World Wrestling Entertainment confirmed Friday the death of former performer Lance McNaught (a/k/a Lance Cade). His father, Harley McNaught, told WWE officials that his son — who had spoken publicly about his battles with pain killers and sleeping pills addictions — died of apparent heart failure.

He was 29 years old.

Regarding details of McNaught's passing, his wife Tanya noticed earlier in the week that he didn't look healthy and appeared to have trouble breathing. She called an ambulance Tuesday night and he was rushed to an area hospital.

McNaught passed out while at the hospital, but was later revived. He asked to be released Wednesday.

McNaught's father said Lance showed up to his work Thursday and did not appear well. Harley took him to his San Antonio home and was discovered having passed away Friday morning. He was scheduled to leave that day for a two-week tour of All Japan Pro Wrestling.

McNaught's wife believes he had not been drinking.

McNaught was under contract to WWE from March 2003 to October 2008. He returned to the organization's developmental promotion, Florida Championship Wrestling, in September 2009, and was released in April 2010 following a stint in rehab.

McNaught leaves behind two daughters and a stepson. More

Labels: lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

World Wrestling Entertainment issued the following announcement as the lead story on their official website:

World Wrestling Entertainment was informed Friday morning by Lance McNaught’s father that he has passed away of apparent heart failure.

WWE extends its deepest condolences to the McNaught family.

Mr. McNaught was under contract from March 2003 to October 2008 and performed under the name "Lance Cade." He returned to FCW, WWE’s developmental territory, in September 2009, and was released in April 2010.

Labels: lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

It is with our deepest condolence we report that former WWE Superstar Lance McNaught (Lance Cade) has died aged just 29.

No further details are available at this time.

Labels: lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

As noted before, Lance Cade was released by WWE again this past week after being re-hired late last year. Cade asked to go to rehab shortly after being re-hired and soon after he got out of rehab, they released him again.

Cade said that he was contacted by Michael Hayes last August and told he had a spot on SmackDown as a top heel against Undertaker, in a new interview with PWInsider.com. Cade was re-hired in October. Instead of going to the main roster, the feud with Undertaker was nixed and he went to FCW for a bit. Cade says John Laurinaitis called him in December saying they were going to bring him to the main roster, likely on ECW. Cade was having problems going through painkiller withdrawals which led to an addiction to sleeping pills. He called officials and asked to be put in rehab.

Cade finished rehab and says in early March, Shawn Michaels told him he was done and would never be used as a top guy. This past week he was released. Cade is upset that most guys let their problems get even worse for fear or “losing their spot” and when he tried to get help for his problems, he was fired.

Labels: lance cade, shawn michaels, undertaker

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

WWE has released former Tag Team Champion Lance Cade, again. Cade was re-signed by WWE last October but never used on the main roster after a few appearances in developmental. Cade is now accepting independent bookings at LanceCade@gmail.com.

Labels: lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

PWInsider.com reported Thursday night that WWE has reached a new deal with Lance Cade.

Cade, who was contracted with WWE from 2003 to 2008, was released from his contract while in the midst of a push that saw him align with Chris Jericho and wrestle his one-time trainer Shawn Michaels.

Though details at the time of his release were initially sketchy, veteran Jim Ross quickly added some color to the situation, noting, "Lance Cade was dismissed from the WWE because, like many humans, he made a major league mistake while utilizing bad judgment that cost him his job. This included Lance having a seizure on an airplane and having to have emergency medical care."

Labels: lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

Lance Cade was released from WWE because company officials believe prescription pill abuse led to the seizure he suffered on a commercial flight. The feeling was that because the incident occurred in public and became a life and death situation, it warranted a punishment more severe than the standard Wellness Policy suspensions. The airline attendants didn’t recognize Cade and had no way of knowing what caused the seizure. Lillian Garcia, who was traveling on the same flight, told them his name and informed them that he is a professional wrestler. He was rushed to the hospital and was still incoherent when he arrived, so he underwent a series of tests because the medical staff wasn’t sure whether the seizure was caused by an athletic injury.

Labels: lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

From: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Lance Cade’s release from WWE this past Tuesday was not something planned and is now being looked at as a disciplinary issue. Jim Ross noted in a new blog that on a recent plane flight, Cade had a seizure and was taken off the plane. Lilian Garica, who was on the flight, made sure he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where he had several tests done.

