longtime friend Gerry Morrow, complaining of chest pains. Morrow got him to the hospital. Coage broke into professional wrestling through the New Japan Pro Wrestling organization, training in Japan and spending the first few years after the 1976 Montreal Olympics in that country. He was a star in the Calgary Stampede promotion as Bad News Allen, having bloody feuds with the likes of The Dynamite Kid, Archie 'The Stomper' Gouldie, Bret Hart and others. In the WWF of the late 1980s, he was known as Bad News Brown, and feuded with Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. He had been working the last number of years as a security guard at a mall; "Teenagers are a pain in the ass. You always have to run them off," he said in July 2006. Apparently they didn't know who they were messing with. "It don’t matter to them, they're tough." Coage is survived by his wife Helen and their children Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2007 Damn, that sucks. We were just talking about him in the 24/7 thread. His character was way ahead of its time. RIP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vampiro69 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2007 Major bummer on this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Annabelle 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 the original stonecold. dude sounded hard as fuck by most people's account. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Downhome 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Always hate to hear this, RIP Bad News. So is this #3 for 2007 so far? Bam Bam Bigelow Mike Awesome Bad News Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haVoc 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Wasn't there an old rumor Vince McMahon locked himself in a room because Bad News was going to kick his ass over a payoff? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luke-o 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Always hate to hear this, RIP Bad News. So is this #3 for 2007 so far? Bam Bam Bigelow Mike Awesome Bad News Thats the count i've got. RIP Bad News, you will be missed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Downhome 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Am I the only one shocked at his age? I know he's been around a while, and it's obviously the right age, but I can't think of him as 63 years old. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Am I the only one shocked at his age? I know he's been around a while, and it's obviously the right age, but I can't think of him as 63 years old. I would've been surprised if I hadn't seen it as a part of a separate project I did last month. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Always hate to hear this, RIP Bad News. So is this #3 for 2007 so far? Bam Bam Bigelow Mike Awesome Bad News Thats the count i've got. RIP Bad News, you will be missed. At this rate everybody that ever worked for the WWF will be dead soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 I had read years ago that Bad News was in his thirties when he won the bronze medal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 RIP. A real bad motherfcuker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scroby 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Holy shit! RIP, from what I've heard about him, he's was a really really good man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cabbageboy 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 Man, I feel kinda bad now. I had just trashed the guy's WWF work in the 24/7 thread. It's a bit shocking that he was about 45 at that point. RIP Bad News. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLAGIARISM! 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 63 seems old for wrestlers, a shame. He was cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toshiaki Koala 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 What the fuck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UseTheSledgehammerUh 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2007 In a beautifully kayfabed world not a single person would show up to his funeral. But the sewer rats cage would be there. Covered by a black tablecloth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Teq Report post Posted March 7, 2007 So incredibly sad. RIP Bad News, you tough motherfucker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. S£im Citrus 0 Report post Posted March 8, 2007 Fuck. Certainly not what I was expecting to see here after a shitty day at work. RIP to one of my five favorite wrestlers of all time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jericholic82 0 Report post Posted March 9, 2007 I was just talking about him a min ago i nthe 24/7 thread, I wa swatching his SNME match with Hogan last night. That sucks to here. Though I wasnt a fan when he was around, looking back he was quite the charachter and by all accounts a good man. RIP Bad News, give a ghetto blaster to St Peter for us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swan 0 Report post Posted March 11, 2007 Always hate to hear this, RIP Bad News. So is this #3 for 2007 so far? Bam Bam Bigelow Mike Awesome Bad News Depends, are you sticking to just US pro wrestlers? Luchador and Wrestling Observer Hall Of Fame Member Black Shawdow passed this week as well. http://www.luchawiki.com/index.php?title=Black_Shadow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest swilk Report post Posted March 23, 2007 I've been a big fan of Bad News Allen for years, especially during his days in Stampede Wrestling. I currently live in Airdrie and would see him at the Towerlane Mall working security. I could never work up the nerve to go and talk to him though. Here's a nice follow-up article from the local paper, the Airdrie Echo, for all you "beer-belly sharecroppers!" RIP Bad News Airdrie, wrestling world say goodbye to Bad News Allen Anne Beaty Echo Editor Wednesday March 21, 2007 Airdrie Echo — A familiar face around Airdrie is gone. Allen Coage – better known to wrestling fans as Bad News Allen – died suddenly March 6 after being taken to Calgary’s Rockyview Hospital with chest pains. Coage was 63. While the professional wrestling world knew Coage for his villainous presence in the ring, Airdrie and area residents knew him as the no-nonsense security guard at Towerlane Mall, where he was well-liked by shop owners, co-workers and customers alike. Although he lived in Calgary with his wife, Helen, Coage commuted to Airdrie, a city in which he enjoyed working. "The people are very friendly and they treat me well," he said in a June 2005 article in the Echo. Born Oct. 22, 1943, in Harlem, N.Y., Coage took up judo at age 18, a sport in which he competed for 14 years. He earned a fifth-degree black belt and went on to 107 titles during his career, including five national championships and two gold medals at the Pan Am Games. It was during this time period that Coage was nicknamed "Bad News" by a fellow judo athlete, because he was ‘bad news’ for his opponents on the mat. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, he won a bronze medal in the judo heavyweight class as a member of the U.S. Olympic team and was inducted into the Judo Hall of Fame in 1990. From there, Coage went on to professional wrestling, because even though he loved the amateur sport of judo, pro wrestling would pay the bills. Coage trained to wrestle in Japan and competed in that country until 1982, when he was asked to come to Canada. He was perhaps best-known in the Calgary region for his time with Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling, where he proved the quintessential villain (even though he had started his pro career as a good guy). In 1998, after 22 years in the ring, a knee injury indicated that the time had come to retire and Coage decided to fill the extra hours by teaching wrestling and working with Academy Protection Service, which brought him to Airdrie. Most recently in Airdrie, Coage spoke at a city council meeting in October, at which whether or not to institute a youth curfew was debated. Drawing on his experience as a security guard at Towerlane Mall, he addressed council on youth issues he had witnessed as part of his job and expressed his concern over such problems as youths harassing elderly people, gangs, drugs and underaged drinking. "It’s not going away – it’s getting worse," Coage said. For the class he brought to the sport of judo; for the enjoyment he brought to his wrestling fans; for his voice, his presence and the experience he brought to Airdrie, Bad News Allen Coage will be missed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites