WWE's 'Walking Condominium' Has Fallen

The "walking condominium" has fallen. The death of 61-year-old WWE legend King Kong Bundy, real name Christopher Pallies, was confirmed Tuesday by his promoter and friend David Herro. "Today we lost a Legend and a man I consider family. Rest in Peace Chris. We love you," he wrote on Facebook. It's unclear how Bundy died, though PWInsider reports he'd been lately dealing with health issues. A monster of a wrestler at 6'4" and 458 pounds, Bundy got his start with the WWE in the 1980s. The organization notes he "was so dominant that he demanded referees count to five when he pinned his opponents to show that there was no way they were getting up."

Bundy took just nine seconds to take out Special Delivery Jones in the first WrestleMania in 1985. Though he lost the WWE Championship to Hulk Hogan in the second, his "mammoth girth and devastating splashes came close to putting The Hulkster away for good," the WWE noted, per NBC News. Bundy also did battle with other legends, including Andre the Giant and Bam Bam Bigelow, before leaving the WWE in the late 1980s. He returned briefly to the ring in 1994 as a member of The Million Dollar Corporation, and also appeared on two episodes of Married… with Children, reports Fox News. The New Jersey native was set to appear at WrestleCon in New York City next month. (More WWE stories.)