Former WWE Star Virgil Dies at 61 – It’s with sadness that we share the passing of Michael Jones, known to wrestling enthusiasts as Virgil. Referee Mark Charles III announced Jones’s peaceful passing at a hospital this morning. He was 61 years old.
Charles III wrote: “My dear friends, it is with great sorrow that I bring news from the Jones family of the passing of our beloved Michael Jones, whom we know and loved as Virgil, Vincent, Soul Train Jones and more. Virgil passed peacefully at the hospital this morning and I ask that you pray for him and for his family. May his memory be eternal!”
Jones gained fame as Ted Dibiase’s bodyguard Virgil in the late 1980s and early 1990s, eventually turning on Dibiase and winning the Million Dollar Championship at SummerSlam 91.
Before joining WWE, he competed as “Soul Train” Jones and held the AWA Southern Tag Team Championships with Rocky Johnson.
The Virgil name was a rib on Dusty Rhodes (real name Virgil Runnels). Years later when Jones signed with WCW, he was renamed Vincent (a rib on Vince McMahon) and for a brief time he was known as Shane (a rib on Shane McMahon).
He continued to work on independent shows for many years after WCW folded and he was brought back to WWE in 2010 to reprise his bodyguard character for a storyline with Ted DiBiase, Jr.
In the summer of 2022, Jones revealed his battle with dementia and having suffered two major strokes.
We send our condolences to the family and friends of Mike Jones.
Stay tuned to WrestlingAttitude, WA.Com On Twitter and Google News for more.
Former WWE Star Virgil Dies at 61
