WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 Okay, I want you to start by visualizing two 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:05.900 very specific, very clashing images. All right, 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:08.060 I'm with you. So on the left side of your mind's 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:10.919 eye, picture a gritty leather jacket wearing 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.300 biker. He's from New York. He's got that street 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:15.980 tough swagger. He looks like the kind of guy 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:18.460 who handles his business in a bar fight without 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:21.280 spilling his drink. Okay, got it. Classic tough 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:24.359 guy. Now, on the right side, picture a man in 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:27.300 like a flowing pink dress. Oh, okay. He's wearing 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.460 this garish, clown -like makeup. His hair is 00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:33.000 bleached, platinum blonde. He's holding a bouquet 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:37.859 of flowers and he's delicately spraying perfume 00:00:37.859 --> 00:00:41.200 into the air. It's the ultimate contrast. I mean, 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:42.960 you'd assume we're looking at two completely 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.740 different performers. Exactly. Probably from 00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:46.380 two different decades or maybe even two different 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:48.939 universes. But we aren't. That is the same man. 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:51.219 And essentially, it's the same career, separated 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:53.380 by only a few years. And that's what we're talking 00:00:53.380 --> 00:00:55.859 about today. Today, we are doing a deep dive 00:00:55.859 --> 00:00:58.840 into the life of Keith Adonis Franca, better 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.859 known to the world as Adrian Adonis. It really 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.500 is one of the most drastic character transformations 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:07.019 in professional wrestling history. We've got 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:09.260 a stack of sources here, articles, match records, 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:12.560 biographies that track his rise from a legitimate 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.560 athlete to a tag team specialist, right? A tag 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:17.579 team specialist. And then finally to one of the 00:01:17.579 --> 00:01:21.129 most memorable and. I guess controversial antagonist 00:01:21.129 --> 00:01:23.890 of the 1980s. And honestly, it's a story with 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:26.150 a devastating ending. We're talking about a guy 00:01:26.150 --> 00:01:28.409 who went from being the coolest guy in the room 00:01:28.409 --> 00:01:31.629 to the character everyone paid to hate only for 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:34.090 a tragic accident to cut everything short at 00:01:34.090 --> 00:01:38.109 age 34. It's a heavy one, for sure. But to understand 00:01:38.109 --> 00:01:40.510 the tragedy and to really get why his career 00:01:40.510 --> 00:01:42.750 matters, you have to understand the raw talent 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:45.930 underneath all the costumes. Yeah. Because Adrian 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:48.150 Adonis wasn't just a guy in a suit playing a 00:01:48.150 --> 00:01:50.019 part. So let's start with that raw material. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.319 Before the makeup, before the leather jackets, 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:55.359 who was Keith Frank? Because looking at the adorable 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.780 character later in his career, you know, the 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:00.659 weight gain, the comedy, you might assume he 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:02.680 was just a performance act. Like a prop comic 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:05.400 or something. And that would be a massive mistake. 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:08.280 The sources are all very, very clear on this. 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:11.340 Keith Frank was a shooter. Okay, let's unpack 00:02:11.340 --> 00:02:13.539 that term for anyone who isn't deep in the wrestling 00:02:13.539 --> 00:02:17.449 lingo. A shooter. So in wrestling terms, a shooter 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:19.409 is a guy who can actually handle himself in a 00:02:19.409 --> 00:02:22.490 real fight. For real. For real. If the choreography 00:02:22.490 --> 00:02:25.110 stops and things get real, a shooter is the guy 00:02:25.110 --> 00:02:27.509 who hooks your leg and breaks it. Frankie was 00:02:27.509 --> 00:02:30.870 born in Buffalo, New York in 1953. He was adopted 00:02:30.870 --> 00:02:33.789 and raised by Kenneth and Hortense Frank. And 00:02:33.789 --> 00:02:36.569 right from high school, he was a problem on the 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:38.550 mat. A legitimate amateur wrestler. Oh, yeah. 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.120 He won the Section 6 amateur wrestling title 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.460 in 1970 at Kenmore East High School. So he had 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:46.960 that base. That usually translates to a specific 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:49.319 style in pro wrestling, right? More technical, 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.360 more grappling heavy. He gives you a base of 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:53.800 legitimacy, for sure. You know how to leverage 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.219 your body, how to control weight. But Franka 00:02:56.219 --> 00:02:59.000 had something else. He had this restless energy. 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:01.900 The records show he actually dropped out of high 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:04.639 school because he was, quote, bored. That's a 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.180 telling detail. It suggests a guy who needs high 00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:09.939 stimulation. He's not cut out for a nine to five. 