Following the news of the death of Nikolai Volkoff and Brickhouse Brown, another wrestling death has been confirmed. Brian Christopher died at the age of 46 following a suicide attempt where he hung himself in jail. Christopher was arrested weeks earlier for a DUI and evading the police.

The son of WWE Hall of Famer and bona fide wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler, Brian Lawler adopted the professional name of Brian Christopher and performed for his dad’s USWA promotion for years. It was never acknowledged on USWA television that they were father and son and Christopher would be become one of the top acts in the promotion winning numerous championships in Memphis.

Christopher would debut in the then named WWF where he competed in the Light Heavyweight Division. While they never came out and said it, they did tongue and cheek acknowledge the relationship between Lawler and Christopher, as the latter would often accompany his son in matches. Christopher would team up with Scott Taylor to form “Too Much” but it was a mid-card tag team at best that did not connect with the fans. They would be repackaged as a pair of white rappers now rechristened as “Grandmaster Sexay” and “Scotty 2 Hotty” and along with an alliance with Rikishi, who himself was undergoing another repackaging (last seen as the Sultan) would become a very popular trio.

For all three wrestlers, this was the height of their popularity and for the first time in his WWE career he would see himself appear on main events. Christopher and Taylor would win the WWF World Tag Team Titles and they would remain popular until Rikishi turned on them and they were moved down the card permanently. An injury to Taylor would see Christopher team up with Steve Blackman for a brief time but he would be released from the company when he was trying to bring drugs to Canada across the border.

Christopher would ply his trade in independents the next few years most notably for TNA but he would return to the WWE in 2004, though he would only last a month before being released again. He would work on the indies thereafter though would return on an episode of Raw on 2011 (regarding the Lawler-Michael Cole angle) and would also reunite with Taylor in a surprise Tag Team Title shot against the Ascension on NXT Takeover in 2014.

While Brian Christopher did have success throughout his career, issues with drug abuse haunted him throughout and prevented him from reaching his full potential. Sadly, it was that dependency that killed him in the end.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Brian Christopher at this time.

It is a sad day for wrestling fans as it is was announced today that former WWF World Tag Team Champion and WWE Hall of Famer, Nikolai Volkoff passed away today. He was 70 years old.

Volkoff was born Josip Peruzovic in the former Yugoslavia was competitive weightlifter in his youth. In a competition in Austria he would leave his home behind and emigrate to Canada (later the United States) where he would learn professional wrestling under the legendary Stu Hart. Along with Newton Tattrie (who introduced him to Hart) he would become Bepo, one half of the Mongols, and would win tag team gold in the WWWF in 1970. After leaving the organization he would adopt the persona of an evil Russian under the name he would use for the rest of his career, Nikolai Volkoff.

Volkoff worked across the United States but always seemed to find his way back to New York. He would have a run against World Champion Bruno Sammartino in 1974 and again later in the decade would challenge Bob Backlund for the World Title. His return in 1984 would lead to the most recognized run of his career, where he teamed with The Iron Sheik and became World Tag Team Champions and one of the top heels in the company. Volkoff appeared at the first four Wrestlemanias and again at Wrestlemania 6, where shortly after he turned on his then partner Boris Zhukov and became a liberated Lithuanian who was now anti-Russia and for the first time in his career he was a babyface.

His last main run saw him as a lackey for Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation under the gimmick that he needed the money after being down on his luck. He would make sporadic appearances after for the WWE and other independent promotions.

Volkoff would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

It is believed that complications from a heart attack months earlier led to his death.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Nikolai Volkoff.

Somehow we fell like having a moment of silence so we can play the Soviet National anthem.

As always we here at Notinhalloffame.com remain focused on our core lists of which those who are not in the Hockey Hall of Fame is one. We have now updated that list and have expanded it to 125, with an intention to grow it to 150 in the fall of the year.

Two names were removed from our list, Martin Brodeur (#1) and Martin St. Louis (#3) as both were chosen for the Hockey Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility and as such we again have a new number one on our list. Every year we have new entries of former players who are now eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame but for the first time none of the new entries crack our top ten.

Our entire Notinhalloffame.com Hockey List can be found here, but in the meantime here is our new Top Ten:

Alexander Mogilny goes to #1 for the first time and jumped from #4. In the 1992-93 season, “Alexander the Great” scored 76 Goals and he was a two time Second Team All Star as well a six time All Star. Mogilny would win an Olympic Gold Medal in 1988 with the Soviet Union and a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2000.

Don Cherry stays at #2. While the dynamic personality remains polarizing there is no doubt that he is an iconic figure in the game. The host of “Coach’s Corner” is a former Jack Adams Trophy winner himself.

Theoren Fleury moved up from #5 to #3. Fleury was a seven time All Star who led the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup in 1989. He is also an Olympic Gold Medalist with Team Canada in 2002.

Daniel Alfredsson went up three spots from #7 to #4. Alfredsson was a six time All Star who spent the majority of his career with the Ottawa Senators. He was an Olympic Gold Medalist for Team Sweden in 2006.

Bernie Nicholls only went up one rank to #5. Nicholls scored 150 Points for Los Angeles in the 1988-89 season and had over 1,200 overall. Nicholls was a three time All Star.

Jeremy Roenick climbed from #8 to #6. Roenick is the highest ranked American on our list and he is a nine time All Star. He is a member of the 1,200 Point Club.

