Fritz Von Erich Explained

Fritz Von Erich
Birth Name:	Jack Barton Adkisson
Family:	Von Erich
Names:	Fritz Von Erich Tetsu no Tsume (Iron Claw) Jack Adkisson^[1]
Height:	6 ft 4 in^[2]
Weight:	260 lb
Birth Date:	August 16, 1929
Birth Place:	Jewett, Texas, U.S.
Death Date:	^[3]
Death Place:	Lake Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Death Cause:	Brain and lung cancer
Children:	6, including Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris
Billed:	Denton, Texas Berlin, Germany
Trainer:	Stu Hart
Debut:	1953
Retired:	1982

Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champion and a 6-time NWA United States Champion. He was the owner of World Class Championship Wrestling.^[4]

Football career

Adkisson attended Southern Methodist University, where he threw discus and played football. He has been reported to have played with the now defunct Dallas Texans of the NFL (not the AFL team which became the Kansas City Chiefs),^[5] but this is not true.^[6] He was signed as a guard but was cut.^[7] He then tried the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Professional wrestling career

Early career and training

While in Edmonton, he met wrestler and trainer Stu Hart, and Hart decided to train and book him in his Klondike Wrestling promotion, naming him Fritz Von Erich and teaming him with "brother" Waldo Von Erich as a pair of "evil German" brothers. Adkisson's oldest son Jack Barton Adkisson Jr. was born September 21, 1952. He died in 1959 after an accidental electrocution and drowning, and Jack Sr. stopped traveling to the east coast, allowing former partner Waldo to use the Von Erich name in the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

1960s

Despite Jack Jr.'s death, Adkisson continued to travel and wrestle. Adkisson won both versions of the AWA World title in 1963. His major circuit was Sam Muchnick's NWA territorial stronghold in St. Louis, Missouri. He wrestled there until 1967, when he voluntarily left the territory after losing a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against then-champion Gene Kiniski.^[8] In the late 1960s, with Muchnick's backing, Adkisson became the promoter for the Dallas area, effectively overseeing the Houston and San Antonio territories, as well.^[8]

Japan

Adkisson was a part of rebuilding Japanese wrestling after the stabbing death of Rikidōzan. He became a star due to his feuds with Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, and his "Iron Claw" hold, which became one of the most popular wrestling moves in Japan.

Retirement

In 1982, he held his first retirement match against King Kong Bundy in the newly renamed World Class Championship Wrestling promotion, based in Dallas. The promotion was known for its high production values, use of entrance music and the use of television syndication. He wrestled his last match on November 27, 1986, defeating Abdullah the Butcher by disqualification in Dallas. By the end of the 1980s, the promotion's talent pool was thin and it was eventually merged with Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association to create the United States Wrestling Association in 1989.

Personal life and death

See also: Von Erich family. Adkisson married Doris J. Smith on June 23, 1950.^[9] Together, they had six sons, including Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris. The couple divorced on July 21, 1992.

Adkisson died of brain and lung cancer at his home in Lake Dallas, Texas on September 10, 1997.^[10]

Championships and accomplishments

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • NWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Karl Krupp
• Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit Version) (3 times)
• Maple Leaf Wrestling
  • NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Karl Von Schober (2) and Gene Kiniski (1)
• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time) - with Waldo Von Erich
• NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club / American Wrestling Association
  • AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version) (1 time) - with Hans Hermann
  • World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha) (2 times)
• NWA Western States Sports
  • NWA International Tag Team Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time) - with Killer Karl Krupp
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version) (4 times)
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time) - with Gene Kiniski^[11]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 207 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[12]
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2012
• Southwest Sports, Inc / NWA Big Time Wrestling / World Class Championship Wrestling
  • NWA American Heavyweight Championship (13 times)^{[13] [14]}
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (7 times) - with Waldo Von Erich (2), Billy Red Lyons (1), Grizzly Smith (1), Fred Curry (1), Dan Miller (1), and Dean Ho (1)^{[15] [16]}
  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (5 times)^{[17] [18]}
  • NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^{[19] [20]}
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Texas version) (3 times)
  • NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (1 time) - with Kevin & Mike Von Erich
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas Version) (2 times) - with Killer Karl Kox (1) and Duke Keomuka (1)^{[21] [22]}
• Stampede Wrestling
  • Alberta Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Lou Sjoberg^[23]
• St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2007
• WWE
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1985) Usage of Mike Von Erich near death to sell tickets
  • Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1986) Exploitation of the death of Gino Hernandez in a video package about Chris Adams blindness angle
  • Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1987) Exploitation of the death of Mike Von Erich
  • Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1988) Fake heart attack angle
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

