5 Things You Didn't Know About Gorilla Monsoon

#1 His Son's Death Drastically Altered His Life

Gorilla Monsoon's adopted son, Joey Marella, served as a WWE referee in the '80s and '90s. Tragically, Marella passed away on July 4, 1994.

While driving home from a WWE live event in Ocean City, Maryland, Marella fell asleep on the New Jersey Turnpike.

He wasn't wearing a seat belt and was killed after crashing his car. He was only 31 years old.

Marella's tragic and premature death changed Gorilla Monsoon from that day forward.

According to Bruce Prichard, there was a big part of Monsoon that was just missing, "A big piece of him died the day Joey died."

An emotional Bruce Prichard described Monsoon's mental health heading toward a state of decline.

Monsoon did not want any funeral guests to leave and insisted that they stay as long as possible. Prichard recalls it being difficult to leave him in such a state.

Monsoon proceeded to let his physical health go after Marella's death. For a diabetic that was already dangerously overweight, this proved to be deadly.

Prichard describes it in the following, "I think he stopped caring in a lot of respects."

Monsoon passed away on October 6, 1999 due to heart failure brought on from complications with diabetes. He was only 62 years old.