Date: 02/14	9:20 PM
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Chris Nelson has hit us up with another installment in his series on the history of UK wrestling and this one pays tribute to 'Gentleman' Chris Adams. Thanks Chris and keep 'em coming!

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“Gentleman” Chris Adams

Perhaps remembered for the manner in which he died more than his in ring and other sporting achievements, or his influences that still play a significant part in the modern wrestling scene, Gentleman Chris Adams remains one of the most controversial figures in the world of professional wrestling. Noted among modern fans as the man who introduced a young Steve Williams, BKA Steve Austin to professional wrestling however, he remains an underappreciated but important part of the impact that the UK has had on sports entertainment.

Born on February 10th 1955 in Rugby, Warwickshire in the South West of England, Christopher Adams was an active youngster. He and his younger brother Neil participated in several sports both for their school and local club sides, including rugby, cricket, football (soccer) and amateur wrestling. These athletic beginnings served Chris well when at the age of 11 he started training and competing in the sport that would give him his break in the sporting world, Judo. Soon becoming a devoted student of Judo, Chris gave up other sports and trained exclusively in that discipline for 14 years, scaling the heights of world competition. He remains one of the youngest competitors to ever win national and world championships, and was privileged to be picked as part of the British Olympic squad for the 1976 Montreal games, although he never actually competed at the Olympics and was primarily used as a training partner. Even later on, when he had begun to make his name in the world of professional wrestling Chris` knowledge as a black belt was sought after, and he acted as an advisor to the British squad at the 1984 games in Los Angeles. Chris also had other diverse talents away from wrestling, an intelligent man, he held several qualifications in architecture.

The world of professional wrestling loves guys who have achieved success in other athletic fields (just ask good ol` Jim Ross!), and Chris was introduced to promoter Max Crabtree in 1978 by mutual friend Jackie Turpin who had links in both the boxing and wrestling world. Crabtree entrusted him to his brother Shirley, BKA Big Daddy who, along with Tony Sinclair, gave him basic training. Surprisingly, at a time when “paying your dues” was still an important part of climbing the ladder in wrestling, Chris was soon put into matches with only his basic training. Marketed as “Judo” Chris Adams, his martial arts skills helped him put on enjoyable, athletic contests. Chris was also teamed on screen with a man whose skills he had often admired, Dynamite Kid. Dynamite mentored him during the brief time they teamed together, helping Chris to gain a greater understanding of the psychology and timing of a wrestling match. He also came under the tutelage of one Dave “Fit” Finlay, who will of course be known to modern audiences, helping to give Chris a rounded knowledge of the wrestling business. Chris enjoyed moderate success in the UK during his early wrestling career, winning the British Commonwealth tag titles with UK legend Marty Jones and taking the British Light Heavyweight belt from Marc “Rollerball” Rocco.

Although the dates are not well documented, it was during the late 1970s that Chris married Jeannie Clark, perhaps more commonly known by the name given to her by Dusty Rhodes in WCW, “Lady Blossom”. Jeannie began to make appearances as Chris` valet/manager during his singles bouts in the UK. Jeannie herself has a legacy in the world of wrestling, as she later married Billy Jack Haynes, although Haynes stated in his shoot interview with RF video that this was only a marriage of convenience, to help Chris and Jeannie so she could get a visa to stay in the USA. More famously of course she later married Chris Adam’s protégé Steve Austin and was the one who came up with the “Stone Cold” moniker. Chris and Jeannie had a daughter named Jade together, who was later adopted by Steve Austin with Chris’ blessing.

Chris’ past in Judo was significant in his move to America, as he was contacted in 1980 by US Judo legends, wrestlers and wrestling promoters, Mike and Gene LeBell who ran shows out of the famed Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Their NWA-affliated promotion had such famous alumni as Freddie Blassie, The Sheik Ed Farhat and Roddy Piper. Chris would be one of the last of the big names to come out of that promotion, after the LeBell’s stopped running shows in 1982, but not before he saw gold there too. The promotion was on its last legs but could still boast Chris as a big name, as he won the NWA Americas Heavyweight title, and the NWA Americas tag team title twice, once with Tom Prichard, and once with Reno Rigsby, and the NWA Television/“Beat the Champion” title twice. He also wore the WWF/UWA Light Heavyweight belt while with NWA Los Angeles, beating Pedro Aguayo for the title during a tour of Mexico, although this reign was largely ignored by the WWF, as were many big names who won the Light Heavyweight title at that time.

As things wound down in Los Angeles, Chris was also often booked for Pacific Northwest wrestling by Don Owen, operating out of Portland. Portland was a short, but highly important chapter in his career, as it gave him his first introduction to backstage politics. Chris had not been wrestling in the UK long enough to come face to face with this sort of interaction, and was protected by the LeBell brothers in LA, but now a name in the business, and without the protection from the higher ups, he was thrown in at the deep end. As mentioned earlier however, Chris was an intelligent man, and soon found his way, forming friendships with several wrestlers, namely Matt Bourne and Rick Martel among others. Unfortunately, along with this, Chris soon learned to manipulate and play people off against one-another, a character trait which would later punctuate his private life, and combined with a fiery edge, lead to several fallings out and ultimately his death.

In 1982, with NWA Los Angeles closing its doors, Chris began touring the UK, Europe, Japan and Mexico more regularly, and he was in fact considering a move back to England, but another opportunity was to present itself, as World Class Championship Wrestling, home of the famous Von Erichs, came calling. Fritz offered Chris a contract which began the most successful chapter of his career. Taking the “Gentleman” suffix, he made his debut for the promotion in April of 1983 at the Sportatorium in Dallas, wrestling twice on the same card.

Presented as a clean cut babyface, Chris got over with the fans quickly, and was pushed high up the card, becoming almost immediately involved with the Von Erichs in storyline terms. In a segment with Bill Mercer, Chris was formally introduced to the WCCW fans as a “pen pal” of Kevin Von Erich, and an honorary Von Erich, which was praise indeed. Booked to win his first eleven matches in World Class, it took a match with the Ugandan giant Kamala to take away his streak. Often getting pops as loud as those for the Von Erich boys, he was also involved in some six and eight man matches in the famous Von Erich/Freebirds feud. He regularly teamed with Kevin, and as a spin off from the Von Erichs and the Freebirds, began to feud with Jimmy Garvin, with Jeannie also often getting involved. This led to one of the first ever mixed tag matches, as Chris and Jeannie began to cut their own swathe in the business. In October of 1983, Chris disguised himself as the “Masked Avenger” and win a shot at the NWA American Heavyweight championship, a belt he later won at the first time of asking on Thanksgiving night that same year. The feud with Jimmy Garvin finally concluded in July of 1984 after Chris won a “Loser Leaves Town” match.

1984 was also the year that Jeannie and Chris divorced. Like the details of their marriage, the reasons are not clearly documented, and the split appeared to be on relatively good terms as Chris and Jeannie stayed together in an on-screen capacity, and as mentioned previously, it was Chris who requested Billy Jack Haynes marry Jeannie so that she and their daughter could stay in the US. However, without wishing to speculate or turn into a gossip column, evidence that later came to light about Chris’ conduct in his private life, particularly when involving women, suggests there was more behind the end of the marriage than is at first clear. Indeed this is given further credence as Chris married his second wife Toni, only months after the divorce.

Following a brief break from World Class while he helped the British Olympic team in LA, Chris returned to television in August, “hiring” heel manager Gary Hart. In September of the same year, after much teasing, Chris himself turned heel, hitting the superkick on tag partner Kevin Von Erich, and leaving the ring while their opponents beat him down. Their was a distinctly mixed reaction to Chris’ heel turn, as fans were reluctant to boo someone they had cheered so readily since his debut. To try and solve this problem, Fritz made the angle fat more physical than was previously planned. Kevin told Chris that if he fired Hart as manager, all would be forgiven. In response, Chris hit Kevin with a wooden chair. However things did not go entirely to plan, as the chair broke in two, leaving Kevin with heavy bleeding and a concussion. The return of the angle had Kevin hitting Chris with a similar chair. Once again the chair broke, and this time, a piece of wood fractured off and lodged in Chris’ nose, dangerously close to his eye, which resulted in the angle being nixed, due to the risk to both Chris and Kevin. Fans remained unsure on Chris’ heel turn, until later in the year when he teamed with Jake Roberts and Gino Hernandez against the Von Erichs, and won the WCCW 6 Man tag team belts, which elicited chants of “Chris is a traitor” from the crowd.

1984 held another small but significant event in the world of wrestling, as a young Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall were briefly associated with World Class. Chris took a role in mentoring both young guys. It is interesting to watch a heel Chris Adams in action from this period, and then watch a Scott Hall or Shawn Michaels match, as so many of the cocky mannerisms shown by Chris were clearly adapted by the two rookies. They both took note of Chris’ backstage activities too, as many of the Cliq’s backstage manoeuvres were straight from Chris’ Portland playbook. Chris also allowed Shawn to use the superkick, which of course has been his signature move for many years, leaving his thumbprint on the industry long after he had been forgotten by the majority of the fans.

