DM 10.06.03

 

The death of Anthony Durante, the former Pitbull II of ECW fame, of an apparent drug overdose, was in some ways even more tragic than the countless wrestling drug deaths, because he and his wife apparently overdosed together, leaving two young children alone for a few days.

 

While the cause of death won't be official until toxicology reports come back, which will be several weeks, police found fresh needle marks on the bodies of both Durante, 36, and Dianna Hulsey, 29, as well as the drug Oxycontin near the bodies at their new rental home in Misquamicut, RI. The police also found an abundance of prescription drugs in the house. Oxycontin is a painkilling drug that has gained popularity in both Hollywood and on the fringes of pro wrestling. It is said to product a high more intense than heroin, but it also said to be far more addictive. Similar to us of Nubain in some body destructive sports, it has become a popular drug among those who have beaten up their bodies as well as those simply looking to get wasted that then become addicted. Durante will join a lengthy list of former name wrestlers to pass away in recent years of drug related issues, including Eddie Gilbert, Brian Pillman, Elizabeth Hulette, Curt Hennig, Louie Spicolli, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Davey Boy Smith and Rick Rude.

 

There were no signs of a suicide according to police, nor any signs of trauma. Police found both lifeless bodies on 9/25 and based on the condition of their bodies, believed they had been dead one or two days. One of Durante's relatives had earlier in the day gone to the house and found them dead, and police arrived within minutes. The relative had gone to check on them because they hadn't picked up the phone in a few days, nor had Durante been to work since 9/22. They had a 21 month old son who had managed to open the refrigerator searching for food and left the place a mess, with food all over the floor and in every room. Their eight month old daughter was left the entire time in her crib.

 

Authorities said it is unlikely criminal charges would be filed. "We can't rule it out, but it's not likely," Westerly Police Chief Stephen Baker said to the Westerly Sun.

 

Still, the deaths have to be considered suspicious. The odds of two people partying together both accidentally overdosing seem long. They would have almost had to have died simultaneously, because if not, one would have called 911 for the other. Durante had been hitting the gym and doing steroids of late to regain his former physique, as a 5-11, 265 pound powerhouse, for a comeback, most likely with Jasmin St. Clair and Brian Heffron's 3PW group. He had called his former partner, Wolfe, within the last few weeks and said he was back in shape and ready to return. Both talked about doing an angle where they would split up and feud. With no note, a double suicide is unlikely, and it's doubtful two parents with young children would suicide together, let alone with their children right there. The most obvious speculation seems to be they were given tainted drugs. Durante was known to have made the wrong kind of enemies. It had been rumored that Durante got off easy on a 1997 charge of distribution of steroids and pot because he provided information on larger dealers, and friends of his were always concerned that reprisals could come.

 

Durante was a participant in two of the most famous matches in the history of ECW, before his bust spelled the beginning of the end of his pro wrestling career.

 

He and partner Wolfe, as the Pitbulls managed by Francine, captured the ECW tag team titles from Raven and Steven Richards on September 16, 1995, in Philadelphia. While not a technical masterpiece by any means, and a match that probably wouldn't hold up well being viewed today, the two out of three fall match filled with tables breaking and plot twists ended up being perhaps the most heated match in the history of the promotion. At the time, table breaking in ECW was at its peak [it was starting to get overdone, but had not gotten to the point where people didn't pop every time], and the match was considered a classic because five tables were broken, which may have been either the record, or close to it at the time. The match was a double dog collar match with the stipulations that the Pitbulls would either win the tag titles, or break up as a team. The first two falls went quickly, at 2:10 and 1:33. The third fall saw the Dudleys interfere, a fight between Beulah [Theresa Hayes, now the wife of Tommy Dreamer] and Francine [who as it turned out, was Dreamer's long time girlfriend in real life]. Raven gave Francine a DDT and the Pitbulls super bombed [a double team move where Durante would powerbomb an opponent from the middle ropes] both Dudleys. One of the Pitbulls was knocked out of action, causing Dreamer to put on the dog collar and pin Raven. But Bill Alfonso, at the time playing the role of heel ref, voided it since Dreamer wasn't in the match. Tod Gordon ran in and started fighting with Alfonso. Big Dick Dudley choke slammed Dreamer. 911 choke slammed Alfonso, which was a pop they had been building for several months and it tored down the house. The finish saw the Pitbulls put Richards on Raven's shoulders, and then Durante superbombed the two of them together through a table for the win. There is little doubt that would be the moment his career peaked.

