Indie wrestling legend Homicide, real name Nelson Erazo, will retire from the sport after his match on Thursday night after doctors made a devastating discovery
Legendary wrestler Homicide has announced his retirement aged just 48 – after doctors found a cyst on his brain. The grappler, real name Nelson Erazo, told fans the growth had been “present for months” but was beginning to effect his speech and his vision.
He is due to wrestle on Thursday, March 20, in a tag team match with Bull James to take on the duo of Afa Jr. and Mike Santana in his final match.
And he took to Facebook hours before Outlaw Wrestling’s ‘special’ End Of An Era show in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, to share the heartbreaking reason.
In an emotional post, he said: “Can’t believe I am saying goodbye, not only a job the passion the sport of pro wrestling. The reason I’m leaving cause I went to my Doctor and found a cyst my brain.
“Had it for months, but it is getting worse. My vision, speech is bad.”
He said the constant head knocks and plane travel was not helping his condition, but asked fans to “party and smile” at his last match.
He added: “I’m a survivor, I always win BS battles. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. This not a goodbye. This is ‘see you later’.”
Homicide wrestled for almost every major promotion outside the WWE in a career spanning nearly 32 years.
His first match came in March 1994 and he worked the independent circuit and locked horns with huge names like Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger and Teddy Hart, nephew of WWE hall of famer Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart.
But it was his stints with TNA and ROH, two companies that he spent the majority of his career with, that fans most fondly remember him for, particularly his matches with the likes of Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe.
He was crowned TNA World Tag Team Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion, ROH World Champion, TNA X-Division Champion, NWA World Tag Team Champion, NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion, and PWG Tag Team Champion during his career.
Fans and fellow wrestlers were quick to praise him on Thursday, with one person on Facebook commenting: “Thank you for everything.”
WWE star CM Punk, who wrestled Homicide in ROH, wrote on Instagram: “Homicide. One of a kind. Thinking about my friend and his career today. He will leave his fingerprints all over the wrestling landscape. I’m there in spirit my friend.”