Canadian enhancement wrestler “Silent” Brian Mackney has died at the age of 77.
The uniqueness of Mackney was that he was deaf, which led to the nickname and became his signature feature to audiences.
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling shared the news of his passing:
MAPLE LEAF PRO is saddened to hear of the passing today of “Silent” Brian Mackney, a Maple Leaf Wrestling alumni and legend in Toronto. Mackney was more than a journeyman, who not only won the hearts of the Toronto fans in the 1970s and 1980s, but gained attention around the world, competing in Japan with both New Japan Pro Wrestling and All-Japan Pro Wrestling. He also worked various territories of the NWA, including Mid-Atlantic. When the WWF took over Toronto, Silent Brian continued working in Toronto for Vince McMahon for several years. Remarkably, Brian Mackney accomplished all of this as a deaf person, showing that his hearing impairment would not slow him down – he rose above it all and accomplished what many do not. We were humbled to have “Silent” Brian in attendance this past May for our event at the former Maple Leaf Gardens and we are proud of his place and legacy in Maple Leaf Wrestling history. We send our deepest condelences to the family, friends, and fans of the Silent Warrior during this time.
Mackney was born September 10, 1948, in Hamilton and would begin his pro wrestling career in 1971 after being trained by The Love Brothers, Hartford (Wes Hutchings) and Reginald (Johnny Evans).
He became a fixture on undercards at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto for the Tunney family and was booked during the period when Mid-Atlantic Wrestling ran the city, and when the WWF took over in 1984.
In 1978, he was booked on a tour for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he worked against Riki Choshu, Strong Kobayashi, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Allen Coage, among others, in his enhancement role. He was brought back one year later and did several tag matches with partners Perro Aguayo, Stan Stasiak, and Kuniaki Kobayashi.
In 1981, he was booked by All Japan Pro Wrestling and wrestled as Masked X. On the first night of the tour in Yokohama, Mackney teamed with Buck Robley & Alexis Smirnoff against Giant Baba, Genichiro Tenryu, and Ashura Hara.
Mackney continued to wrestle for the WWF on the Brantford, Ontario, television tapings through the summer of 1986. The final taping in the city occurred on July 28 with Mackney teaming with Lee Thornton and losing to The Killer Bees.
His international stops included South Korea, and he would continue to wrestle until the end of ‘90s.
Greg Oliver recently wrote an in-depth profile on Mackney for Inside the Ropes Magazine, which ran in September.
