Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.
Jonah Snyder
Jonah Snyder was a life long pro wrestling fan growing up in the Buffalo, New York area. A member of his high school marching band and later attending college at the University of Buffalo…Jonah himself had aspirations to one day become a professional wrestler. Snyder enrolled in The Black and Brave Wrestling Academy in Moline, Illinois. The school is co owned by current WWE superstar Colby ‘Seth Rollins’ Lopez.
Jonah penned a heartfelt essay for the wrestling business to the Academy that got noticed and was accepted. Here is an excerpt from that essay…“I live, breath, sleep, and eat wrestling. It’s in my blood. I want to learn it so I can travel the world putting a smile on people’s faces. I wanna give them hope or something to believe in.” As friends and fellow Black and Brave classmates remembered, Jonah was brave enough to go ahead and follow his passion, even if he thought he might not make it as a pro or wouldn’t be the big superstar the likes of Seth Rollins, Hulk Hogan or CM Punk.
In September of 2016, while participating in the class’ first round of physical fitness drills, Snyder felt ill and was instructed to sit out. The situation became increasingly worse and an ambulance was called to the Academy. Snyder went into cardiac arrest and sadly died enroute to the hospital. The autopsy came back inconclusive. Jonah Snyder was just 20 years old at the time of his death.
Two months later, when Monday Night Raw was in Buffalo (Jonah’s hometown) Seth Rollins wore a blue wristband in Snyder’s honor that read…”Fly High Jonah.”