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:13.560 Exactly. And he didn't just sit around. He briefly 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.960 played football in the CFL, the Canadian Football 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.620 League, before pivoting entirely to professional 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:21.719 wrestling. He trained under Fred Atkins, who 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.469 was known for being incredibly tough. And he 00:03:24.469 --> 00:03:27.250 made his debut in 74. Right. Originally wrestling 00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:29.830 under his real name, Keith Franks. But the late 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:32.030 70s is when the persona really starts to click. 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:36.069 He adopts the name Adrian Adonis. And this brings 00:03:36.069 --> 00:03:38.530 us to that first image you mentioned, the biker. 00:03:38.590 --> 00:03:40.669 The leather jacket look. This was in the Pacific 00:03:40.669 --> 00:03:43.449 Northwest Territory. Yes. Pacific Northwest Wrestling. 00:03:43.650 --> 00:03:46.210 And this is a crucial piece of the puzzle because 00:03:46.210 --> 00:03:48.629 of who he meets there. Oh, yeah. He forms a tag 00:03:48.629 --> 00:03:51.650 team with a young, brash Scotsman named Roddy 00:03:51.650 --> 00:03:54.780 Piper. Roddy Piper, the hot rod, maybe one of 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:56.379 the greatest talkers in the history of the business. 00:03:56.580 --> 00:03:58.560 They were young, they were tough, and they were 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.960 building their reputations together, brawling 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:03.020 their way through the territory winning tag titles. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:05.460 I want to put a pin in that relationship because 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:07.680 the dynamic between Adonis and Piper becomes 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.259 deeply ironic and actually quite tragic later 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:14.219 on. But first, Adonis leaves the Northwest. He 00:04:14.219 --> 00:04:17.300 heads to the AWA. the American Wrestling Association. 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:19.800 Which was a huge deal back then, Minneapolis 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:23.300 -based. Huge territory. And this is where Adonis 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:26.120 finds his niche. He wasn't just a solo guy. He 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.519 was arguably one of the best tag team partners 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:31.019 in the business. He just knew how to work with 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:33.779 someone else to make a match great. And he strikes 00:04:33.779 --> 00:04:36.079 gold immediately with a partner who needs no 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:39.509 introduction. Jesse, the body Ventura. The future 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:43.110 governor of Minnesota himself. In 1979, they 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:45.350 formed the East -West Connection. I've always 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:47.829 thought that was such a brilliant, simple marketing 00:04:47.829 --> 00:04:50.990 hook. It's Wrestling 101, but just executed perfectly. 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:54.029 You have Adonis from New York the East. You have 00:04:54.029 --> 00:04:56.310 Ventura Build from California the West. And they 00:04:56.310 --> 00:04:58.610 played up this idea of being the coastal elites, 00:04:58.850 --> 00:05:00.889 right? Totally. They'd come to the Midwest to 00:05:00.889 --> 00:05:02.730 look down on the locals. It just naturally makes 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:04.790 people angry. We're better than you because of 00:05:04.790 --> 00:05:06.889 where we're from. And it worked like a charm. 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:10.029 But here's the interesting insider detail from 00:05:10.029 --> 00:05:13.529 the files. They were awarded the AWA World Tag 00:05:13.529 --> 00:05:17.329 Team Championship on July 20, 1980. They didn't 00:05:17.329 --> 00:05:19.410 actually, you know, win them in the ring. Wait, 00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:21.410 really? They were just handed the belts? How 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:23.610 does that even happen? It's a classic bit of 00:05:23.610 --> 00:05:25.949 wrestling maneuvering. So the champions were 00:05:25.949 --> 00:05:29.579 Vern Gunya and Mad Dog Vashon. But the storyline 00:05:29.579 --> 00:05:32.439 explanation was that Vern Gagne was vacationing 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.920 in Europe and couldn't defend the title. Oh, 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.199 that's brilliant. So the East -West connection 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.639 got the belt by forfeit. That generates instant 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.779 heat from the crowd. You didn't earn it. You 00:05:42.779 --> 00:05:45.519 were given it on a technicality while the hero 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.579 was on vacation. Exactly. It makes the fans desperate 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:51.379 to see someone beat them. They held those belts 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:54.459 for almost a year. And it established the dynamic. 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:58.500 Ventura was the mouthpiece, the charismatic talker. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.100 Adonis was the workhorse. The guy who could go 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:02.839 in the ring. The guy who could go hold for hold 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:04.939 with anyone. So naturally, the big leagues come 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:07.699 calling. The World Wrestling Federation. Yep. 00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:12.040 Late 1981, they debut in the WWF. Oh. And they 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:14.139 didn't start at the bottom either. Adonis was 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:16.319 immediately challenging Bob Backlund for the 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.779 WWF championship and Pedro Morales for the Intercontinental 00:06:19.779 --> 00:06:22.079 title. So he was positioned as a top -tier threat 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.540 right away. Immediately. But the East -West connection 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:27.800 didn't last in the WWF, did it? No, and mostly 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.180 due to physical limitations on Ventura's part. