David Von Erich

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David Von Erich


Statistics
Ring name(s)	David Von Erich
Billed height	6' 7" (1,96 m)
Billed weight	250 lb (120 kg)
Born	July 22, 1958(1958-07-22) Denton, Texas
Died	February 10, 1984 (aged 25) Tokyo,Japan
Trained by	Fritz Von Erich
Debut	June 1977

David Allen Adkisson (July 22, 1958 – February 10, 1984) was an American professional wrestler who competed as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" David Von Erich (of the Von Erich Family). He was the son of Fritz Von Erich and the brother of Kerry, Kevin, Mike and Chris.^[1]

David was named after his mother Doris' brother David,who had died only months before David Von Erich was born in 1958. Doris' brother David had died of a brain tumor.

1 Career
2 In wrestling
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References

[edit] Career

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 that he had started 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 was on August 15, 1977 when he wrestled NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race to a 30 minute draw. In late 1981, David left Texas and struck out on his own, heading to Florida and competing as a heel until July 1982. During his stay in Florida, David met and became great frends with Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin, convincing Garvin to come to WCCW in Texas in early 1983 and they created an angle for a feud between them, which culminated with David winning the held-up WCCW Texas State Title at The Tarrant County Convention Center on July 4, 1983. As a result of David's victory, Garvin and Sunshine were forced to serve as David's valets for one day, with the results of that day being broadcast on the WCCW weekly show. David won the Missouri State Heavyweight belt from Ric Flair on September 16, 1983, holding the championship until losing it to Harley Race on January 6, 1984. Many within the industry believe that David's reign with the belt was his final step to winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as the NWA Championship Committee allegedly voted in January 1984 for David to win it from Ric Flair in March or April of that year.

An angle between David and Ric Flair was started when David battled Flair at Reunion Arena on December 25, 1983 and Flair retained the NWA World Championship. Immediately afterwards, on December 31, 1983, on the NWA television broadcast, Ric Flair did an interview where he commented on how Mike Von Erich was not a good wrestler and he could beat Mike in 60 seconds with one hand tied behind his back. In an explosive 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 didn't 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 WCCW Wrestling Star Wars at The Terrant County Convention Center in Ft. Worth, Texas on January 30, 1984. Flair was unable to pin Mike in the 10 minutes and as a result, David won the challenge. A week later on February 6, 1984 in Ft. Worth, in what would turn out to be his last interview, David Von Erich expressed his happiness over Mike lasting 10 minutes with Ric Flair and said that now he (David) would get to name every single stipulation in David's return match with Flair. The big match was to be held sometime in about April 1984, after David was to return to Texas at the end of February and he and Flair would have a chance to build the match up even more. David then boarded a plane on February 7, 1984 for Japan.

David died during a tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling on February 10, 1984, with many theories about what caused his death being proposed for many years after. The most popular theory suggests that David died of a drug overdose, ^[1] as Ric Flair had mentioned this theory in his autobiography, claiming that Bruiser Brody (the Von Erich's long-time friend) removed the evidence. The Von Erichs however claimed that David's death was a heart attack, caused by ruptured intestines resulting from acute enteritis. In the documentary Heroes of World Class: The Story of the Von Erichs and The Rise and Fall of World Class Championship Wrestling, Kevin Von Erich and former referee David Manning both attested to the heart attack theory, as they claimed that the autopsy supported the myocardial infarction. Manning and Von Erich also claimed that David had been complaining about a pain in his stomach prior to his excursion to Japan. On May 6, 1984, David's brother Kerry defeated Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Texas Stadium.^[1] It was a tribute to David, but the NWA only allowed a brief title reign for Kerry, as he lost the title back to Flair 18 days later during an All Japan Pro Wrestling show in Yokosuka, Japan on May 24, 1984. On an interesting note, the beautiful blue ring robe that Kerry wore on May 6, 1984 for his match against Ric Flair that said "In Memory of David" on the back was only worn during the time that Kerry won and held the NWA World Championship. When Kerry lost that belt on May 24, he never wore that robe again.