Joe Doering

Joseph Doering was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 16 April 1982. A large athlete who would bill at about 6 ft 8 in and more than 270 lb, he moved into professional wrestling in the mid-2000s.

He trained at the Can-Am Wrestling School linked to Border City Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, working under coaches including Scott D'Amore, with later influence from Keiji Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi, Steve Keirn and Tom Prichard. He debuted on 19 December 2004 for Border City Wrestling.

After early matches on the Canadian independent scene, Doering worked for Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council in 2006 under the ring name Hans von Doering. He joined All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2007, aligned for a time with the Voodoo Murders stable, won the 2007 World's Strongest Tag Determination League with Keiji Mutoh, and held the World Tag Team Championship.

In 2010 he spent about seven months in WWE's Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory as Drake Brewer, then returned to AJPW for a lengthy second run. There he became a two-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a multiple-time World Tag Team Champion, also winning the World's Strongest Tag League again in 2013 with Suwama and in 2018 with Dylan James.

In 2020 he signed with Impact Wrestling (TNA) and joined Violent By Design. He won the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice before announcing in August 2022 that he was stepping away from active competition because of returning brain cancer.

Doering kept much of his private life out of the spotlight, but he spoke publicly about his health when titles and tours had to pause. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor on 25 February 2016 and had surgery on 4 March 2016. After returning to the ring he continued to work major programs in Japan and later in North America.

When cancer returned in August 2022 he left Impact and underwent further surgery. He later developed ataxia that limited his mobility. Family updates in late 2025 described a third tumor, and in June 2026 he entered hospice care.

Joe Doering entered hospice care on 23 June 2026. He died on 26 June 2026 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 44, after a decade-long battle with brain cancer that included three tumors.

News of his death was reported across wrestling media, including Fightful and other outlets that had covered his earlier diagnoses and retirement. Tributes recalled both his AJPW Triple Crown reigns and his perseverance through repeated surgeries.

Doering is remembered as one of the most successful American heavyweights in All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 2010s: a two-time Triple Crown champion, a multi-time World Tag Team champion, and a three-time World's Strongest Tag League winner. In TNA/Impact he helped establish Violent By Design as a credible championship unit.

Beyond titles, peers praised his work rate and humility. His public fight with brain cancer from 2016 onward made him a figure of resilience in wrestling, and his memorial stands with the generation of foreign talent who rebuilt AJPW's heavyweight scene after its mid-2000s transition.