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:33.100 Jesse started suffering from injuries that stopped 00:06:33.100 --> 00:06:35.879 him from wrestling a full schedule. So the team 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:37.860 had to dissolve. This could have been a career 00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:40.959 killer for Adonis. He was the worker of the team, 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:43.259 not the star. Without the mouthpiece, he could 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:46.980 have just faded away. But he pivots. And he pivots 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:50.290 beautifully. He finds a new partner. Dick Murdoch. 00:06:50.410 --> 00:06:53.569 The Texan. So we go from east -west to... A north 00:06:53.569 --> 00:06:57.550 -south connection, of course. Adonis is the north, 00:06:57.689 --> 00:06:59.649 Murdoch is the south. You can see the pattern. 00:06:59.689 --> 00:07:02.529 It's a simple formula. But Adonis made it work 00:07:02.529 --> 00:07:05.589 because he could adapt his style. With Ventura, 00:07:05.629 --> 00:07:08.149 he was the flashy brawler. With Murdoch, who 00:07:08.149 --> 00:07:10.470 was a roughhouse redneck brawler, they became 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:13.709 this incredibly gritty, tough team. But looking 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:16.550 at the timeline, this is 1983, 1984. This is 00:07:16.550 --> 00:07:18.649 where we start to see a physical shift in Adonis, 00:07:18.649 --> 00:07:21.670 right? We do. In the Ventura days, Adonis was 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:24.470 described as muscular, stocky, well -conditioned. 00:07:24.470 --> 00:07:26.589 He looked like an athlete. Yeah. During the North 00:07:26.589 --> 00:07:28.550 -South era, he starts gaining a considerable 00:07:28.550 --> 00:07:30.610 amount of weight. Now, usually in athletics, 00:07:30.810 --> 00:07:33.310 gaining significant weight is the beginning of 00:07:33.310 --> 00:07:35.569 the end. You get slower, you get winded. And 00:07:35.569 --> 00:07:38.509 that's the anomaly of Adrian Adonis. Almost every 00:07:38.509 --> 00:07:41.670 source emphasizes this. Despite the weight gain, 00:07:41.949 --> 00:07:44.889 He retained incredible agility. He was a big 00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:47.189 man who could move. So he could still bump? He 00:07:47.189 --> 00:07:49.610 could still run the ropes? Better than men half 00:07:49.610 --> 00:07:52.810 his size. There are clips of him at 300 pounds 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:54.810 doing drop kicks that hit a guy right in the 00:07:54.810 --> 00:07:58.410 face. It was startling to watch. Wow. And the 00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:01.779 success continued. In April 1984, the North -South 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:04.139 connection defeated Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:07.879 to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship. Just 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:10.180 to pause on that, that means Adonis held major 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:12.339 world tag titles in the two biggest promotions 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.060 of the era with two different partners. It proves 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:17.120 he wasn't just riding Ventura's coattails. He 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.439 was a legitimate anchor for a tag division. But 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.100 then the team splits. Murdoch leaves and we hit 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:25.899 1985. And this is the moment where the story 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:27.959 goes off the rails in the most fascinating way 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.250 possible. The birth of adorable Adrian Adonis. 00:08:31.269 --> 00:08:33.169 Describe this change for me. Because we aren't 00:08:33.169 --> 00:08:35.110 talking about a haircut and new boots. This is 00:08:35.110 --> 00:08:37.289 a complete reinvention. We are talking about 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:39.629 a total deconstruction of his previous persona. 00:08:40.149 --> 00:08:42.549 He stops his weightlifting regimen. He stops 00:08:42.549 --> 00:08:45.570 tanning. He removes all his body hair. He bleaches 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:47.870 his hair platinum blonde. He intentionally made 00:08:47.870 --> 00:08:51.120 himself look... Softer? He committed to becoming 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:54.320 grotesque, in a way. The source describes his 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.159 appearance during this time as pale, soft, rotund, 00:08:57.179 --> 00:08:59.799 and flatty. His weight ballooned to over 350 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:03.039 pounds. That's about 160 kilograms. Yeah, a huge 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.440 amount. Yeah. And the wardrobe? Gone was the 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:07.779 leather jacket. In came the pink wrestling trunks, 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:13.059 scarves, leg warmers. Dresses, enormous hats, 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:16.299 and just clownish amounts of blue eyeshadow and 00:09:16.299 --> 00:09:18.700 rouge. Okay, we have to analyze the why here. 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:21.019 Why would a legitimate tough guy, a shooter, 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:23.080 do this to himself? You have to understand the 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.299 era. This is the mid -80s, the peak of Hulkamania. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.559 The heroes are tan, muscular, superhuman patriots. