In some tragic news, 'Bad Bones' John Klinger has passed away. He was just 40 years of age.
Having worked all across the globe, Bad Bones was most synonymous with wXw, where he achieved plentiful title success and clashed with major names such as Gunther, Ilja Dragunov, Ludwig Kaiser, Malakai Black, Timothy Thatcher, and 'Speedball' Mike Bailey.
Translated from German, wXw made the following announcement of this sad news:
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"We say goodbye to “Bad Bones” John Klinger. John Klinger was one of the defining wrestlers at wXw for over a decade. He won all of the major titles at wXw and won both 16 Carat Gold and Shortcut to the Top. In his almost 450 matches in the wXw ring, he always worked hard and did his best to excite his fans. At just 40 years old, John died far too early, shortly before his planned retirement. We wish his family and friends strength in this difficult time."
Making his in-ring debut in 2005, John Klinger was not only a staple of wXw, but he worked extensively throughout Europe, had spells in Japan, and had notable appearances in the United States for promotions like TNA and CZW. John also competed for WCPW and Defiant, with his final Defiant match coming against our own Simon Miller.
Bad Bones was in action as recently as this month, picking up a win over Flash Morgan Webster for Prime Time Wrestling in Poland on 11 May.
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The thoughts of us all here at WhatCulture Wrestling go out to the family, friends, and fans of John Klinger at this time. May he rest in peace.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.
