| David Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | D.J. Peterson Dave Peterson |
| Born | July 17, 1959 St. Joseph, Missouri, United States |
| Died | May 25, 1993 (aged 33) |
| Trained by | Lord Littlebrook |
| Debut | 1984 |
David W. Peterson (July 17, 1959 – May 25, 1993) was an American professional wrestler, known by his ringname D.J. Peterson, who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1980s in the Universal Wrestling Federation, the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association during its final days, most notably as the last AWA Tag Team Champion with The Trooper.[1]
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Making his debut in 1984, Peterson started wrestling in Texas All-Star Wrestling and in the NWA Central States. During the mid 1980s, Peterson briefly appeared in Fritz von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling defeating Jack Victory on February 7 and Prairie States Wrestling against Ox Baker on July 23 before wrestling in the Mid-South area and, by early 1986, for Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation facing wrestlers such as Gustavo Mendoza [2][3] and, in tag team matches, teamed with Brett Sawyer against Mike Scott and Rick Steiner,[4] the Blade Runners [5] and the Fabulous Freebirds (Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy & Buddy Roberts) in their UWF debut.[6] He also wrestled Bart Sawyer several times, losing to him on May 3 and teamed with Chavo Guerrero against Sawyer and Rick Steiner in the following weeks.
Later that year, he teamed with Todd Champion feuding with the Thunderfoots and faced Big Bubba Rogers and The Warlord and The MOD Squad during October while in Jim Crockett Promotions as well as wrestling Arn Anderson in St. Louis, Missouri on November 16, 1986.
Jumping to the American Wrestling Association in 1987, Peterson fought Super Ninja to a time limit draw at SuperClash II on May 2, 1987.[7] He would also form a team with J.T. Southern, attempting to gain the AWA World Tag Team titles, but ended up coming short.
He then split his time wrestling in several territories during the next two years appearing on the debut television show of Continental Championship Wrestling and had a brief stint in the World Wrestling Federation [8] (primarily being used as a jobber).
Peterson returned to the AWA full time in early 1990 teaming with Brad Rheingans against the Texas Hangmen at SuperClash IV on April 8, 1990 and later to pursued then AWA World Champion Mr. Saito. When Larry Zbyszko regained the title, Peterson was granted title shots although he failed to unseat the World Champion. Shortly thereafter, he formed a tag team with The Trooper which captured the AWA World Tag Team Titles from The Destruction Crew on August 11, 1990. Defending the titles during the rest of the year, Peterson and Trooper would turn out to be the last AWA World Tag Team Champions after the promotion closed.
After the AWA closed in early 1991, Peterson went back to the independents until he died from a motorcycle crash on May 25, 1993.[9][10]