The Rock, Matt Hardy and others heartbroken as former WWE star Darren Drozdov passes away at age 54

Several names from the wrestling world took to Twitter to mourn the death of WWE legend Darren Adrian Drozdov, aka Droz.

Darren made his debut for the Stamford-based promotion in 1998 and is known to many wrestling fans for a scene in the Beyond The Mat documentary that focused on Vince McMahon pitching a "Puke" gimmick for him since he could vomit on command.

During his brief tenure with the global juggernaut, he was primarily used as a mid-card superstar and tag team competitor. His career was cut short after he suffered a severe neck injury during a match with D'Lo Brown on the October 5, 1999, edition of SmackDown.

Tributes have been flowing in for Droz ever since news of his passing came to light. Several wrestling stars such as The Rock, Matt Cardona, Matt Hardy, Taz, Bully Ray, and others took to Twitter to pay their respects.

"Man I’m so sorry to hear one of our ring brothers has passed away. Darren Drozdov aka Droz. We wrestled on a lot of cards together. Such an awesome dude. Great personality and great wrestling talent. We always talked about football and fishing. Sending love, strength, mana and light to his family. RIP brother," The Rock tweeted.

"Saddened to hear about the passing of Darren Drozdov. Darren was a great guy who was always full of life & laughs. #RIP Droz," wrote Matt Hardy.

WWE paid tribute to Darren Adrian Drozdov on SmackDown

While Daren Adrian Drozdov had to hang up his wrestling boots due to the neck injury, he continued to work for the WWE as a writer and columnist following his accident.

The news of his passing was broken by WWE as at the start of SmackDown in London, an "In Memorium" graphic for Darren Drozdov was displayed. The official statement from his family revealed that he died of natural causes.

"Everyone who knew Darren was a better person because of it. He taught everyone so much about how to look at life: how to put things in perspective, how to overcome adversity, and how to show compassion for others. He would not want anyone to be sad at this moment and would want to this to be a celebration of his life, to be remembered for all the great things that he accomplished, the fun, the laughter, the great memories he shared with everyone." [H/T- WrestlingInc]

We at Sportskeeda send our condolences to former WWE star Droz's near and dear ones at this time.