ME says booze, cocaine detected in Von Erich autopsy He has won awards from press associations in several states, including a General Excellence award from the Georgia Press Association while sports editor at The Statesboro Herald. Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 February 18, 1993),[1][2] better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. I am into page 2 and havent went further. This is a story of a once-promising wrestling star whose life spiraled out of control until he felt there was nothing left to live for. While he still had his chiseled body and big smile, there was something different, something missing. In fact, outside of Kerry and Kevin, no other Von Erich brother lived to see the age of 30. Among other accolades, he was a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion,[7] four-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion,[8] making him an overall five-time world champion and one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion. His youngest son Jack died when he was six, electrocuting himself in an accident via a power line at a trailer park. He revealed for the first time that his son's right foot had been amputated but had not prevented him from wrestling. Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? In October 1991, Von Erich renewed his old rivalry with Ric Flair, being among the first names to face him in the ring after the NWA World Champion joined the WWF that August. His depression wouldn't subside, and he was heading down a very dark path. He allowed me to think Id made him change his mind, but I feared it was only lip service. The story of the Von Erich family is a tragic one. Its a story told many a time, a tale of a cursed family that rose to wrestling fame in the heyday of the sport, only to be destroyed by substance abuse, injuries and depression. After an absence of two months following the real life breakdown of his marriage and subsequent divorce, Von Erich returned to action following WrestleMania VIII and defeated Marc Roberts on the April 18, 1992, episode of Superstars. Texas, crashing into the back of a police car while trying to pass a truck on a Both of the players involved in this story would unfortunately find tragic ends: Warrior succumbed to a heart attack mere hours after appearing on a WWE television show in 2014, and Kerry Von Erich would take his own life in 1993, another casualty in his familys horribly sad legacy. World Class withdrew from the USWA soon thereafter, but without Kerry, manager Gary Hart, and lack of television and revenues, World Class ceased operations three months later. But even after that, Von Erich went on to the WWE, debuting as the Texas Tornado and getting into high-profile feuds with other gifted grapplers, such as Mr. It was a tag team match in the GWF at the Sportatorium on which Kerry and Chris Adams lost via disqualification to Johnny Mantell and Black Bart. admit that he was wrestling without a foot, despite rumors about it circulating 24) wins the Royal Rumble Match", "Ric Flair (spot No. The story was that his ankle had been broken and fused into a position where it could not move. The injury required doctors to insert pins into bone in his foot. They helped redefine wrestling by implementing their unique take on the profession, and their contributions to the sport can be felt to this very day. He was preceded in death by his Mike had overdosed on sleeping pills, leaving his family members to mourn the loss of another Von Erich. Photos like this always haunt me - similar to the last pics of Benoit and Robin Williams with fans. In reality, the NWA only allowed Kerry a short reign, and was told to drop the belt to Flair before the Night of Champions encounter on May 29 between Flair and Ricky Steamboat. On December 28, 1980, his first NWA American Heavyweight Championship reign came after he defeated Gino Hernandez for the vacant title. He would go on to receive a prosthetic foot, and even wrestled with it on. [2], Most of Kerry's fame was made in Texas' World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he was nicknamed "The Modern Day Warrior", a reference to his entrance music ("Tom Sawyer" by Rush).