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- Virgil, whose real name was Michael Jones, is best remembered for his time as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment during the 1980s and 1990s.
Former WWE superstar Virgil has died at the age of 61, weeks after it was widely reported that he suffered “several strokes”, a company spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com.
Virgil, whose real name was Michael Jones, is best remembered for his time as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment during the 1980s and 1990s.
According to referee Mark Charles III, who first broke the news of his sad death, Virgil passed away peacefully in a hospital on Wednesday. In 2022, the star was diagnosed with dementia and suffered two strokes.
He started in the company as the bodyguard of one of the company’s ultimate villains, The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase.
However, in 1991 he sensationally turned on his on-screen boss and became a good guy, defeating DiBiase at that year’s Wrestlemania and Summerslam with icon Rowdy Roddy Piper at his side.
He failed to capitalize on that success and spent the rest of his time in WWE as a runner or enhancement talent before jumping, like many of his colleagues, to World Championship Wrestling in the mid-1990s.
While in WCW, Virgil changed his name to Vincent, a nod to WWE owner Vince McMahon. His WWE name was a joke against WCW executive and star Dusty Rhodes, whose real name was Virgil Runnells.
He joined the Heel group New World Order led by his former WWE star, Hulk Hogan. Virgil Hogan accredited with getting hired at the company owned by Ted Turner.
Virgil remained with the company until mid-2000, when injuries forced his retirement from the ring.
in a 2016 interview, DiBiase pulled back the curtain on her relationship with Virgil, saying the pair were never too close but always got along well.
However, unlike many of his hard-partying colleagues, Virgil never drank, smoked or took drugs during his career.
‘We’d do our thing on the road and then I’d see him in three days or a week, whatever it was at the time. “I didn’t really socialize with him much, so to speak, but we had a great working relationship and we were friends,” DiBiase said.
However, the relationship soured in later years when DiBiase discovered that Virgil had been using his former partner’s name when booking personal appearances at wrestling conventions without DiBiase’s knowledge.
‘Sometimes you reap what you sow. You do things wrong and that comes back to haunt you. “I really think that’s what happened to him,” DiBiase added.
Virgil fell on hard times in recent years. In 2021, he was forced to set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for your health care. Those who donated more than $25 would receive a signed photo.
Another page was created. in 2023 in which he tried to raise $400 to pay for clothes and toiletries.
According to that page, Virgil weighed around 154 pounds, almost 100 pounds lighter than he weighed during his wrestling career. The page also said that he now had limited use of his arms and hands.
“Dementia is also claiming more and more victims,” the page adds.
Virgil got into wrestling after meeting legend Tony Atlas at the Pennsylvania gym. Before that, he had been a star defensive back at Virginia Union University, where he was also an amateur wrestler.
Trained by Afa of The Wild Samoans, Virgil got his break in the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, where he was known as Soul Train Jones.
From there, he was signed by Vince McMahon.
In his role with the Greenwich Giant, Virgil participated in memorable vignettes in which The Million Dollar Man displayed his wealth by having members of the public perform humiliating tasks for meager sums of money.
After leaving mainstream wrestling, Virgil performed at independent shows and wrestling conventions. In 2010, he reappeared on WWE television reprising his role as Ted DiBiase Jr.’s bodyguard.
It also managed to go viral thanks to some strange statements and moments.
In 2022, Virgil stated in an interview who had sexual relations with a million women during his life.
A year earlier, he loaded Brooke Hogan, daughter of Hulk Hogan, $30 for a photo and autograph ‘combo’.
“I don’t care who your dad is, you still have $20 left for a photo, $30 for the autograph combo, honey,” he wrote.
Among his caregivers in his final years was Pittsburgh wrestling referee Mark Charles III.
“My dear friends, it is with a heavy heart that I bring you news from the Jones family of the passing of our beloved Michael Jones, whom we know and love as Virgil, Vincent, Soul Train Jones and more,” Charles wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook message. mail.
‘Virgil passed away peacefully in hospital this morning and I ask that you pray for him and his family. May the memory of him be eternal!’
Charles previously posted about trying to move Virgil to a nursing home.
His death comes one day after the passing of wrestling legend and Four Horsemen founder Ole Anderson.