A former WWE wrestler who competed in the NXT division has passed away in a non-wrestling incident.
41-year old Kevin Nikel, who had a brief career in WWE NXT as "Knuckles Madsen" was shot and killed on Friday in Benton County, Arkansas. Law enforcement responded to a possible gunshot situation in which there was a victim after midnight. When they arrived on scene, they found Nikel in critical condition at which time he was transported to a local hospital where he later died. It was later shared that Nikel was shot in the abdomen and police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. No arrests have yet been made in the case.
Nikel competed in WWE's ancillary organizations OVW and NXT from 2012 and 2013 wrestling at house shows and dark matches. He made a pair of appearances on NXT in the spring of 2013 but departed the company not long after that but continued his career as a wrestler by working the indies in Texas and in Memphis.
