Former WCW and WWE Wrestler Sean O’Haire passed away in his home at the age of 43.
Little is known as to the why and how, but I would like to take a moment to talk about a short experience I had with him during my time employed at WWE.
I was working backstage at Continental Airlines Arena, now known as the IZOD Center. I had been tasked with rounding up talent for special ticket holders for a meet-and-greet, and for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The backstory is having met O’Haire prior to this event, we had talked for a while about his upbringing and passion to be an entertainer in the squared circle. Having already established rapport with him, I knew I could certainly count on O’Haire to help me out. What I did not count on, was when he asked me to bring him to the Make-A-Wish children first. He felt it was his responsibility to greet them first and give them a great experience.
At the time, he was billed as a “heel” commonly referred to a bad guy on the show. At that very moment, we all forgot about his character in the ring and witnessed his tremendous character as a person.
I wrote a few columns in the now-defunct WWE SmackDown magazine and website highlighting Sean O’Haire, as he was one of the few who always gave his time for a chat to go into my article.
In WCW he was one of the New Blood of the company, hot young talent along with Mark Jindrak, Sean Staskiak, and Chuck Palumbo, amongst others. He held the WCW Tag Team Championship before WCW was bought out by Vince McMahon. In WWE he had moderate success, being managed by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and was featured in a short high-profile feud with Hulk Hogan and others, before settling back into mid-card status. His dark, brooding, yet intelligent gimmick garnered a cult following, and his actions in the ring always kept the attention of the live crowd and viewers at home. I truly think had WWE not wasted his talent and kept him around, he could have been a real recognized champion.
Following WWE, he tried out for MMA and unfortunately did not find success. I really do not like to get into it, but anyone capable of using Wikipedia or Google can look up the darker side to his life, which I fear may have been a factor into his passing.
From my experience, Sean was a stand-up guy who was grateful for his success in WCW and WWE, as well as being a respectable person outside the ring.
He will be missed.
