South African wrestler X-Terminator dies

The Honour Wrestling Association, among others, announced the death of South African wrestler George Wilhelm, who was known as X-Terminator.

In a Facebook post on May 10, 2024, Honour Wrestling Association wrote

A legend of South African wrestling has been lost.
X terminator aka George Wilhelm you will be missed.
You were loved by your fans, fellow wrestlers and friends.
You were larger than life and a pillar to all around you.
You will be dearly missed inside and outside the ring.
No show will be the same without you
RIP Champ

Details on the cause of death are unknown.

Well-traveled Canadian-born wrestler Joe Hitchen — also known as Joe E. Legend, posted his memories of Wilhelm and a photo.

RIP to a gent I’ve known for many years now. Professionally known as X-TERMINATOR, he was an institution in the South African wrestling scene for many years.
Always in top shape, always ready for a good laugh. I know I’m not alone in saying he’ll be genuinely missed by all who knew him.
Such sad news to wake up to.
God Bless his soul, and God Bless his family and friends going through this difficult time.

Wilhelm grew up poor in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, with a blind mother and an illiterate father who toiled as a laborer. In interviews, he credited his drive to his early circumstances.

His wrestling days started in 2002 when a rugby injury forced him out of the sport. Steven Debbes, who wrestled as Tornado 2, is credited as getting Wilhelm into wrestling.

Eventually, the 6-foot-2, 253-pound Wilhelm rose to become the All African Heavyweight Champion on two occasions, in 2006 and 2008. He fought abroad, too, including facing Bobby Lashley in front of a huge crowd in India. He attended a WWE training camp in Florida in 2010, but reportedly turned down a contract offer because he was passionate about his day job. (Justin Gabriel/PJ Black and Adam Rose are two other South African-born WWE performers.)

As much as he was a known wrestler and bodybuilder in South Africa, Wilhelm got plenty of publicity through the years for his day job as a metro police officer in Johannesburg.

With an Advanced Diploma in Policing, Wilhelm spent more than 20 years in the force.

“I am really passionate about my job. I love interacting with people on a day-to-day basis,” he told the Sunday Times in 2019.

Then there was the bodybuilding.

Wilhelm finished third at the USN Gauteng Novice Classic Bodybuilding competition in 2008 a few years later, won the South Africa Extreme Classic Bodybuilding contest.

In the Times interview, Wilhelm said it was a challenge to fit it all in.

“I always try finding balance. I hit the gym daily and wrestle twice a week, because that’s quite intense,” he said.

All the sports and fitness carried over to policing. “Playing professional sports, like me wrestling, it gives you discipline, routine, consistently, to do what you are supposed to do in a working environment. It also gives me the skills to handle situations, especially physical situations, better.”

Funeral information is not known at this time.