David Von Erich
David Von Erich | |
---|---|
Birth name | David Alan Adkisson[1] |
Born | [1] Lake Dallas, Texas, United States[2] | July 22, 1958
Died | February 10, 1984[1] Tokyo, Japan[1] | (aged 25)
Cause of death | Acute enteritis |
Spouse(s) | Candy McLeod (m. 1978–1979)Trisha Matter (m. 1982) |
Children | 1 |
Family | |
Trained by | Fritz Von Erich[2] |
Debut | June 28, 1977[2] |
David Alan Adkisson (July 22, 1958 – February 10, 1984) was an American
Early life
David was named after his mother Doris' brother David (real name Eugene David Smith), who at 14 had died of a brain tumor only months before David Von Erich was born in 1958.
David, along with brothers Kevin and Kerry, loved to hunt and fish with their father; Fritz. Hunting on the Von Erich ranch was quite an event. Many of their relatives and friends would join in and sometimes the hunting group would be 20 or more. WCCW Referee David Manning and WCCW Announcer Bill Mercer were quite often among the group. David's first love in life was raising horses, which turned out to be very profitable for him. He raised and sold quarter horses and horses for show and made his own fortune that way, apart from the family business of wrestling.
Adkisson was a high school basketball star and a football player at Lake Dallas High School. He won a scholarship to North Texas State University to play basketball and football. David dropped out to pursue a wrestling career.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1977–1981)
Adkisson made his professional wrestling debut in June 1977, adopting the name "David Von Erich". He was considered a breakout star of his family, as his fiery temper produced memorable interviews. His first major match came just a few weeks later on August 15, 1977, when he wrestled
In November 1979, Von Erich made his first and only appearance in the
In the early years of his career, Von Erich had several reigns as
Championship Wrestling from Florida (1981–1982)
In late-1981, David left Texas and struck out on his own, heading to Florida and competing as a heel for Championship Wrestling from Florida. In Florida, David was managed by J. J. Dillon and was in the same stable as Kendo Nagasaki and Jimmy Garvin. David's mentor in Florida was Dory Funk Jr. and during that time David teamed with Dory or his brother Terry Funk in addition to singles competition. Memorable opponents included Barry Windham, Mr. Wrestling II, Eric Embry, Sweet Brown Sugar, and Butch Reed. Kerry Von Erich later joined his brother on the heel side in Florida, playing a vain self-absorbed muscleman alongside David's loudmouthed "spoiled brat" persona. By July 1982, David was back in Texas.
World Class Championship Wrestling (1982–1984)
Feud with Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin (1983)
During his stay in Florida, David met and became great friends with Jimmy Garvin, convincing Garvin to come to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in Texas in early 1983 and they created an angle for a feud between them, which culminated with David winning the held-up NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship at The Tarrant County Convention Center on July 4, 1983. As a result of David's victory, Garvin and his valet Sunshine were forced to serve as David's valets for a day, with the results of the day being broadcast on the WCCW weekly show. The whole angle was conceived by David and Jimmy. They traded the Texas title back and forth several times, then that belt was held up several times and when the feud reached its climax on July 4, 1983; it was time for both men to move on to the next part in their career (David continuing the Von Erich feud with The Freebirds and Garvin starting a feud with Chris Adams).
Feud with The Freebirds (1982–1984)
In the fall of 1982, David was also working behind the scenes in WCCW and helped create several angles. He invited the Fabulous Freebirds to come to WCCW. Michael Hayes made his debut at the Sportatorium on Saturday, October 16, 1982, and Terry Gordy made his debut at the Sportatorium two weeks later, on October 30, 1982. Buddy Roberts did not show up. The Freebirds were initially booked as faces in the run-up to the Christmas spectacular "Wrestling Star Wars" card at Reunion Arena on December 25, 1982.
In the final match to crown the first-ever Six-Man Champions, David took Buddy Roberts' place in the Freebirds against Tom Sharpe, Mike Sharpe & Ben Steel. It was David who won that match and the title, but in a ringside interview right after the bout, David gave his third of the title to Buddy Roberts. Later that evening, David's brother Kerry battled NWA World Champion Ric Flair in a Steel Cage with Michael Hayes and David Manning as the referees. During the match, Hayes knocked out Flair and attempted to hand the pin (and World Title) to Von Erich, but turned on Kerry when he refused the tainted victory and as Kerry tried to leave the cage, Gordy slammed the cage door on Kerry's head. Thus the Von Erich/Freebird feud was born.
