Former WWE wrestler Mike Halac, known by many as 'Mantaur', has passed away at the age of 55.
The announcement was made by his daughter Demi, who posted an emotional tribute on Facebook. “I'm sorry to break the news that my dad has passed away. He went peacefully in his sleep. He's no longer in pain,” she wrote.
“This really hit home to lose my father, he will forever be in my heart and many others. I love you dad. Make the skies beautiful for me.” Halac was living with type two diabetes, but it is not known if that was related to his death, as she did not disclose how her father died.
However, former wrestler Bryan Clark said he recently suffered a fall. “I'm very saddened to hear the passing of Mike Halac, I messaged him after his fall and while he was in the ER.. he never responded which was very unlike him," he said.
“I woke to hear the news, Prayers for Big Mike's family, I will always remember our Laughs and I will miss our conversations.” Eric Simms of ESS Promotions, who had scheduled Halac to appear at an upcoming event, posted a touching message of his own on the social media platform.
"I am sad to report that Mike Halac who played the character Mantaur has passed away. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family,” he wrote. “We had Mike booked for 90s wrestling con Sept 30 and a full weekend of bookings that weekend. RIP Mantaur."
Halac’s pro wrestling career began back in 1991 when he competed for CWA (Catch Wrestling Association) and remained there until 1994. He would go on to make his debut for WWE in 1995 under the name ‘Mantaur’ and wrestled the likes of icon Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, and late wrestlers Scott Hall and Bam Bam Bigelow.
Mantaur made his first pay-per-view appearance at the 1995 Royal Rumble, where he competed in the Royal Rumble match and lasted just nine minutes before Lex Luger eliminated him. Later that year, he entered the King of the Ring tournament but lost to Bob Holly in a qualifying match.
He left the company in July 1995 but made another brief run when he returned in 1997 as part of the Truth Commission faction under the guise of Tank. Halac also spent a short period in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the mid-90s, but spent the majority of his career on the independent circuit before retiring from the wrestling ring in 2019.
In a YouTube interview in April this year with Hannibal TV, Halac spoke of how he was enjoying his life, just three months before his tragic death. "I'm living the good life here in Florida,' he said. "It's 84 degrees today, the weather here has never been better in 20 years.
"I'm soaking up the palm trees, soaking up the beach and I'm excited. I'm down here living my best life. Physically I can't really complain - I could, but who is going to listen? I'll be 55 in a couple of weeks - if I had known then what I know now I would have done things a bit differently."