 

The other big one was the July 13, 1996 where Durante, Chris Jericho, Shane Douglas and Too Cold Scorpio wrestled for about 40:00 for the ECW TV title. The show drew what may have been at the time the largest overflow crowd the promotion had drawn at the ECW Arena up to that point. The finish of the match saw Francine turn on Durante, and wind up with Douglas, with a famous scene of her wearing panties that said "Franchise" on them, which led to the lengthy Douglas/Francine association, as well as numerous grudge matches. Wolfe came out and the two combined, doing their finisher, the super bomb onto Francine, which was a big deal the time as it was one of the most outrageous looking bumps at the time any woman had taken. Douglas and Durante traded near falls before Douglas used his belly to belly suplex for the win.

 

Durante was also the loser to Douglas in the first ever ECW title match on PPV, on the famous "Barely Legal" show on April 13, 1997, in what was considered a very disappointing match.

 

But both Durante and Wolfe's careers hit the skids after a July 2, 1997 arrest of both men for trafficking in marijuana and Methenolone, an anabolic steroid. It was very controversial at the time when ECW owner Paul Heyman continued to use both men, but immediately starting jobbing them out. At the time, the two were in negotiations to jump to WCW for a program with the Steiners, but WCW wanted nothing to do with them after the arrest. Heyman turned them heel, and used Lance Wright as their manager, basically to feed them both to Tazz, who he was pushing as a nearly unbeatable wrestler at the time. Within a few months they were gone from the promotion and operated a wrestling school in Philadelphia. In March of 1998, Durante pleaded guilty to both selling both drugs as well as selling them both within 1,000 feet of a school and fined $2,000 and sentenced to three years probation. It was Durante's second arrest, as a similar drug trafficking arrest took place in 1995 during the height of his wrestling career, but he was able to keep it from being leaked out.

 

While Wolfe returned to wrestle more regularly, Durante did some wrestling, but soon disappeared almost completely from wrestling. He took jobs in a warehouse and another as a high-rise window cleaner. He went into depression when after Heyman used him for a return shot, he never called him back, and was losing interest in wrestling. He never even went on the indie circuit, unlike other ECW regulars who had similar success and were able to make a living from it. He moved from Philadelphia to Rhode Island in 2001 after he declared bankruptcy when he fell behind in the mortgage payments of his house. Before moving into their rental house, the couple and their children had been living with one of Durante's relatives in Westerly.

 

Durante was the worker of the team, while Wolfe was the mouthpiece. There had been a lot of talk of putting Durante and Rocco Rock together as a new Public Enemy tag team during a period when Ted Petty [Rock] complained to Paul Heyman about Johnny Grunge's partying being out of control. Petty suggested an angle where Grunge would turn on him, and Durante would make the save. This would lead to Wolfe turning on Durante, and mix-up what had been a PE vs. Pitbulls program, where Wolfe and Grunge would be the new Pitbulls. Both Wolfe and Durante, who weren't getting along personally at the time all that well, agreed to the switch, which was also designed to extend the program, which had run its course. But the four men could never convince Heyman to go for it.

 

Wolfe and Durante would juiced up guys trained at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory in Paulsboro, NJ, starting their careers in 1988. Sharpe toured with them in New Japan, and they also worked Europe as the American Bulldogs, with the idea of building them up for a feud in Japan with the British Bulldogs, who were one of the hottest tag teams in the world at that time. While it was Durante. Sharpe, and Wolfe's dream, the teams never crossed paths. Their first American territory was working for South Atlantic Pro Wrestling in the Carolinas, a group formed in 1990 by former Carolinas booker George Scott, trying to run regularly in the old Crockett territory, using people like Ricky Steamboat, Robert Fuller, Dean Malenko and Vince Torelli [a young Ken Shamrock] as headliners. They were known as the Pit Bulldogs, Rex and Spike, in those days, and held the group's tag team titles beating the Nasty Boys on September 11, 1990 in Columbia, SC ebfore losing on December 29, 1990, to Bobbie and Jackie Fulton in Greensville, SC. Wolfe had been working in ECW as a single, the Pitbull, managed by Jason Knight, from just about the beginning of the promotion in 1993. Heyman saw a tape of Durante wrestling in Germany at the time, and brought him in as Pitbull II. They were pushed regulars for several years as a team, although their lone ECW tag title win only lasted a few weeks, losing on October 7, 1995, back to Raven and Richards. When Wolfe was out of action with a broken neck, Heyman gave Durante a solid push as a singles babyface. The highlight was winning the ECW TV title from Douglas as revenge, since Douglas was given storyline credit for breaking Wolfe's neck, on July 1, 1996, in Philadelphia. He lost that title on June 22, 1996, to Jericho, which, according to friends, may have been his personal favorite singles match.

 

Misqamicut is a beach community in Westerly along the Southern New England coast, right on the Connecticut border.

 

The two had just moved into the rental home three weeks earlier. Durante worked at the money counter at the Foxwood Resorts Casino, while his wife worked at the Wal-Mart in Westerly, RI.