See also

• List of notable brain tumor patients
• Von Erich family

Further reading

• Book: Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins. 2000. 0-06-103101-1.

Notes and References

1. Web site: World Class Memories: Results 1953. John Dananay/Michael Moody/ISE Web Productions. December 9, 2013. July 30, 2013.
2. Web site: Fritz von Erich « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. cagematch.net.
3. Web site: Von Erichs' Patriarch Dead At 68. Classic Wrestling Articles. August 20, 2013. August 16, 2015.
4. Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.129)
5. Web site: Today in Texas History: Texas gets its first NFL team. Dunham, Richard. July 9, 2014. January 24, 2010.
6. Web site: NFL PLAYERS. search historical players, Jack Adkisson. NFL.com.
7. Book: Hornbaker, Tim. National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling. 2007. ECW Press. 242. 978-1-55022-741-3.
8. Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, January 9, 2008
9. http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/31992?c=search&first=jack&last=adkisson Texas Divorces
10. Web site: Fritz Von Erich dead at 68 . usurped . https://archive.today/20120722031857/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/2010/06/26/14526636.html . July 22, 2012 . SLAM! Wrestling . September 11, 1997 . May 30, 2007.
11. Web site: National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Titles [W. Texas] ]. Wrestling-Titles . February 21, 2017.
12. Web site: PWI 500 of the PWI Years. August 28, 2012. Willy Wrestlefest. April 1, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160401195630/http://willywrestlefest.fr/Ressources/PWI/PWI500_PWI_Years_2003.htm. dead.
13. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will . Wrestling Title Histories . Archeus Communications . Texas: NWA / World Class American Heavyweight Title [Von Eric]. 265–266 . 2000 . 0-9698161-5-4.
14. Web site: NWA United States Heavyweight Title (1967-1968/05) - American Heavyweight Title (1968/05-1986/02) . Wrestling-Titles . December 26, 2019.
15. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will . Wrestling Title Histories . (Dallas) Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [Fritz Von Erich] . Archeus Communications . 2006 . 978-0-9698161-5-7.
16. Web site: N.W.A. American Tag Team Title . January 19, 2020 . Wrestling-Titles.com.
17. Book: Royal Duncan & Gary Will . Wrestling Title Histories . (Texas) Dallas: NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title . 271 . Archeus Communications . 2006. 4th . 0-9698161-5-4.
18. Web site: Texas Brass Knucks Title [East Texas] ]. December 22, 2019 . Wrestling-Titles.
19. • Book: Will . Gary . Royal . Duncan . Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present . Archeus Communications . 2000 . Pennsylvania . Texas: NWA Texas Heavyweight Title [Von Erich] . 0-9698161-5-4 . 268–269.
20. Web site: NWA Texas Heavyweight Title . March 30, 2017 . Wrestling-Titles.
21. Book: Royal . Duncan . Gary . Will . Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present . Pennsylvania . 2000 . Archeus Communications . 0-9698161-5-4 . Texas: NWA World Tag Team Title [Siegel, Boesch and McLemore].
22. Web site: National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title [E. Texas] ]. Wrestling-Titles . February 21, 2017.
23. Web site: Alberta Tag Team Title. 3 June 2019. 4 April 2011. Wrestling-Titles.com.