Early in 1985, Chris, in storyline, fired Gary Hart, but did not immediately turn face. His feud with the Von Erichs had put him at the very top of the mountain in World Class, and he began feuding with nearly every top name in the promotion. Laying the pattern for many modern “tweeners”, Chris was cheered when facing most competitors, but booed when coming up against any of the Von Erichs. After going solo without Hart, he also changed is demeanour slightly, signing autographs for fans again, and not acting like an out and out heel when interviewed. Chris also during this period had a series of matches with Ric Flair for the NWA title, demonstrating the heights he was scaling. During one of these matches, he actually pinned Flair for a visible 3 count, but One Man Gang had distracted the referee resulting in the count not being made. Chris also made his second major impact on the move sets of today, becoming one of the first western wrestlers to use the sharpshooter, called the “superstar lock”, often using it as an effective reversal to Flair’s figure four.

Rather than turning face once again off this momentum, Chris was paired with Gino Hernandez, to form the Dynamic Duo, the second incarnation of that tag team. They had two WCCW World Tag Team title runs, the second time beating Kerry and Kevin Von Erich to a huge heat reaction from the crowd. To add to their heel antics, Chris began to use another gimmick to maintain crowd heat. Following a win, the Duo would get hair clippers and shave the head of the fallen baby face team. This gimmick of course was later used by Brutus Beefcake in the WWF, another signature left on the business by Chris Adams. In World Class this angle led to a showdown between the Dynamic Duo and Kevin and Kerry Von Erich, in a Lumberjack Hair vs. Hair match in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Kerry pinned Chris and the Duo has their heads shaved in the ring. After competing under masks while their hair grew back, they split on screen and began what was due to be a long running feud. During a tag title defence against Kevin and Kerry, Gino Hernandez refused to tag into the match leaving Adams to get beaten down. Following the match, Chris slapped Hernandez. The Duo later had another in-ring confrontation following an interview with Hernandez, where Gino got the better of Chris, which led to a famous match between the two at the Convention Center in Fort Worth. Here the loser would once again lose their hair, this time by use of the “Freebird’s Hair Cream”. Chris was firmly the face in the match, the crowd vociferously behind him and against Hernandez. Chris dominated the early exchanges, but rather than going for the pin, Chris continued the attack, getting (kayfabe) retribution for Hernandez’ betrayal. Following a brutal looking piledriver, the referee remonstrated with Chris. Hernandez took his heel opportunity and threw a dark liquid into Chris’ eyes “blinding” him. The ref disqualified Hernandez, and Chris was helped from the ring. Such was the strength of kayfabe, and the level the fans were caught up in the angle, several of them followed Chris as he was taken home, to see if he truly was blinded.

To sell his injury, and to give Chris time off to visit family in the UK, he took some time away from the ring, with the feud due to resume upon his return to action. Sadly however, this never took place, as Gino Hernandez was found in Dallas as a result of a cocaine overdose. Chris was in England at the time, having filmed an angle where he was helped to a car by his wife with his eyes bandaged before leaving. Whilst at home, Chris was questioned by Scotland Yard regarding Hernandez` death which was initially treated as a murder, but was not considered a suspect. The death was eventually ruled as suicide.

Chris returned to action in May of 1986, wearing an eye patch while wrestling for WCCW and Gary Hart’s Texas All-Star promotion, (although he did remove the patch in TASW, before he did in WCCW). He was entered into an angle with Rick Rude, where he won his only World Heavyweight title in World Class in July of that same year. The reign, although successful was short lived however when legal troubles between Chris and World Class erupted, and Chris left the promotion while still carrying the belt. This was explained on screen that he had lost the belt to Black Bart in LA, but this match had actually never taken place. Chris leaving WCCW was the end of the high times for both his own career, which would never reach the same peaks, but also, as noted in the DVD The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class, spelled the beginning of the end for that promotion, as they lost their major draw outside of the Von Erich boys, who of course were beset by their own problems, and the promotion began losing out to the rapidly growing WWF.

Chris’ bad behaviour outside the ring had never really been visible previously, but towards the end of his tenure with World Class, Chris was arrested for head-butting a flight attendant on a journey home from Puerto Rico. He had apparently become aggressive while drunk and informed he would not be served any more alcohol, and it was only being restrained by Kevin Von Erich that stopped him from doing anything that would have resulted in a punishment worse than the ninety day jail sentence and $500 fine that was imposed on him.

Late in 1986, Chris joined rival promotion the Universal Wrestling Federation. Once again he was booked high up the card almost immediately upon arriving, and won the promotion’s Tag Team titles with Terry Taylor, before turning that into a violent feud angle. Unable to find a regular home promotion, Chris toured around between Florida, Georgia, the WWA before promoting a few cards of his own under the name L&A promotions, with Tom Lance providing the finance behind the venture, before returning to World Class in 1988.

