By “AZEEM THE DREAM” AZEEM MOHAMMAD – For SlamWrestling.net

The death of long-time pro wrestling performer, friend, and family man Jonathan “Fuzzy” Sayers comes to a complete shock to us all.

Jonathan was a tremendous person inside and out.

He was a rare person you see as part as of this crazy business. Although he had long retired from being an in-ring performer and manager, he was one of those guys that still wanted to contribute any way he could — and that was mainly through his Fuzzy’s Forum on Facebook.

He would constantly recognize performers from the past and showcase their career highlights.

I got to know him through the Forum, and we would message back and forth every so often about some of the people he had showcased.

Fuzzy Sayers attacks Buddy Wayne in All-Star Wrestling in the 1980s.

Fuzzy Sayers attacks Buddy Wayne in All-Star Wrestling in the 1980s.

He wanted to do a piece on myself and my wrestling career I respectfully declined as I felt that it was for the guys and girls who have done much more than I have in the business — plus I felt that it was mainly for wrestlers who were no longer active or at least near the tail end of their career.

I sent him updates and results of the All Star Wrestling shows and told him all the times I was attacked by a fan at ringside and the one time someone had pulled a knife on me. His response? “That’s good heat, kid.”

Jonathan was a big fan of my work in ASW and said that I had my gift for gaining heat would have fit in well during his time in the 1980s.

Frequent advice was “less is more,” which is even more important these days; it’s a philosophy that is not being taught to the next generation of wrestlers.

A year ago, I told him that I had started training new wrestlers. He was overcome with joy as he called me the last of the old school wrestlers.

We talked about how trainers should never turn away people without giving them at least a shot. He was glad I was taking a chance on some of these new recruits. The reward, he noted, was in the journey, in seeing their progress, not in whether or not they became big stars.

Left to right are Ivan Gorky, Ole Olsen, Dirty Dan Denton, Jonathan (Fuzzy) Sayers (in front), King Kong J.R. Bundy, Doug McCall and Sir Joseph Cagel.

Left to right are Ivan Gorky, Ole Olsen, Dirty Dan Denton, Jonathan (Fuzzy) Sayers (in front), King Kong J.R. Bundy, Doug McCall and Sir Joseph Cagel.

I asked him to come be a guest trainer and he declined, probably because of his health — but I had no idea how bad his health was, none of us around Vancouver knew how bad it was. He continued to run his Fuzzy’s Forum, never revealing his own personal issues.

When Michelle Starr and Disco Fury sold ASW two years ago and the new owners took over, Jonathan was taken aback as I was because none of the crew knew that it was ever being considered.

I told him that I was carrying on with ASW and he was happy to hear that. His words, “None of us old guys will ever be forgotten as long as someone like you was still there” took me aback, and reinforced my desire to keep celebrating names from the past.

ASW will continue honoring the legends of the past.

Alas, one of them won’t be Jonathan “Fuzzy” Sayers in person, but we will run a tribute, as did the recent Primetime Wrestling show.

Jonathan will always be remembered as a someone who, to his dying day, never let go of the wrestling business. He always wanted to recognize his friends and fellow wrestlers, no matter how small or how big of a role they played in pro wrestling.

God bless and thank you, Jonathan, for everything you have contributed and accomplished in this crazy business.

FUZZY SAYERS LINKS

RELATED LINKS

TOP PHOTOS: Left, a tribute to Jonathan “Fuzzy” Sayers at a Primetime Wrestling show; Right, Azeem the Dream in April 2024. Photo by Tara Delaney.

“The All American” Azeem The Dream has been wrestling since 2005, based in the Pacific Northwest. He was trained by Scotty Mac, Vance Nevada and Disco Fury. For more on his career, see the 2015 story: Azeem The Dream good at pissing people off — including his wife.