Legendary WCW wrestler Butch Reed has passed away at the age of 66.
The sad news was confirmed by Reed’s official Instagram page on Friday morning. On February 2, the same page revealed that Reed had recently sustained two heart attacks.
Reed debuted in 1978 and joined WWE in 1986. He would go on to perform at WrestleMania III and WrestleMania IV.
In 1989, Reed began tagging with WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons in WCW under the team name Doom.
In the aftermath of Reed’s passing, tributes poured in from his friends and colleagues in the wresting industry.
I never met Butch Reed, so my take on him is from when I was kid & a fan. I can’t say I was a “fan” of Butch Reed’s back then. He was a heel after all, at a time when if you were good at you job people didn’t like you. He had a credibility though, that you had to respect. #RIP
— Lance Storm (@LanceStorm) February 5, 2021
One of my favorite tag teams of all time. 100% bad ass. My first night in the wrestling business (almost 30 years ago) was spent with Butch Reed-I asked him about the story about him riding a horse into a bar, it’s true-what a good time. RIP Butch Reed. pic.twitter.com/S2RmoVMwuh
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) February 5, 2021