As well as wrestling for World Class, Chris started advertising his own wrestling school, following up on the influence he had helping other young wrestlers over the years. It was of course at this time, Chris met a young man named Steve Williams who was looking to learn the ropes in the wrestling business. Chris saw the athletic, enthusiastic, blonde haired guy, and knew that he could be the perfect advert for the school if he made it big. This young man is of course now known as Stone Cold Steve Austin, which on the face of it seems a huge endorsement for Chris Adams as a trainer, however this is not strictly the case, as stated by Steve Austin in the book “The Stone Cold Truth”.

Chris taught Steve good fundamentals, how to bump, how to put on holds and basic wrestling manoeuvres but didn’t clue him into the ins and out of the business. As Steve himself put it when talking about his first match, and his developing relationship with Chris;

“Was I ready? Not really. I had just been going to this wrestling school, learning a couple of reversals and a couple of moves. You need to know a lot more than that to be a professional wrestler. Chris Adams had been real nice to me up until that point. Later I learned he hadn’t prepared me the way I should have been prepared. At the time, Adams seemed charming and very intelligent to me. I look at him now and realise he was a con man deluxe.
When I broke in, hell, I didn’t know what kayfabe was… it was just gibberish to me.
Chris didn’t tell us “This is a work a performance, you have to protect your partner”…He wasn’t exposing the business, he was just teaching us the basics of how to apply one hold or another…I was a mark, a straight up mark. I didn’t know any better…
I liked him well enough when I first started but once I got going, he screwed me over too many times. He was such a picture of insincerity to everybody he ever met. Nobody liked the guy. He was a con man period…
…The guy I came to respect less and less as I pursued a career in wrestling was Chris Adams…
…Ed Watt booked me on a few shows.
All of a sudden, I got a call from Chris Adams. He said, “Steve, I need you for some shows on these dates.”
I said, “Hold on Chris, I’m already booked with Ed.”
He said, “What do you mean?”
I said, “Chris I’m already booked with Ed.”
He said, “You’re not going to work my shows?”
I said, “I’m already booked with Ed!”
He goes, “Well, you know I did get you in WCW.”
That was crap. I hadn’t gone to WCW yet and they hadn’t even called me. He was just saying, “Hey, I think they’re going to call you,” implying that he did something for me. They called me way later, and when they did it had nothing to do with Adams.
But he repeated, “Hey, I did get you into WCW.” And I was like, “I can’t believe you’re holding this crap over my head!” He did train me for what it was worth, and now he was putting a guilt trip on me.
Then he said, “Look, Steve, if you work my shows, I’ll pay you double what Ed Watt was going to pay you.”
Money wasn’t the thing, it was that he made me feel guilty. So I called Ed and said, “Ed, this is Steve. Man, Chris Adams is giving me a really hard time about working these shows for you. Do you mind if I work his shows?”…
…I was being blackmailed into doing it…
…I worked Chris Adams’ shows but when I got his check in the mail it only had a hundred and twenty-five dollars written on it.
I called him and said, “Chris, what’s the deal?”
He said, “What do you mean?”
I said, “You told me you were going to pay me double what Ed was paying me. Ed was going to pay me a hundred and fifty.”
All of a sudden, I heard a click. Chris Adams had hung up on me like a little chicken.
I couldn’t freakin’ believe it…it wasn’t about the double money. It was Adams putting the guilt trip on me.”

This might seem extremely underhanded, and certainly the money and blackmail are sad indictment as to the character of the man Chris Adams, but the lack of basic training given is actually no surprise, given his own introduction to the business, learning as he went along, and passing over the formative years other wrestlers of that generation had learned from.

In WCCW, Chris revisited his UWF feud with Terry Taylor, before teaming with Steve Williams, now billed as Steve Austin but despite still being popular with the Sportatorium fans failed to scale the heights he had previously. With World Class’ popularity and success waning in the wake of the WCW/NWA and WWF however, Chris and the other World Class alumni had to work in other promotions to fill their schedule. Chris and Steve Austin took their team to USWA followed by Steve Austin turning heel on his mentor, creating a memorable feud which provided a high point for both men, for Steve one of his first, and Chris one of his last in major wrestling promotion.

In 1990 World Class closed its famous doors, and Chris moved on, first competing in the Pat O’ Connor memorial tag team tournament alongside Norman Smiley, where they lost in the first round, putting over the Mexican duo of Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. Adams received a huge reaction from the fans at this show, as they remembered his successes in WCCW, the UWF and USWA. This high however would be soon bought down to earth.
 
