Over the weekend, the sad news broke that longtime Florida indie pro wrestler Frankie Ciatso had died aged just 48. The self-proclaimed journeyman passed away from congestive heart failure while he slept, and subsequently, a GoFundMe has been set up to cover his funeral expenses. So far, over $9,000 has been raised, with Chris Jericho and Doc Gallows currently being the top donors.
Ciatso broke into the business in 1998 after training with “Exotic” Adrian Street. And while he never became a big star, he did spend two years in WWE’s developmental system learning from Dave Taylor, Dr. Tom Prichard, and Bill Demott, and wrestled for WWE in 2006 against Tatanka and Matt Striker on Velocity and Heat, respectively.
Additionally, he worked enhancement for TNA on and off, wrestling talents including Matt Morgan, Jeff Jarrett, and Abyss in singles matches. Most recently, he was the head instructor at the WWN Pro Wrestling Training Center, where he was passing his knowledge on to the next generation.
