Legendary broadcaster Larry King, who died earlier today at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at 87, was a longtime professional wrestling fan. In a tweet, WWE wrote, “WWE is saddened to learn that Larry King passed away at the age of 87. WWE extends its condolences to King’s family and friends.”
King, who hosted Larry King Live on CNN for 25 years, often interviewed wrestling stars on his show. In 2007, after WWE star Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy Benoit and their 7-year-old son, Daniel, before hanging himself, the talk show host welcomed Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, John Cena and others from the industry to discuss the case.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, King said about wrestlers, “They are incredible athletes, their fan following is amazing, but their results are never in the paper… To me, if someone is interesting, then I am curious. And wrestlers—and wrestling—are interesting.”
“I remember watching Antonino Rocca from Argentina bang off the ropes and jump into the air, and it was incredible what wrestling was to early television. Pro wrestling and [early TV star] Milton Berle made early television,” he added.
On October 8, 2012, King was featured on a special WWE Superstars episode that included John Cena, The Miz and Maryse, Big Show and more. After being named Social Media Ambassador for Raw, King brought his talk show to the show.
King had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in December, though this hasn’t been revealed as the cause of death. He had previously undergone heart surgery on two occasions and suffered a stroke in March 2019, which left him in a coma for several weeks. He later admitted that he had considered suicide following the stroke, saying, "I thought I was just going to bite the bullet. I didn't want to live this way."
King won numerous broadcasting awards, including the Peabody Award for Excellence in broadcasting for both his radio (and television shows, as well as 10 CableACE awards for Best Interviewer and for Best Talk Show Series.
Married eight times to seven women, King had five children and nine grandchildren, as well as four great-grandchildren. Both of his children with his wife Alene, Andy and Chaia, died within weeks of each other in August 2020, Andy at 65 from a heart attack and Chaia at 51 from lung cancer.
Source: WWE