Jaysin Strife appeared on AEW Dark in November (Picture: AEW)
Wrestler and promoter Jaysin Strife has died aged 37.
The independent star, real name Nathan Blodgett, died on Thursday (December 29) after a ‘long’ and ‘intense’ heath battle, his brother Jason confirmed on Facebook, while his career saw him perform for the likes of WWE and AEW.
He wrote: ‘”They say every time a bell rings a Strife gets his wings…” today 12-29-22 @ 9:55 pm the world lost an icon. After a long intense battle he finally couldn’t kick out any more.
‘His impact in and out of the ring has been felt by us all and the love shown is not lost on the family. Thank you all for your thoughts and kind words. But more importantly, your prayers.
‘At the end Nate gave his life to Christ giving our family the peace of knowing he’s joining his beloved Grandma Pat… (The mint chip ice cream and cookies are waiting bro!)
‘Thank you all for all your support… The Blodgetts (sic)’
A cause of death has not been confirmed.
A GoFundMe has been set up for his family to help cover the costs of his memorial service.
Strife started his wrestling career in 2004 and founded Magnum Pro Wrestling six years later, working there as a promoter as well as keeping up with his own in-ring career.
Jaysin wrestled Akira Tozawa in on WWE 205 Live in 2018 (Picture: WWE)
He recently appeared on an episode of AEW Dark in November in a losing effort to Powerhouse Hobbs, while he wrestled under the WWE banner on 205 Live against Akira Tozawa in 2018.
Former WWE star Mike Bennett is among those who have paid tribute to the late performer.
He tweeted: ‘You had a profound impact on me in the short amount of time we knew each other. I know there is a lesson in all of this but right now I just want to send all my love to his friends and family. Nothing in life is guaranteed. Love your people and tell them you love them.’
In one of his final tweets, Strife reflected on his match with Bennett, and noted after that weekend in February 2022, his health ‘rapidly’ declined.
He wrote: ‘If this has to be one of my last in ring performances, then I’m happy to say I’m pretty proud of it. My health would rapidly decline following this weekend.’
It ended up being his penultimate bout, with his final match coming at a BZW event against Bobby Brennan the following month.
In August, Strife confirmed he had been hospitalised the previous month after ‘dealing with increasing back and leg pain for what seems like months’.
He said in a statement at the time: ‘Upon my admitting, and various tests being run, it was found that I am suffering from various infections and extremely advance vasculitis.
‘My inflammation has accelerated to a very dangerous level and I’ll be undergoing surgery this Friday to diffuse this ticking time bomb of an aneurysm inside my body.’
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The wrestler appeared for both WWE and AEW during his career.
