Tony Halme, who wrestled under his real name with New Japan Pro Wrestling in the early nineties, and as Ludvig Borga for the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 to 1994, passed away last night in his native country of Finland. No details are available regarding his cause of death. He was 47 years old.
Halme was a former member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the True Finns party. He was also known by the pseudonym Viikinki he used while appearing on the Finnish version of the television game show American Gladiators (Gladiaattorit).
Though he is best known for his appearances in the WWF under the name Ludvig Borga, he was also an MMA fighter and professional boxer who held the Finnish Heavyweight Championship. In a trivia note, he was Randy Couture's first-ever opponent. On May 30, 1997, Couture won the match via choke in 57 seconds.
Halme retired from athletics in March 2003 in order to pursue a career in politics.
He celebrated his 47th birthday this past Wednesday.
