Droz

Darren Alexander Drozdov (April 7, 1969 – June 30, 2023), known professionally as Droz, was an American football player and professional wrestler.

After a short career in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL), he went into professional wrestling.

He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), initially under the ring name Puke (a nickname carried over from his football career), and then under the shortened version of his surname.

Drozdov was quadriplegic due to a neck injury sustained from a botched wrestling maneuver, but regained most of the use of his upper body and arms.

Drozdov was born in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey.

Drozdov, as a 6 ft, 245 lb quarterback in high school, threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Lou Rothman to win the last game of the 1985 regular season to finish the season with a perfect 10–0 record.

Drozdov set an Atlantic County, New Jersey record in track and field in the shot put event.

He was All-State in football at Oakcrest High School in South Jersey.

After a stint at Fork Union Military Academy, Drozdov attended the University of Maryland and was a defensive tackle for the Terrapins.

He culminated his collegiate career by graduating with a B.S. in criminal justice.

Before his wrestling career, Drozdov was a professional American football player for three seasons with the National Football League (NFL)'s New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos.

He garnered a measure of notoriety (and the nickname "Puke") when he vomited on television during a Monday Night Football game directly onto the football before the center could snap it.

A 1993 Sports Illustrated article stated that he had vomited at nearly every game that season and would reportedly see a psychiatrist for a "chronic vomiting" problem.

Drozdov appeared with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1997 to 1998, where he formed a stable of "invaders" from the WWF with Lance Wright, Brakkus, Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon.

Drozdov made his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut in 1998.

He claimed the natural ability to regurgitate on command, and WWF management decided to use this as his gimmick.

In the documentary Beyond the Mat, his meeting with Vince McMahon is shown, with McMahon requesting Drozdov to vomit into a trashcan in his office.

Drozdov first wrestled in dark matches and on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night.

He debuted on Raw is War on the May 25, 1998 episode as an associate of the Legion of Doom.

Dubbed Puke, he was the unofficial third member of the group.

In late 1998, he competed in the WWF Brawl for All tournament, making it to the semifinals before losing to Bradshaw.

Droz was involved in a confrontation involving L.O.D. member Hawk's alcoholism.

In this confrontation, Hawk was seen by his partner Animal as unfit to wrestle and Droz was tapped to take Hawk's place in the tag team.

The situation ended with accusations that he had been the "enabler" of Hawk's problems and had dosed the L.O.D. member to take his place in the team.

During this segment, Hawk was shown to have been pushed off the TitanTron by Droz.

The feud culminated at the UK pay-per-view WWF Capital Carnage when the L.O.D. team of Droz and Animal took on The Headbangers.

During the match, Drozdov entered the ring to defend Animal who was on the receiving end of an illegal double-team by The Headbangers.

While the referee was occupied ushering Thrasher out of the ring, Mosh rolled up Drozdov, and the referee turned around and made the three count.

Animal, enraged that Puke got involved, began to brawl with him before walking away from the ring in disgust, effectively ending Drozdov's run with L.O.D.

After Drozdov's stint with the L.O.D., efforts were made to rebrand his persona, including one involving a series of skits called Droz's World, where he would tell stories about his life as a professional wrestler.

He started to come into his own after turning heel.

Drozdov started to build a stable of wrestlers who shared his bizarre lifestyle.

He added Prince Albert to his faction as his personal "body piercing artist" and Key, alleged to be Droz's dealer.

At Royal Rumble, Droz competed in the royal rumble match where he was eliminated by Mabel.

On the Sunday Night Heat before WrestleMania XV, Droz competed in a Battle Royal to determine #1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship making it to the final four before being eliminated.

At SummerSlam, Droz and Prince Albert competed in a Tag team turmoil match to determine #1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship which was won by The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw).

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Drozdov #142 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999.

Drozdov's active wrestling career ended prematurely when he suffered a severe neck injury during a match with D'Lo Brown during a WWF SmackDown! taping on October 5, 1999, at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

The incident occurred just five months after the death of Owen Hart.

Droz later stated that he was wearing a loose shirt during the match, a factor which contributed to the accident.