Mike Halac has passed away at the age of 55. Halac’s daughter confirmed his passing and noted that he died in his sleep on July 11th. Halac was best known to wrestling fans as Mantaur in the World Wrestling Federation. He utilized the infamous gimmick beginning in 1994 and made sporadic appearances as the minotaur-inspired character for the next two years. During his time in the WWF, Mantaur feuded with Razor Ramon and also had matches against the likes of Bret Hart and Bob Holly. After exiting the WWF in 1995, Halac brought back his Bruiser Mastino ring name and competed for Extreme Championship Wrestling for a couple of years before hitting the independent circuit shortly after.
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While his full-time wrestling career came to a close at the beginning of the century, Halac would go on to wrestle on the odd occasion throughout the next two decades. His final match came in April 2019 when he competed in a battle royal for Game Changer Wrestling.
Halac’s most recent involvement in the professional wrestling landscape came in 2022, when his Mantaur gimmick was reimagined in an episode of NBC’s Young Rock.
“I wanted to make sure Mantaur was in the episode. Mantaur is just such a great visual,” Young Rockย executive producer Brian Gewirtz said. “I mean where else in wrestling are you gonna see a guy with a giant bison head on top of his body enter a wrestling ring.”
ComicBook.com sends its condolences to Halac’s friends and family.
