Dave Meltzer Issues Apology After He Jumped The Gun With Death Report

Afa Anoa’i sadly died at the age of 81 on Friday, leaving his family, wrestlers, and fans grieving. Yet, his death didn’t come as a huge surprise, as in addition to it being known he had been in poor health for some time, the day before, Dave Meltzer had reported on X that the WWE Hall of Famer had died while he was actually in hospital being comforted by his family.

Meltzer would subsequently correct his error, although his lack of an apology upset many on social media, with Eric Bischoff calling the journalist “ comically ignorant. ” However, Meltzer has since corrected his unfortunate oversight, apologizing during his daily report on F4Wonline.com and sending his best to the Anoa’i family.

“We send our best to the family. We are also apologetic for reporting this yesterday on X.”

64-year-old Meltzer began reporting on pro wrestling in 1971 and is greatly respected as a historian, with his obituaries being highly praised. Nevertheless, he does have many detractors, with JBL, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Billy Corgan, Jim Cornette, and, of course, Eric Bischoff having all put him on blast for various reasons in recent years. Still, this seemingly doesn’t bother Meltzer, as, despite his critics, it’s known hundreds, if not thousands, of wrestling fans, pay him $14.99 a month to read his opinions and follow his star rating system.