Rick Bognar, FMW Star And The Second Razor Ramon, Passes Away

Rick Bognar, perhaps best known for his several month stint with WWE in which he portrayed Razor Ramon (following the departure of Scott Hall), passed away on Friday, September 20, according to Bognar's brother Ken, via a post on Rick's Facebook account.

Bognar was 49 years old. Ken notes that his brother "died suddenly and unexpectedly". He began his career on the Canadian independent scene in the late 1980s, wrestling under the name Rick Titan. In 1991, Bognar debuted for Japan's Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling as Big Titan, where he won the promotion's Brass Knuckles Heavyweight title, and captured tag team gold alongside The Gladiator (Mike Awesome). After runs through Japan and Canada, and even a very brief stint in ECW in 1996, the 6'6", 275-pound Bognar was brought to WWE in the summer of 1996. Infamously, Bognar assumed the Razor Ramon gimmick in a storyline that also saw Glenn Jacobs, the future Kane, take over the role of Diesel from Kevin Nash, as a demonstration of WWE's ownership of the Razor and Diesel gimmicks during ongoing litigation with WCW. Over the final years of his career, Bognar wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of the nWo Japan stable, and in the revitalized Stampede Wrestling in his native Calgary, before retiring in 2001. In retirement, Bognar became a life coach and motivational speaker, and penned a book entitled "Wrestling With Consciousness". Cultaholic extends its condolences to Mr. Bognar's family and friends.