Tommy Rogers Death – Undisclosed Causes
Territory legend Tommy Rogers, dead at 54. Photo: wwe.com
1961-2015 (Age 54)
Ask any fan of 80s tag team wrestling to name some of the best teams from that era and you’ll get many answers. That’s just because there were so many great teams in this era including big men like the Road Warriors, technicians like Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson, and speedsters such as the Rock-n-Roll Express. While it would have been easy to be overlooked, Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton’s work as the Fantastics stood out, despite the many other great teams.
Born Thomas Couch on May 14, 1961, the future tag team titan was a lifelong wrestling fan who began working in Championship Wrestling from Florida as enhancement talent despite little training. According to Dave Meltzer, Couch’s dropkick was so impressive that it helped him get noticed.
Eventually, Rogers was paired with Bobby Fulton as the Fantastics, the beginning of an extraordinary yet underrated tag team. The Fantastics worked a number of big feuds against the Sheepherders and the Midnight Express, including campaigns in Mid-South Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions. The Fantastics also worked in All Japan, competing against some of the promotion’s best tag teams during the 90s.
Rogers later career focused on singles wrestling including runs in ECW, WCW, and the indie circuit (where he occasionally teamed with Fulton). He retired after a hip replacement in 2007. Now living in Hawaii, Rogers struggled with drug abuse and was arrested on more than one occasion for getting into fights.
Tommy Rogers Death
Tommy Rogers was 54 when he died on June 1, 2015. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, “His roommate woke up at about 3 a.m., found him in a chair, slumped over and gurgling, in front of his computer. He called 911. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.” Rogers’ cause of death was never revealed.
Other pro wrestlers to pass away in 2015 include Buddy Landel, Dusty Rhodes, Nick Bockwinkel, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Verne Gagne.
What are your favorite memories of Tommy Rogers? Let us know in the comments below.
