The wrestling community is in mourning this week after the tragic loss of a legend.
Mike Halac, who was best known as Mantaur from his time in the WWE, has sadly lost his life at a relatively young age. PWInsider reports that Halac passed away in his sleep today at the age of 55.
Halac’s daughter, Demi, announced that tragic news on Halac’s personal Facebook page, saying, “He went peacefully in his sleep. He’s no longer in pain.”
“This really hit home to lose my father, he will forever be in my heart and many others. I love you, dad. Make the skies beautiful for me.”
Halac began his wrestling career in 1991, competing in the CWA in Germany as Bruiser Mastino. He worked for the company until 1994 when he signed with WWE.
Halac began his WWE career under his Bruiser Mastino gimmick at house shows, but he would soon debut on TV with the gimmick that he is best known as, a play on a minotaur. Mantaur was briefly managed by Jim Cornette and got an Intercontinental Championship match against Razor Ramon.
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His gimmick would not last very long as he made his last WWE appearance as Mantaur at In Your House 2 in July of 1995 as a lumberjack for the WWE Championship match between Sid and Diesel.
Following his WWE exit, he had a brief run in ECW as Bruiser Mastino before he briefly returned to the CWA and then had a short return to WWE as a bodyguard for Goldust at In Your House 7. He would then wrestle in the UsWA as Tank in the Truth Commission where he won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, and returned to WWE one last time with the Truth Commission in the summer of 1997.
He would eventually retire in 2001 before returning in 2005. His final wrestling appearance would come in 2019 for GCW in the Clusterf**k Battle Royal at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3.
No matter how many doors closed on him, he would continue with his passion.
Condolences to his family and friends.
