David Von Erich
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| David Von Erich | |
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| Ring name(s) | David Von Erich |
David Allen Adkisson (July 221958 – February 101984) was an American professional wrestler famous under the ring name David Von Erich (of the famous Von Erich Family). He was the son of Fritz Von Erich and the brother of Kerry, Kevin, Mike and Chris.
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Career
David Von Erich, the "Yellow Rose of Texas", was the son of Fritz Von Erich. David was the second oldest wrestling son, and was the son whom everyone thought would win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He often wrestled Ric Flair for that title.
David 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 that he had started in 1977.
He was a huge star in WCCW and he had a huge feud with Jimmy Garvin. He won a match where Garvin and his valet Sunshine would have to be his slaves for a day. He had a ranch, so they cleaned the horse stalls, washed the horses, etc. It made for good TV, and the WCCW fans loved David for it. He also feuded with the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts), with his brothers, Kevin and Kerry. They had many exciting six-man matches and helped to make those type of matches popular in the United States.
David died on February 10, 1984. Theories about what caused his death have circulated for years. The Von Erich's claimed that David's death was a heart attack caused by ruptured intestines, which resulted from acute enteritis. Others have speculated that David died of a drug overdose (Ric Flair mentions this speculation in his autobiography and claims that the Von Erich's long-time friend Bruiser Brody removed the evidence).
On May 6, 1984, David's brother Kerry defeated Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Texas Stadium. It was a tribute to David, who had been scheduled to win the title from Flair before his death. The NWA however allowed only a brief title reign for Kerry, as he was to lose the title back to Flair 18 days later in Yokohama, Japan.
Championships and accomplishments
National Wrestling Alliance
- 1-time NWA Missouri Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time NWA World Tag-Team Champion (Texas version) (with Kevin von Erich)
- 1-time NWA North American Tag Team Champion (with Dory Funk, Jr.)
All Japan Pro Wrestling
- 1-time AJPW United National Champion
- 2-time AJPW All Asia Tag-Team Champion (with Kevin Von Erich)
Florida Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
- 2-time WCCW 6-Man Tag-Team Champion (with Kevin Von Erich & Kerry Von Erich)
- 8-time WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time NWA American Tag-Team Champion (with Kevin Von Erich)
- 2-time NWA Texas Tag-Team Champion (with Kevin Von Erich)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 58 of the 500 best wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003. PWI also ranked him # 23 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with any combination of him and his brothers, Kerry & Kevin Von Erich.
- David was awarded the 1984 PWI Editor's Award due to his death.
See also
External links
- Official Family Site: http://www.vonerich.com/
Categories
Articles with weasel words | American professional wrestlers | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Drug-related deaths | People from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area | Von Erich wrestling family | World Class Championship Wrestling alumni | 1958 births | 1984 deaths