Joe Doering

Joseph Doering, a two-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion who became one of the most accomplished foreign wrestlers in the history of All Japan Pro Wrestling, died on June 26, 2026, at the age of 44. His death followed nearly a decade of fighting brain cancer through three separate diagnoses, a fight he met with the same resolve that defined his career in the ring.

Doering was born in Chicago on April 16, 1982, and broke into wrestling in 2004 at the Can-Am Wrestling School in Windsor, Ontario, the academy run by Scott D'Amore, a figure long central to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He made his professional debut on December 19, 2004, representing Border City Wrestling in a loss to D-Ray 3000, and after a short 2006 stint with Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council, the powerfully built heavyweight, later billed simply as "Big" Joe Doering, found his true calling overseas.

He arrived in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 2007, at a precarious moment for the promotion. Seven years earlier, Mitsuharu Misawa had led nearly the entire roster out the door to found Pro Wrestling Noah, costing AJPW its television deal and most of its stars; the company spent the decade that followed rebuilding under Keiji Mutoh, leaning on freelancers and foreign talent to fill the void. Doering, a power wrestler who finished opponents with a spinning powerbomb he called the Revolution Bomb, became one of the imports who helped carry AJPW through its lean years. His rise was briefly interrupted in January 2010, when he signed a developmental contract with WWE and wrestled in Florida Championship Wrestling under the ring name Drake Brewer; released that September, he was back in AJPW by November.

His perseverance was rewarded with the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, AJPW's most prestigious singles prize, created in 1989 by unifying the promotion's three top titles. It was a belt foreign wrestlers rarely touched: in the quarter-century since its founding, only five had held it, Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, Steve Williams, Big Van Vader, and Akebono, before Doering became the sixth, defeating Suwama on July 27, 2014. He also captured the AJPW World Tag Team Championship across multiple reigns, one of them alongside Keiji Mutoh, the very man who had helped train him and rebuild the promotion he now headlined. His hard-hitting style drew comparisons to Hansen himself, the brawler who had blazed the same trail for foreign stars in Japan a generation earlier.

Doering's prime collided with his greatest challenge on February 25, 2016, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He underwent surgery on March 4 and, showing extraordinary resolve, returned to the ring, his comeback crowned in October 2017 when he reclaimed the Triple Crown for a second time, a testament to his steely character.

In 2020, Doering opened the next chapter of his career in North America, joining Impact Wrestling as a member of Violent By Design alongside Eric Young and Deaner and twice capturing the Impact World Tag Team Championship under the Freebird Rule. The cancer returned in 2022, requiring a second surgery, this time on his brain stem. "They told me in 2016 that I would never wrestle again, and I proved them wrong," he said in the Impact locker room. "Guess I'm going to have to do it again. I try not to get too sad or emotional about it. Staying positive really helped me the first time, and that's what I'll do again."

This time, the operation carried lasting consequences. Doering developed ataxia on his right side, which gradually robbed him of his mobility and confined him to a wheelchair, ending an in-ring career that still had much more to give. A once-powerful heavyweight now relied on others for basic movement, yet he refused to surrender, continuing his physiotherapy with hope and grit.

In late 2025, his sister-in-law, Mandy Banh, shared that Doering had been diagnosed with a third brain tumor, and a GoFundMe campaign launched to help cover his expenses drew tens of thousands of dollars from fans, peers, and fellow wrestlers. On June 23, 2026, Banh wrote: "Sad to share the news that Joe is heading to hospice soon. If anyone is local and would want to visit, please send a message. Joe could use all your good thoughts and prayers." Three days later, on the morning of June 26, Doering died at 9:13 a.m., surrounded by his family.

Doering is survived by his wife, Lindsay. In a tribute, TNA Wrestling said, "We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Joe Doering. A commanding in-ring performer and a wonderful person, he will never be forgotten. We offer our deepest condolences to his fans, his friends, and his family."

He won a world championship twice in a country where most foreign wrestlers never reach the top, in an industry that demands immense physical courage, all while being struck three times by a disease few survive even once. The titles speak to his character and resolve, and Doering wrote his name into Japanese wrestling lore as firmly as any American before him. There was a quiet symmetry to the end: the career Scott D'Amore had helped launch at a small school in Windsor came full circle under his watch, for it was D'Amore's Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling that shared the news of his passing. The promotion put it best: "Though his time on this earth lasted only 44 years, Joe packed a thousand years' worth of living into every one of them."