Brian Knighton, aka former ECW Superstar Axl Rotten has died. He was found dead in a motel in Baltimore, Maryland by local authorities this afternoon. His cause of death is currently not known.
Knighton, 44, was best known for his run in ECW from 1993 – 1999 where he had spells in tag teams with his storyline brother Ian Rotten, and Balls Mahoney. His later feud with Ian when the team separated won the pair the 1995 feud of the year from Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
He appeared briefly for WWE in 2005 as well as TNA in 2010.
Rotten suffered from Bells Palsy, as revealed in a YouTube documentary and more recently, was using a wheelchair due to a spinal injury.
He set up a GoFundMe page earlier last year asking fans to contribute to his medical bills, with support from several wrestlers including Chris Jericho, with whom Axl appeared on an episode of Talk is Jericho just this week.
On behalf of the family, friends and fans of Axl Rotten, we send our sincerest condolences.
*Update*
In an early update, we have since discovered that Knighton was not found in his hotel room but infact was found in a McDonalds across the road. Knighton was identified due to staying at the hotel. We’ll update this post more, once details are released.