They found nothing wrong with him. However, whatever it was that caused the problem was enough for WWE to cut ties with him. One belief is that he could have been the wrong guy on the wrong day in the sense that they just had an issue with Jeff Hardy being removed from a flight and did nothing about it. Whether it was setting an example or they felt they had to let him go remains to be seen. Shawn Michaels was seen as a big proponent of Cade’s backstage, which was evident when Michaels put him over on TV a few weeks ago leading into the No Mercy PPV.

With Cade’s win over Michaels and being aligned with Chris Jericho, it looked like Cade’s long-awaited break was finally coming. Cade, who isn’t commenting in full on his release from WWE, did say he knows what he did to cause the release, but felt things could have been handled better on both sides. He is now looking at working the independent scene and doing things with his career that he wanted to do before signing with WWE.

It should be noted that Michaels destroying Cade the night after No Mercy on Raw with all the chair shots was not a reaction to him having a bad night on the 9/29 Raw against DX and had nothing to do with him being let go. Cade did work Raw house shows over the weekend in Reno and San Bernardino, going over D’Lo Brown at both events. He was also scheduled for upcoming house shows as well. This just shows that if you’re a younger guy and you screw up, best of luck or as they now say - you get future endeavored.

Labels: lance cade, shawn michaels

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Jim Ross is back with another blog update at jrsbarbq.com. Here are the highlights from this entry:

- I was watching several clips of Friday night’s Smackdown broadcast on MyNetworkTV earlier this week and it is amazing how much info is provided the viewers. Times have really changed over the years regarding the volume of information wrestling fans in general are subjected to and are encouraged to remember.

- Lance Cade had his WWE contract terminated a few days ago which completely caught me off guard. As I wrote a few days ago, I was and still am a fan of Lance’s and was shocked when I heard news of his dismissal. I feel confident that Lance will rebound from this misstep and find the success that many feel he deserves. Nonetheless, for some to compare Lance’s incident where he had a seizure on an airplane that necessitated an emergency trip to a hospital with Jeff Hardy being asked to leave a plane because it was perceived that he was allegedly intoxicated seems like a stretch to me. Neither individual was on the right side of the equation of their respective issues but Lance, unfortunately, came too close for comfort by incurring a life threatening seizure and put the WWE in a position to make a really tough call. Could this matter have been handled better? I have no idea as I was not in the loop, thankfully, but I do feel that at some point in the future, and this is simply my opinion, after enough water has gone under the bridge that both parties could well do business again with each other.

Labels: jim ross, lance cade, smackdown

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

In the world of pro wrestling, it's always a shame when a young wrestler get a push, only to then just get pushed out the door for some unknown reason. That seems to have been the case in the WWE the last 24 hours, as the company has announced the release of former Shawn Michaels' protege and Chris Jericho pal Lance Cade.

The company put out its usual standard release when they let a superstar go: "World Wrestling Entertainment has come to terms on the release of Raw Superstar Lance Cade as of October 14, 2008. WWE wishes Lance the best in all future endeavors."

Now I am sure there is more to story that meets the eye as to the release of Cade, but one thought off the bat is that the company felt he was never going to have the impact that they thought he would. They have been booking him in main event angles the past few months with Jericho involving Michaels, but there is no doubt that Cade didn't have the type of charisma that Y2J brought to the table.

Cade was a decent talent, and he seemed to have a good in ring style and presence, but at the same time, the company felt that they could not waste anymore time and anymore effort on trying to get him to be the heel that the company needed him to be. For now, it's a lesson in even though he was a good worker with a great in ring look, he just didn't have it.

Labels: chris jericho, lance cade, shawn michaels

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

From: Worldofprowrestling.com

WWE has had plans to move Lance Cade into a higher profile role for the past few months, they were just waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger and it came this past Monday when he did a run-in during the main event in a beat down of John Cena & Triple H. At least at one point, WWE's plan was to move Cade into an upper midcard heel role on Raw, replacing Umaga's spot on Raw, who has been tapped to move to SmackDown. All this explains why Cade was distanced from former tag team partner Trevor Murdoch.

Labels: lance cade, triple h, umaga

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

From WWE.com

Former World Tag Team Champion Lance Cade was injured after separating his left shoulder at a live event in Atlanta on Friday night.

According to athletic trainer Chris Brennan, the severity of Cade’s injury cannot be determined until he undergoes an orthopedic evaluation.

“Lance could be out of action for four to six weeks,” Brennan told WWE.com. “Of course, those numbers could change depending on the orthopedic evaluation.”

WWE.com will update this situation as more information becomes available.

Labels: chris brennan, lance cade

Posted by Matt Loede at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments