Lance Cade and Five Other Wrestlers Who Died Too Young

Professional wrestler Lance Cade, (real name Lance McNaught), passed away today.

Though nothing has been confirmed, early reports are indicating that it could have been from heart failure.

Though some sports fans do not view professional wrestling as an actual sport, the individuals who participate in it are some of the most well-conditioned athletes in any arena.

But unfortunately due to the abuse that their bodies take and bad extracurricular habits, these entertainers tend to pass away at relatively young ages.

Here's a list of some of the more shockingly premature deaths.

Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero wrestled all across the country and in Mexico and Japan before becoming a star for Vince McMahon and WWE.

He became known as 'Latino Heat" in WWE.

One of his catchphrases as a heel for McMahon was "Cheat to win!"

He was 38 when he died of heart failure in November 2005.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame a year later.

Chris Benoit

One of the more shocking and tragic of the pro wrestling deaths was superstar Chris Benoit.

In June of 2007 the bodies of his wife and his young son were found with a bible placed next to them.

Benoit had apparently killed them, then hanged himself.

Later reports have suggested that Benoit might have suffered from brain damage, caused by multiple blows to the head while wrestling.

Lance Cade

After signing a developmental contract with "The Heart Break Kid" Shawn Michaels, in 1999, Cade made his WWE national TV debut in 2003 with his tag team partner, Mark Jindrak.

In late 2009, talks were that Cade was making a wrestling comeback, possibly with WWE, after having some setbacks during the middle of his career.

He was 29 years old when he passed.

Owen Hart

During the '80s and '90s, Owen Hart was a very popular wrestler in both Canada (his home country) and the United States as part of the "Hart Foundation."

Owen, his brother Bret and his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, made up the foundation and they were as popular as any tag team in the WWF.

Later he fought with several other partners as well as solo.

In May 1999, Hart fell to his death before his Intercontinental title match with a wrestler named "The Godfather" when the harness he was attached to, released and dropped him 80 feet to his death.

He had just celebrated his 34th birthday weeks earlier.

The British Bulldog

Davey Boy Smith aka The "British Bulldog," first started in the WWF wrestling under famed manager Lou Albano.

He and his partner and cousin Tom Billington aka the "Dynamite Kid" formed the British Bulldogs tag team partnership.

Smith started professional wrestling at 16 years old and would continue until his death of a heart attack at age 39 in 2002.

Other Fallen Wrestlers Who Died Too Soon

The list of professional wrestlers who have died at a relatively young age unfortunately continues to grow.

It includes:

Curt Hennig aka "Mr. Perfect", age 44 (WWE Hall of Fame inductee)

Rick Rude aka "Ravishing" Rick Rude, age 40

Sylvester Ritter aka "The Junkyard Dog", age 45

David, Kerry, Mike and Chris Von Erich, all before the age of 40.