Tony Halme, best known in wrestling for his run in the WWF as Ludvig Borga, passed away at home in Finland this weekend. He was 47 years old. A former pro boxer and cast member of the Finnish version of the Gladiators game show (launched as American Gladiators in the US), he trained for wrestling under Verne Gagne started wrestling for Herb Abrams' UWF in 1990 as The Viking. Shortly thereafter, he went to New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he became a main event level foreigner. He went to the WWF where he got a sizable push that included ending Tatanka's undefeated streak and being on the heel team in the Survivor Series '93 main event. After leaving the WWF, he was involved in Sugary Ray Leonard's faux-MMA experiment "Fight Zone" on PPV , did a few matches for Akira Maeda's RINGS, and held the world title of Otto Wanz's CWA before ending up in the UFC, where he lost to Randy Couture in Couture's MMA debut. In the last decade, the outspoken Halme was a elected to the Finnish Parliament. During his term, he had various run-ins with the law. At the end of the term in 2006, he left office and lived on a disability pension for alcohol-related cirrhosis and acute pancreatitis. Last month, he told a newspaper writer that he was having severe memory issues.
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