1991 held more controversies for Chris, as two DUI convictions led to him being placed on probation. It was also revealed that in 1989 he had been arrested after his wife Toni had been severely beaten by Chris in a drunken rage which had resulted in a years probation, as his personal problems had seemingly begun to spiral out of control, as also illustrated by his conduct when dealing with Steve Austin as shown previously, who was not alone in being screwed out of money by him.

Chris split his time throughout the 90s between several independent promotions most notably the GWF. Feuding with Rod Price, fellow WCCW alum Iceman Parsons and then teaming with Kerry Von Erich. This team came to a sad end however when Kerry committed suicide in 1993. Chris cut an emotional promo in front of the GWF crowd stating that in his heart “Kerry would never die”.

Chris also made appearances for Jim Crockett’s 1995 version of the NWA, and the AWF which promoted under European wrestling rules. He also co-promoted a highly successful tour of Nigeria and ran a few promotions of his own in Dallas, named Big D Pro Wrestling and Freestyle Wrestling Federation. A career that had contained heights of NWA title shots was seemingly coming to a quiet end, punctuated only by public controversy. There was however to be one more high in Chris’ storied life.

In 1998 WCW came calling to add the veteran English worker to their huge roster. Amazingly this was the first time he had been contracted to one of the “big two”. Involved in a few angles, Chris teamed with and feuded with Steven (William) Regal, and also had a series of matches with Glacier over the superkick which they were both using as a finisher. His World Class days were bought up in a feud with Chip Minton who was billed as “Mr World Class”. Chris would often come out wearing his Judo gear, beating Minton with a head scissors reminiscent of that used by Kevin Von Erich. Adams was eventually teamed again with Regal, and fellow Brit, Dave Taylor in a mini stable called the Blue Bloods. As a Blue Blood, Chris began working as a heel for the first time since 1986, a move he was praised widely for, although he still elicited a huge ovation in Dallas at house shows. The Blue Bloods were short lived however due to real life animosity with Regal. Regal, who had his own well documented drink and drug problems, was working hard to kick his habits and resented Chris who openly flaunted his drink and drug habits in the locker room. Regal was well liked backstage for his efforts and Chris’ “in your face” attitude was met with understandable hostility. Away from the team, Chris was de-pushed and used only sparingly as a jobber. Unhappy at his treatment, Chris asked for his release, which was granted in late 1999.

Following his release, Chris returned to Texas as a part time promoter and wrestler, working with NWA Southwest. He was apparently considering a move to Florida to help set up the XWF promotion with Jimmy Hart and Hulk Hogan when events in his personal life took a turn for the worse.

Chris’ fall from grace and demise was swift and tragic. Long divorced from Toni, he was in a destructive 4 month relationship with Linda Kaphengst. The pair were found in April 2000, unconscious at a friend’s home, resulting from an overdose of GHB and alcohol. Chris recovered but Kaphengst died later in hospital. Not long after this, Chris married his third wife Karen, with whom the relationship was said to be fractured very early into the relationship. In early 2001, Chris was indicted on a Manslaughter charge resulting from Kaphengst’s death, which may have seen him go to jail for a potential 20 year sentence, however he did not live long enough to reach trial.

In October 2001, a drunken brawl with a friend took a nasty turn, and Chris was shot dead. When the case came to trial, the man claimed self-defence, and was acquitted of all charges. Christopher Adams was 46.

Chris Adams’ legacy is perhaps threefold. His athletic life prior to his wrestling career was glittering, and perhaps this should be held up as the example of what Chris was capable of when healthy and addiction free. His in ring achievements make him one of, if not the most successful wrestler to come out of the UK and make an impact on the world scene, and more than that, his innovations leave an undeniable thumbprint on the wrestling business. As with so many wrestlers who have died young however, there is the negative side to Chris, his personal life. The drug addictions, the violence, the constant playing people off one another and emotional blackmail and his disgraceful treatment of women taint the memory of “Gentleman” Chris Adams.  

For UK wrestlers, and fans alike, Chris’ in ring achievements should be heralded as an excellent example of how to tell a story in a match and an angle, and how to work as either face or heel, and his private life held up as a “what not to do” example on personal conduct. It is sad that so many will remember Chris Adams as Jim Ross described him;

“A con man who abused women and had a nasty temper….a manipulator”

when his legacy could have been such a positive one, but perhaps it is better at the end of it all that he remains one of the forgotten men of UK wrestling outside of smart fans, so as to not sour many new fans to the business.

Chris Adams remains as controversial in death as he did in life.