We are sad to learn that former WWE star Darren Drozdov has passed away at 54 years old. Drozdov, known as simply Droz in WWE, was also briefly part of the new Legion of Doom in 1998 as a potential permanent replacement for Road Warrior Hawk, who was struggling with personal issues at the time.
Droz debuted in 1998 and worked primarily in the mid-card until he was added to the Legion of Doom tag team. After that run ended, he went back to working as a singles star for a while before being paired with Matt Bloom (Prince Albert, A-Train).
Many fans may remember that Droz appeared in the famous “Beyond The Mat” scene where he was shown puking on command in Vince McMahon’s office. McMahon got a kick out of that and that is where the “Puke” nickname came from when he was slotted in the Legion of Doom storyline.
During a SmackDown TV taping in October of 1999, Droz was paralyzed after taking a running powerbomb from D’Lo Brown. The match never aired on TV. D’Lo has said in interviews that he carried a lot of guilt because of what happened but the reality is that it was a fluke injury and Droz has said in interviews that he never blamed D’Lo for what happened.
Droz would remain in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and WWE kept him on their payroll for years and did some convention appearances. At one point in 2018, he was advertised for a reunion with D’Lo at a signing in Atlantic City. We send our deepest condolences to Droz’s friends and family.
