ROH News: Former Star Reveals He Has Stage Three Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Former Ring of Honor star Necro Butcher announced to the world of wrestling fans that he is battling cancer. The longtime hardcore wrestler revealed on his social media that he was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Butcher, whose real name is Dylan Summers, took to his personal Facebook page to let family and friends know about his diagnosis. As reported by Wrestling Inc., the information was a longtime coming, and he actually reacted to it in a different way than most people would.

“Finally got that elusive diagnosis, stage 3 Hodgkins, it was taking forever, multiple biopsies and procedures, I might be that happiest guy ever to hear he has cancer.”

Butcher has never wrestled in WWE or Impact Wrestling, or in New Japan Pro Wrestling. His career began after the dissolution of WCW and ECW. His career somewhat came to an end before All Elite Wrestling came into existence.

Fans know Necro Butcher as the king of the Death Match, which is the ultimate of extreme bouts. Those kinds of matches can include barb wire ring “ropes,” glass tubes, bats, chairs, knives, and any type of weapon you could imagine.

Throughout his career, Butcher has had Death Matches in Japan, Combat Zone Wrestling, NWA Southwest, and Ring of Honor. He officially retired from the ring in 2016, but he returned for five special matches in 2019 and 2020.

Web Is Jericho reported that rumors were swirling of Necro Butcher being in poor health after his final match in January. The 46-year-old showed up to the ICW event looking quite aged, and he was skinnier than fans have ever seen him throughout his career.

After the match, Butcher took off his “Choose Death” shirt and passed the torch to wrestler Shlak. While he has never said it was definite, it is very well likely that it was the final wrestling match of his career.

The treatment that Butcher will go through for his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma will include six to eight cycles of chemotherapy. This kind of treatment usually results in anywhere from 76 to 90 percent of patients having a further lifespan of five years or longer.

Many fans know Butcher best for his role in the 2008 Darren Aronofsky film, The Wrestler. He starred as himself, and he helped Mickey Rourke’s Randy “The Ram” Robinson continue his career as a washed-up wrestler looking to find himself again as his body aged and began to break down.