Hometown: Stratford-on-Avon, England
Height/Weight: 6'1"/230
Signature Moves: Superkick
WCCW Titles Held: WCWA World Heavyweight Title; NWA American Heavyweight Title (four times); WCCW World Six-Man Tag Team Title (once with Gino Hernandez & Jake Roberts, once with Kevin Von Erich & Steve Simpson); WCCW Tag Team Title (with Gino Hernandez); WCCW Television Title (five times); NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title
Notable WCCW Feuds: The Mongol, Jimmy Garvin, Kevin Von Erich, Gino Hernandez, Rick Rude, Terry Taylor, Iceman Parsons and Steve Austin.
Need to Know Facts: Born February 10, 1955, the "Gentleman" was legitimately a former National and International Judo Champion (junior division), as was his brother Neil, in his native country of England prior to his career in professional wrestling.
Upon first watching professional wrestling, specifically the Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington) and Rollerball Rocco, Adams dismissed any further aspirations of competing further with judo, and became a professional wrestler.
Trained by English wrestler Tally Ho Kay, Adams wrestled in England from 1978 to 1981, then began his professional wrestling career in the United Stated in Los Angeles for wrestling promoter Mike LeBell. In addition to working for LeBell, Adams also worked for Japan's New Japan promotion, in addition to Mexico and Portland. Through Lebell, Adams also worked various cities throughout North America.It was through the urging of the Wild Samoans that Adams entered the World Class promotion in the spring of 1983. Adams was immediately booked into a feud with the Mongol (with whom he had feuded previously in Portland). However, it would be his feud with "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin that would make Adams a wrestling superstar.
Adams and Garvin would feud over the American title (the precursor to the WCWA World title) for nearly a year, from mid-1983 to mid-1984. In the process, Adams took on Garvin's former valet Sunshine after her falling out with Garvin.
Chris shocked WCCW fans when he joined up with longtime heel manager Gary Hart in the summer of 1984. Though still wildly cheered by fans in attendance, his in-ring allies remained suspicious, with the Von Erichs pleading with Adams to drop Hart as his manager.
Adams eventually turned on the beloved Von Erichs during a tag team match in the autumn of 1984, which pitted himself and Kevin Von Erich against Gino Hernandez and Jake Roberts. When valet Stella Mae French tried to attack then-nemesis Hernandez late in the match, the attack backfired, resulting in Adams' and Von Erich's defeat. Incensed by this, Hart launched a verbal and near-physical assault on Stella Mae, to which Kevin objected. After coming to blows with Hart, Kevin was flattened by an Adams superkick.
This incident led to an intense feud between Adams and Kevin (with Adams' "Dynamic Duo" partner Gino Hernandez and Kevin's brother Kerry joining in the fray) that lasted through the rest of 1984 and throughout 1985. The very realistic-looking feud took a violent turn early on when, during the Cotton Bowl show in October 1984, Adams smashed a wooden chair over Kevin's head, resulting in a legitimate concussion for Von Erich and nearly triggering a riot amongst the fans in attendance. The Cotton Bowl angle was meant to get the recently heel-turned Adams to severely feel the wrath of the fans, for despite being a heel and now a sworn enemy of the Von Erichs, Adams was still receiving a good amount of cheers from World Class fans throughout Texas.
Adams would eventually fire Gary Hart as his manager, and he and Gino Hernandez would continue to wreak havoc for the Von Erichs and other World Class babyfaces for much of 1985.In October of 1985, Adams and Hernandez, who had been cutting the hair of their opponents (which included Iceman King Parsons, Scott Casey and others), now found themselves facing both Kevin and Kerry Von Erich at the Cotton Bowl in a "hair vs. hair" match. The match became an instant classic, with the Dynamic Duo losing the match to the popular Von Erichs. With the Dynamic Duo-Von Erichs feud reaching its pinnacle, it was now time for WCCW to up the ante, and Adams and Hernandez soon had a falling out.
Their long-awaited grudge match would take place in January 1986, in what was supposed to be a "hair vs. hair" match. After a few minutes, Gino threw a liquid substance (that was supposed to be a hair remover) into Adams' eyes, supposedly blinding Adams. The plan was that Adams would go back home to England in hopes of recovering his vision, then come back months later and feud with Gino.
However, the feud between the two former partners would be forever scrapped when Gino Hernandez died on January 30, 1986.
Adams' reign would end abruptly when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a pilot on a flight from the Caribbean. Adams was sentenced to four months in jail as a result of the incident. World Class, having to save face, stated that Adams had lost the world title to veteran Black Bart in Los Angeles on September 15, 1986 (the match never actually occurred, thus being considered a "phantom title change", a common practice in professional wrestling at the time when a champion abruptly left a territory).
Upon Adams' release from prison, Adams went to work for promoter Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation, where he was a co-holder of the UWF Tag team title with Terry Taylor. He would feud with former friends Iceman King Parsons and Taylor while in the UWF, as well as team up with future WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting (Steve Borden).
Adams returned to World Class in late 1987, allying himself with the Von Erichs and the Simpson brothers (Steve and Shaun) to fight off the newly re-formed Freebirds (Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, the Angel of Death and Parsons). He also feuded with World Class World Champion "Latin Heartthrob" Al Perez.
Chris would eventually open the Chris Adams Wrestling School, in which he discovered and trained one Steve Williams, who would go on in the 1990's to become the most popular wrestler ever: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
As the years went by, Adams would wrestle overseas and for independent promotions, and would join the newly formed (and short-lived) AWF (American Wrestling Federation). He also had a small role, along with fellow wrestler Bill Goldberg, in Universal Soldier: The Return (which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme).
Adams made a comeback in the late 1990's with WCW (World Championship Wrestling), but due to the turmoil and backstage politics that would ultimately lead to the company's demise, he never made it past mid-card status. However, in his short time there, he did form a talented tag team with fellow Briton, Steve (now known as William) Regal.
Tragically, Chris Adams was fatally shot on October 7, 2001. He was 46 years old.
