Chris Adams (wrestler)

Christopher Adams
Data
Ring name	"Gentleman" Chris Adams The Masked Avenger
height	1.85 m
Fighting weight	100 kg
birth	10th February 1955 Rugby , Warwickshire , England
death	October 7, 2001 Waxahachie , Texas , United States
Announced from	Stratford upon Avon , Warwickshire, England
Trained by	Tony St. Claire Shirley Crabtree ("Big Daddy")
debut	June 1978
retirement	June 2001

Christopher Adams (born February 10, 1955 in Rugby , Warwickshire , England , † October 7, 2001 in Waxahachie , Texas , United States ) was an English wrestler and judoka . He was one of the most popular wrestlers in World Class Championship Wrestling and coached Steve Austin and Scott Hall .

Career

Beginnings

Christopher Adams began his sporting career as a judoka in Stratford, England. He won the national youth championship several times, but ended his career as a judoka before he was 21 years old. In the meantime he learned wrestling and mixed both fighting styles.

After his training, he left England and settled in the United States, where he made his first appearance as a wrestler in 1978. He performed in Los Angeles , but also in Mexico and Japan .

World Class Championship Wrestling

In the early 1980s he moved to Texas and became part of Fritz von Erich's Promotion World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) . He appeared there first as a face , later also as a heel . His feud with Jimmy Garvin over the WCCW Texas Championship was best known . In 1985 he formed the tag team "The Dynamic Duo" with Gino Hernandez . The two were used as top heels in Texas. After Hernandez's sudden death in 1986, he was interrogated by Scotland Yard on suspicion of killing his partner. He was, however, on home leave in England at the time in question. Hernandez died of a cocaine overdose , but the police assumed a murder.

Adams did gymnastics again shortly afterwards and fought against John Tatum and Rick Rude until he left the WCCW towards the end of the year. The reason for this was a physical violence against an American Airlines pilot , as a result of which Adams was sentenced to three months in prison. After serving his sentence, he was too ashamed to continue wrestling in Texas.

Universal Wrestling Federation / National Wrestling Association

Adams went to Oklahoma , where he ran for Bill Watts Universal Wrestling Federation , which was just transferring to the National Wrestling Association . There he had a tag team with Terry Taylor. In a fight, however, Adams severely injured his back and had to sit out for several months. After that he could no longer wrestle full-time, but occasionally worked for the WCCW and its successor USWA.

Trainer

During his later wrestling career, which he had to severely limit because of his back pain, he trained young wrestlers in his "The Gentleman Chris Adams School of Personalized Professional Wrestling Coaching". His most famous students included Steve Williams, who later became Stone Cold Steve Austin , and Scott Hall . Austin had independent matches against Adams with a storyline about Adam's ex-wife Jeanie Clarke, who later became Steve Austin's first wife. Steve Austin did n't utter a good word about Chris Adams in his biography The Stome Cold Truth , characterizing him as selfish and manipulative.

In the 1990s, after the USWA was closed, Adams made his living with his wrestling school and also sold wrestling rings. In his wrestling school he trained, among others, the two brothers Roger and Royce Gracie , who later became successful in ultimate fighting .

Adams continued to take part in Independent Promotions , but was only able to achieve a slightly greater degree of popularity once between 1998 and 1999 in the World Championship Wrestling .

He was also the coach of the English judo team at the 1984 and 1996 Summer Olympics .

Private life and death

His younger brother Neil Adams is a successful judoka, who at the Summer Olympics in 1980 and 1984 each have a silver medal won.

Chris Adams was married twice: his first marriage to Jeannie Clark, who appeared at the WCCW as "Lady Blossom". Their daughter was later Steve Austin adopted . On December 20, 1984, he married Toni Collins, who also acted as his manager. The marriage, which was divorced on August 15, 1994, resulted in a son.

Adams came into conflict with the law, particularly in the 1990s, and was addicted to drugs and alcohol . He was arrested twice for drunk driving . In April 2000, his girlfriend Linda Kaphengst died of an overdose of GHB (also known as liquid ecstasy ) they took together. Adams was then charged with manslaughter , which was possible under Texas law. He did not live to see the trial, however, as he got into a fight on October 7, 2001 and was shot in self-defense at the age of 46 .

meaning

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him one of the greatest superstars in wrestling from 1983 to 1986.

Adams' finishing move , the "Superkick", was later adapted by Shawn Michaels under the name "Sweet Chin Music" .

successes

title

Global Wrestling Federation

• 2 × GWF North American Heavyweight Champion

NWA Hollywood

• 2 × NWA Americas Heavyweight Champion
• 2 × NWA Americas Tag Team Champion (1 × with Tom Prichard and 1 × with Ringo Rigsby)

Universal Wrestling Association

• 1 × WWF Light Heavyweight Champion ( not recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment )

Universal Wrestling Federation

• 1 × UWF World Tag Team Champion (with Terry Taylor)

World Class Championship Wrestling / World Class Wrestling Association

• 4 × NWA American Heavyweight Champion
• 2 × NWA American Tag Team Champion (with Gino Hernandez)
• 1 × NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
• 1 × NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion
• 2 × NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version; 1 × with Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts , 1 × with Steve Simpson and Kevin von Erich )
• 3 × WCCW Television Champion
• 1 × WCWA Television Champion
• 1 × WCWA World Heavyweight Champion

Awards

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1986)
• # 160 of the 500 best individual wrestlers (2003)
• # 65 of the 100 best tag teams (2003) with Gino Hernandez as Dynamic Duo

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Pro wrestler slain long after glory days. In: Dallas Morning News. JBSwrestlingworld.com, September 10, 2001, archived from the original on February 7, 2012 ; Retrieved January 5, 2011 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Chris Schramm: Chris Adams' life was a rollercoaster. SLAM! Wrestling, accessed January 4, 2011 . 
3. ^ ^{A b} The Life and Times of Gentleman Chris Adams. In: WrestlineLine.com. Wrestlingclassics.com, October 24, 2000, accessed January 5, 2011 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Steve Austin with Jim Ross and David Brent: The Stone Cold Truth . World Wrestling Entertainment / Pocket Books, New York 2004, ISBN 978-0-7434-8267-7 .
5. ↑ Texas Divorces 1968-2002. FamilyTreeLegends.com, archived from the original on March 13, 2014 ; Retrieved January 5, 2011 . 
6. ^ Tanya Eiserner: Former pro wrestler fatally shot. In: Forth Worth Star-Telegram. JBSwrestling.com, archived from the original on February 7, 2012 ; Retrieved January 5, 2011 . 
7. ↑ Shawn Michaels with Aaron Feigenbaum: Heartbreak & Triumph - The Shawn Michaels Story . WWE / Pocket Books, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-4165-2645-2 , pp. 190 f .
8. ^ Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners Inspirational Wrestler of the Year. Wrestling Information Archive, archived from the original on January 3, 2011 ; Retrieved January 5, 2011 .