DAVID GLEN SHELDON (1953-2007) 'Bigger than life' wrestler, bouncer and musician

By JOHN KIRSCH

Star-Telegram staff writer

Sheldon

BEDFORD -- David Glen Sheldon could put on a fearsome act in the professional wrestling ring.

At 6 feet 6 inches and 320 pounds, he was known at various times in his career as "The Angel of Death," "The Russian Assassin" and "The Black Scorpion."

Before he started wrestling, Mr. Sheldon worked as a nightclub bouncer in the Miami area, where he grew up.

He retired from wrestling in the late 1990s after years of wrestling and working as a bouncer took a physical toll.

Mr. Sheldon, 54, died Nov. 25 at his Bedford home, said his friend Missy Evans of Bedford.

He had high blood pressure and clogged arteries, said Pat Mitchell of Southern California, a lifelong friend who stayed in close touch with Mr. Sheldon.

Mr. Sheldon was born July 20, 1953, in Buffalo, N.Y., Mitchell said. He and his mother, Barbara Sheldon, moved to Miami when he was about a year old.

Mr. Sheldon competed in football and track at North Miami High School, where he graduated in 1971. He got football and basketball scholarships to Mayville State College in Mayville, N.D., but left after about a year and returned to Miami.

What followed were years of working as a bouncer at local clubs, surfing and traveling the country selling magazine subscriptions.

At Mitchell's urging, Mr. Sheldon started pro wrestling in the mid-1980s. He performed in California, Canada and Japan. He moved to Dallas-Fort Worth in 1987.

The highlight of Mr. Sheldon's wrestling career came in his "Russian Assassin" phase in the mid-1990s, when he performed on scaffolds 20 feet off the ground as part of a wrestling team, Mitchell said.

In an e-mail, Dave Meltzer, editor of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which chronicles the world of professional wrestling, said Mr. Sheldon was "not a great wrestler but a good presence."

Mr. Sheldon never wrestled with the World Wrestling Federation, Meltzer wrote.

That limited Mr. Sheldon's hopes for a full-fledged acting career. He did appear in several episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, Mitchell said, playing a pig farmer in one episode. Mr. Sheldon was also a talented musician who played the tuba and guitar, Mitchell said.

In recent years, Mr. Sheldon managed North Texas clubs. He also maintained an interest in sports, watching Cowboys games on TV.

"He was the kind of guy that was bigger than life. Anytime he was in a party, he would dominate that room," Mitchell said.

Besides his mother, Mr. Sheldon is survived by his sister, Gail Sheldon of Florida.

Funeral

3 p.m. today at North Hills Funeral Home, 8525 Mid-Cities Blvd., North Richland Hills. Burial will be in Bear Creek Cemetery, Euless.