Pierre Turgeon also had a significant jump as he went from #10 to #7. Turgeon has the most Points on this list with 1,327 and he is a four time All Star. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy in the 1992-93 season.

John LeClair rose from #9 to #8. LeClair does not have the accumulation that others in the top ten does but he had a five year run with the Philadelphia Flyers where he was named a post season All Star. He was also a two time Olympian for the United States.

Mike Richter remains the highest ranked netminder but hits the top ten for the first time with an increase in rank from #11 to #9. This marks the third American in a row on our list. Richter is a three time All Star, a Stanley Cup winner with the New York Rangers (1994) and a World Cup of Hockey Champion (1996) where he was the MVP.

Claude Provost also hit the top ten for the first time as he moved #13 to #10.   Provost is one of the most decorated players of all time as he is an eleven time All Star and nine time Stanley Cup Champion in a career spent entirely with the Montreal Canadiens.

While there are no new members in the top ten list, we do have two new entries to the top twenty-five.

Vincent LeCavalier debuts at #15. The four time All Star took Tampa Bay to their first and only Stanley Cup in 2004, which was the same year he helped Canada win the World Cup. Three years later he won the Maurice Richard Trophy.

Brad Richards makes his first appearance at #21. Like LeCavalier, Richards played on Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup championship team and Team Canada’s World Cup win in 2004. Richard only went to one All Star Game but he was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in ’04.

As we stated earlier, our list expanded to 125 and as such we have a lot of new entries who have been eligible before.

The new entries are:

Milan Hejduk #89. Hejduk helped the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2001 and was a Second Team All Star and Maurice Richard Trophy winner in the 2002-03 Season. He also won the Olympic Gold Medal with the Czech Republic in 1998.

John Ross Roach #97. Roach was a First Team All Star in the 1932-33 season, nearly a decade after he backstopped the Toronto St. Pats to a Stanley Cup.

Steve Duchesne #98. Duchesne was a three time All Star Defenseman who scored 752 Points. He would win a Stanley Cup late in his career with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002.

Bill White #101. White went to six All Star Games in a career spend predominantly with the Chicago Blackhawks. White was also a Second Team All Star three years in a row from the 1971-72 season to 1973-74)

Teppo Numminen #103. Numminen was a three time NHL All Star who represented Finland multiple times including winning two Silver Medals in the Olympics.

Ziggy Palffy #104. Palffy was a three time All Star who finished in the top five in Goals twice. He represented Slovakia internationally on multiple occasions.

Jean Guy Talbot #105 . Talbot was a six time All Star and seven time Stanley Cup Champion with the Montreal Canadiens seven times. He was also a First Team All Star in the 1961-62 Season.

James Patrick #107. Patrick played 1,280 Games in the NHL and was a workhorse in the game.

Kimmo Timonen #108. Timonen was a three time NHL All Star and was a Stanley Cup Champion with the Chicago Blackhawks (2015) and a four time Olympic Medalist with Finland.

Al Rollins #111. Rollins is one of the few players to have won the Hart Trophy (1954) and to not be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He also won the Vezina Trophy in 1951, the same season he helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Pat Stapleton #114. Stapleton was a three time Second Team All Star and three time All Star who would later be the Defenceman of the Year in the WHA.

Pit Martin #116. Martin was a four time All Star during his stint with the Chicago Blackhawks and would later win the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1970.

Adam Foote #117. Foote was a two time Stanley Cup Champion with the Colorado Avalanche and he would help Canada win an Olympic Gold Medal in 2002 and a World Cup Gold Medal in 2004.

Mike Ramsey #118. Ramsey was a member of the Miracle on Ice team in 1980 and was a four time All Star in the NHL.

Glenn Resch #120. Resch was a three time All Star who would also be named a Second Team All Star twice. He was a part of the New York Islanders first Stanley Cup win in 1980.

Vic Hadfield #121. Hadfield was a famous New York Ranger who went to two All Star Games and he was also a one time Second Team All Star.

Bob Baun #123. Baun starred for the Toronto Maple Leafs where he would help the buds win four Stanley Cups.

Evgeni Nabokov #124. Nabokov won the Calder Trophy in 2001 and was named a First Team All Star in 2008. He was also a two time All Star.

Brad McCrimmon #125. McCrimmon was a Second Team All Star in 1988 in the same year he helped the Calgary Flames win the Stanley Cup.

Please note that we only rank former male players and at this time (with the exception of Don Cherry) we do not rank coaches, builders or former female players. We might create separate lists for that in the future.

Look for this list to expand to 150 in a few months.

As always we here at Notinhalloffame.com encourage all of you to take a look at our updates and give us your opinions and cast your votes.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame inducted two new members into their institution today as Helena Sukova and Michael Stich were officially inducted today in a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island.

From the Czech Republic, Sukova won 14 Grand Slam Titles in the form of Doubles and Mixed Doubles over her career. With a total of 69 Doubles titles in her career, Sukova, along with partner Jana Novotna also won the Silver in the Olympics (1998 & 1996). While she did win a Grand Slam in her Singles career she was ranked as high as number 4 and she was a Finalist in the Australian Open twice (1984 & 1989) and the U.S. Open twice (1986 & 1993). She would win 10 Singles Tournaments over his career.

Michael Stich won 18 Singles Titles over his career with the highlight being the Wimbledon crown in 1991. The following year he would win the Doubles Title at Wimbledon, which was also the same season that he won a Gold Medal in that same event for Germany.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate both Helena Sukova and Michael Stich for earning this prestigious honor.