Former WWE star The Patriot has passed away

Del Wilkes, the former WWE, WCW and GWF star who performed as The Patriot, has passed away. He was 59.

Wilkes was trained by Verne Gagne, and debuted for Gagne's American Wrestling Association in 1988 as The Trooper (following a few matches under his given name.) He would team with D.J. Peterson to become the very last AWA Tag Team Champions before the company folded.

It wasn't until he arrived in the Global Wrestling Federation - a Dallas-based promotion that also helped introduce new stars such as Raven, Buff Bagwell (as the masked, tuxedo-clad Handsome Stranger), JBL, X-Pac, Harlem Heat, and Cactus Jack - that Wilkes would evolve into The Patriot.

There, The Patriot's biggest program in the promotion was his battles with the Dark Patriot, played by Doug Gilbert, the brother of Eddie Gilbert, who was in charge of the booking of GWF at the time.

Following a tryout with WWF in 1991, The Patriot would move on to All Japan Wrestling for a couple of years before signing with World Championship Wrestling in 1994. While he was only with the company for a year, he and his former GWF colleague Marcus Alexander Bagwell would claim the WCW Tag Team Championships as Stars & Stripes.

The Patriot returns to the WWF

The Patriot would gain his greatest success when he returned to WWF in 1997. Upon joining, he was immediately put into a program with Bret Hart, who was in the middle of his pro-Canada heel turn at the time.

Interestingly, the theme music he used at the time would go on to be used by Kurt Angle later on. The Patriot would earn a WWF Championship match against Hart at Ground Zero: In Your House in September of that year, which he would lose.

Wilkes would retire in 1998 after a torn tricep injury. In the following years, he would develop a drug addiction that saw him sent to prison for nine months - an addiction he would eventually break.

Before entering the world of wrestling, Wilkes was a stand-out offensive lineman for the University of South Carolina Gamecock football team. Making All-American in 1984, he was introduced by legendary comedian Bob Hope during his holiday special that year:

(You can find Wilke's introduction at 5:11)

"At 6'3" and 266 lbs, Del is one of the most aggressive blockers in the history of South Carolina. He doesn't even even wear a face mask. That's because he keeps eating it."

All of us at Sportskeeda send our sincerest condolences and best wishes to Del Wilkes's family, friends and fans.