Thursday afternoon, the Nationwide Wrestling Alliance (NWA) introduced the demise of Jeremy Laymon, identified by followers as Jax Dane. The previous NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and multi-time NWA Nationwide Heavyweight champion handed away at 48 years previous on Wednesday, December 25. In line with NWA, Dane handed attributable to problems from a coronary heart assault that occurred in late November 2024.
Dane first broke into the skilled wrestling world in 2012 as a part of NWA Houston, teaming with Raymond Rowe — identified in fashionable WWE as Erik of The Battle Raiders — beneath the title The Path of Resistance. He started to make appearances in NJPW in 2013, and shared the ring with expertise equivalent to KUSHIDA, Shelton Benjamin, and Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. In 2015, he claimed each the NWA Nationwide Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Heavyweight title, the latter by defeating former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
Dane carried the title for a whopping 419 days (one of many longest reigns in fashionable NWA historical past) holding the gold nicely into 2016 earlier than dropping it to Tim Storm, after which he started to interrupt into different high-profile unbiased promotions, equivalent to Ring of Honor, IMPACT (as Wilcox), and Ohio Valley Wrestling. He returned to NWA in 2020, the place he grew to become a two-time NWA Nationwide Heavyweight Champion and was seen wrestling as not too long ago as October 2024, when he and Storm defeated Jake Dumas and Zyon on the October 26 episode of “NWA Powerrr.”
“Only a few folks have been as influential to my wrestling profession as Jax,” Storm stated through press launch. “He was utterly unselfish. That’s no extra evident than in our present tag staff. He put me squarely on his shoulders and made it occur.”
Wrestling Inc. extends our condolences to Jeremy Laymon’s family and friends.
