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PWInsider.com is extremely saddened to report the passing of Chuck Coates, who did a lot of enhancement work in both WCW and the WWF as well as tons of independents in the Carolinas. Coates had been dealing with cardiac issues following a bypass surgery and underwent four surgeries in recent weeks. He had beaten cancer three times over the course of his adult life.
From Raleigh, Coates first began wrestling in the 1980s and was regularly used on WWF and WCW TV, where he wrestled everyone from The Big Bossman and Akeem to Sting and Dustin Rhodes. Coates would work as a heel or babyface, depending on what was needed.
Coates wrestled regularly on the independent scene for promotion's like SAPW and the NAWA. In SAPW, he was one of the villainous German Stormtroopers. He toured WWC in Puerto Rico using that gimmick, feuding with then-WWC Tag Team Champions Rex King and Ray Gonzalez. He was a regular working for The Itallian Stallion's PWF promotion in North Carolina, working under a mask as The Russian Assassin. Later still, he performed as Mad Maxx for a number of promotions in the Mid-Atlantic region.
In late 1990s, Coates began doing enhancement work again for WWF, taking on Kurt Angle and others on the promotion's secondary TV series. He began wrestling under his real name for PWF Mid-Atlantic and last wrestled earlier this year.
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Chuck Coates.
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