IMPACT Wrestling executive Bob Ryder has died following a long battle with cancer.
The industry veteran was a pioneer for the internet era of the business, hosting the first online WWF chat at WrestleMania 11, as well as covering WCW and ECW events for the Prodigy chat rooms.
PWInsider reported the news of his sad death, which comes after he battled cancer for a number of years, and lived beyond the three to six months he was initially told he had left.
It’s said he was found on Wednesday morning, and had continued working for IMPACT from his home in Nashville.
Through Prodigy Wrestling and 1Wrestling.com – which he co-founded with Joey Styles – he broke a number of major wrestling stories, including Bret “The Hitman” Hart leaving then-WWF for WCW.
After the deaths of ECW and WCW – the latter of which he worked on with Jeremy Borash – he was concerned for the state of the industry if the WWE had a monopoly.
During a fishing trip with Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, he pushed for the idea of another promotion, which led to TNA Wrestling being born in 2002.
He was the first and longest running employee for the company, taking on a number of roles including – but not limited to – talent negotiations, timing events and travel arrangements.
There has been an outpouring of grief on social media following the news of his death from many across the entire industry.
Joel Gertner wrote: ‘1st met Bob Ryder on PRODIGY Interactive Service (pre-World Wide Web) as early as 1989; we were correspondents in the #Wrestling Forum. Pre TNA,Pre ECW.
‘He loved Wrestling – I’m not surprised he, like I, found a way to become a more direct contributor to the landscape. RIP Bob’
D’Lo Brown tweeted: ‘I am saddened by the passing of Bob Ryder. We shared a birthday and our love for Star Trek.
‘Our talks on the phone would always start out as business, but would quickly evolve into the latest episode of Discovery. Birthday buddy, you will be missed. Sleep well my friend. #RIPBob’
Jeremy Borash said: ‘There are people that can enter your life and completely change everything. Bob Ryder was that person for me.
‘His courageous, long fight with cancer never kept his spirits down. He was the kind of best friend that comes along once in a lifetime. I will miss him terribly.’
Former IMPACT Wrestling owner Dixie Carter revealed she spoke to Ryder very recently.
She said: ‘BEYOND devastated about the passing Bob Ryder. He was the kindest, most selfless person you could imagine. He always did for others.
‘He meant the world to me. We had just talked & I was worried he would be alone for Thanksgiving. Cannot tell u how much I will miss @brydertna (sic)’
And AEW’s Matt Hardy added: ‘Just heard the sad news about Bob Ryder’s passing. Bob took such great care of me & my family during my time with @IMPACTWRESTLING.
‘Even after I left, Bob was so incredibly supportive of my family & career. Godspeed, my friend, you’ll be missed.’
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