It’s almost ironic that only a couple of weeks after Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard covered the 1999 Barry Blaustein documentary “Beyond the Mat”, one of the film’s most memorable personalities has sadly passed away.
Dennis Stamp was shown in the film doing his thing in Texas in Beyond the Mat and was famous for the phrase “I’m not booked.” Blaustein said Stamp had wrestled over 800 matches in his life but had never had a main event match. Dennis Stamp is famous for not only being Bret Hart’s first opponent while working the territories but also for being the self-proclaimed “King of the Cockroaches.”
Stamp had been battling cancer since September 2016 and things had taken a horrible turn for the worse recently. When doctors found cancer had spread to his bone marrow, they knew there wasn’t much time left. He was sent home to be with his family in Texas to spend what little time they had left with him.
His part in the Beyond the Mat film can be found here so you can remember his unique personality and love for the professional wrestling business. We here at Still Real To Us would like to send our deepest condolences to Dennis Stamp’s family as they go through this very difficult time.
RIP Dennis Stamp. I had the pleasure of tagging with him in his 1st match since 91. He borrowed my ring gear that night.Will never forget u! pic.twitter.com/Nwya2SzUbr
— GRADO (@gradowrestling) March 13, 2017