David took part in many matches against the Freebirds in 1983 and early 1984. Notable bouts include David vs Terry Gordy in a Handcuff Match on April 1, 1983, at "Wrestling Star Wars", David, Kevin & Kerry defeating the Freebirds on July 4, 1983, in Ft. Worth at "Star Wars" and what would be David's next-to-last match was against Terry Gordy on February 3, 1984. On the same day, David defeated Hayes to win the NWA United National Championship, his last title ever. This title is now part of All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.
Feud with Ric Flair (1983–1984)
David won the
In an interview in Ft. Worth on January 9, 1984, David did possibly his most intense interview ever, telling Flair that he had heard Flair's comments about Mike and that he had a proposition. Mike would wrestle Flair in a "10 Minute Challenge Match" and if Flair beat Mike in that 10 minutes, David would never again ask for another shot at the NWA World title, but if Flair did not beat Mike in those 10 minutes, David would get to name the place, the time and every stipulation for his match against Ric Flair. The "10 Minute Challenge match" between Ric Flair and Mike Von Erich was held at
Professional wrestling style and persona
Von Erich was nicknamed "the Yellow Rose of Texas". His signature moves were the "Iron Claw" (a
Personal life
David's first marriage was with Candy L. McLeod. The couple were wed on June 26, 1978, in Denton, Texas. Together they had a daughter, Natosha Zoeanna Adkisson (October 19, 1978 – December 29, 1978). Natosha died of SIDS at 13 weeks old. Shortly after, David separated from his wife and they were officially divorced on July 12, 1979.[5] David married for the second time on June 8, 1982, to Patricia A. Matter, known as Trisha.[6] The couple remained married until David's death. Trisha was interviewed for the June 1984 edition of The Wrestler magazine, which was a tribute to David. She spoke of how she loved the fans, and thanked them for their support. Trisha has remained out of the public eye since that interview.
Death
Von Erich died during a tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling on February 10, 1984, before defending the United National championship belt he had won in Texas seven days earlier. One theory of his death is that it was a painkiller overdose, perhaps hydrocodone.[4] Ric Flair mentions in his autobiography that Bruiser Brody (Von Erich's long-time friend) removed the evidence of any drug-related incident. The Von Erichs, however, claimed it was caused by ruptured intestines resulting from acute enteritis,[7] which is the documented cause of death listed on the Consular Report of Death provided by the U.S. embassy in Japan.[8] In the documentary Heroes of World Class: The Story of the Von Erichs and The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling, Kevin Von Erich and former referee David Manning both attested to a heart attack theory.
Championships and accomplishments
- NWA Big Time Wrestling / World Class Championship Wrestling
- NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kevin Von Erich[13][14]
- NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (8 times)[15][16]
- NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kevin Von Erich[17][18]
- NWA United National Championship (1 time)[19]
- NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (2 times) – with Kevin Von Erich and Kerry Von Erich[20]
- NWA Western States Sports
- NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kevin Von Erich
- St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Class of 2016
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)
See also
- Von Erich Family
- List of premature professional wrestling deaths
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61321-075-8. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Kreikenbohm, Philip. "David von Erich". Cagematch.net. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
- ^ "David Von Erich In Florida". youtube.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-06-039299-4.
- ^ Texas Divorces
- ^ Texas Marriages
- ^ "Acute Enteritis Blamed For Von Erich's Death". Classic Wrestling Articles. June 13, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ "The Fall of the House of von Erich".
- ^ All Asia Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA Florida Television Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA North American Tag Team Title (Florida) history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA Southern Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ISBN 978-0-9698161-5-7.
- ^ "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA Texas Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
- ^ NWA United National Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ World 6-Man Tag Team Title (World Class) history At wrestling-titles.com
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ a b "PWI 500 of the PWI Years". Willy Wrestlefest. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
External links
- The Von Erichs on WWE.com
- David Von Erich's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database
- David Adkisson at IMDb