Dennis Stamp, who was best known by wrestling fans for his appearance in the “Beyond the Mat” documentary in 1999, has passed away at the age of 68. He had been battling cancer according to a report by The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online.
Stamp had a background in amateur wrestling and transitioned to a career in professional wrestling in Verne Gagne’s AWA promotion in the early 1970s. He later had runs with territories in West Texas and California. Stamp would continue working in the Amarillo area of Texas and worked as an enhancement talent for AWA and WWE in the 1980s.
Stamp later retired from wrestling and worked at a pest control company. He gained a cult following with his appearance in the “Beyond the Mat” documentary where he famously complained about not being booked on Terry Funk’s then “retirement” show back in 1997. The documentary profiled Stamp arguing with Funk about not wanting to attend the show unless he was booked. Funk then put him on the show as the referee of the main event between Funk and then WWE Champion and Hall of Famer Bret Hart.
You can check out a clip of Stamp from the documentary below.
Independent wrestler Grado shared the following on Twitter earlier today.
RIP Dennis Stamp. I had the pleasure of tagging with him in his 1st match since 91. He borrowed my ring gear that night.Will never forget u! pic.twitter.com/Nwya2SzUbr
— GRADO (@gradowrestling) March 13, 2017