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.399 To be the ultimate villain, Adonis decided to 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:33.580 be the antithesis of that. He wanted to repulse 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:35.460 the audience. He became everything the macho 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:38.179 culture of the 80s made fun of. Precisely. It 00:09:38.179 --> 00:09:40.059 was a character designed to provoke a visceral 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:42.759 reaction. He started carrying a briefcase that 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.460 said, Relax with Trudy. Relax with Trudy. Who 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:48.360 is Trudy? The sources never clarify. It was just 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.360 this weird, open -ended detail that added to 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:53.120 the mystery. That's hilarious. It didn't matter. 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:55.120 It just added to the persona. And then he started 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.139 carrying an aerosol can called Fragrance. He 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:00.679 would spray it in the ring to purify the air 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:03.159 of the sweaty fans. It's such classic heel work. 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:06.240 You people stink, and I'm fabulous. But there's 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:08.100 a specific narrative beat here that I think is 00:10:08.100 --> 00:10:10.620 brilliant. The transition from the biker to the 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:13.320 adorable one wasn't just abrupt. No. It involved 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:17.299 his old friend Roddy Piper. Yes. In January 1986, 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:20.279 right before the full transformation, there was 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:24.059 a segment on Piper's pit. Adonis actually gives 00:10:24.059 --> 00:10:26.539 his signature leather jacket to Roddy Piper. 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:28.580 That's the jacket Piper wore for years, right? 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:31.490 The iconic one. The very same. It was a symbolic 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:34.490 passing of the torch. He was shedding the tough 00:10:34.490 --> 00:10:37.129 guy's skin and handing it to his friend, leaving 00:10:37.129 --> 00:10:40.110 himself free to fully embrace the adorable character. 00:10:40.389 --> 00:10:43.009 And embrace it he did. He even got his own talk 00:10:43.009 --> 00:10:45.370 show. The Flower Shop. Which replaced Piper's 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:48.929 pit. Right. Piper went on hiatus in mid -1986 00:10:48.929 --> 00:10:52.659 to film a movie. The WWF needed a new interview 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:54.840 segment to drive storylines, so they gave it 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:57.700 to Adonis. They built this set filled with flower 00:10:57.700 --> 00:11:00.879 arrangements. It's visually such a clash. A 350 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:04.639 -pound man in a dress interviewing sweaty wrestlers 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:06.820 among the hydrangeas. And he used it to stir 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:09.860 the pot. He was the backdrop for some huge moments 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:12.919 like Paul Orndorff turning on Hulk Hogan. But 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.220 the real friction started when Roddy Piper was 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:17.059 ready to come back. Because now you have two 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:19.740 talk shows, two alphas. And Piper, who was the 00:11:19.740 --> 00:11:22.580 villain or heel, started getting cheered because 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:25.100 Adonis was so hated. Adonis had become such an 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:27.259 effective antagonist that he turned Roddy Piper 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.779 into a good guy by default. The enemy of my enemy 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:32.440 is my friend. Exactly. It culminated in an ambush. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.159 Adonis, along with cowboy Bob Orton and Don Morocco, 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:39.039 attacked Piper on the flower shop set. Wait, 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:41.879 Bob Orton was involved? Yes. And get this. Bob 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:44.299 Orton started wearing a pink cowboy hat to match 00:11:44.299 --> 00:11:47.000 Adonis. That is incredible commitment to the 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.440 bit. We're a team, so I'm wearing the pink hat. 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:53.159 They beat Piper down, injured his leg, and then 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:56.759 the ultimate humiliation, they covered him in 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:58.779 lipstick. So they didn't just beat him up. They 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:00.559 tried to turn him into Adonis. They tried to 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:04.000 impose that softness on him. It sparked a war. 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:16.399 This all leads to WrestleMania III, 1987. The 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.179 Pontiac Silverdome, 93 ,000 people. And one of 00:12:20.179 --> 00:12:22.639 the main events is Adrian Adonis versus Roddy 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:24.919 Piper. And the stakes were incredibly high. It 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.159 was a hair versus hair match. Which in wrestling 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.840 culture is huge. Losing your hair is a permanent 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.080 mark of shame. Especially for Adonis, whose bleached 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.220 blonde hair was central to the adorable vanity. 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:38.120 It was his crown. So how did the match go down? 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:40.559 It was a brawl. It wasn't a technical masterpiece. 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:43.679 It was a fight. Piper won, but not without controversy. 00:12:44.190 --> 00:12:46.830 Brutus Beefcake interfered to help Piper. After 00:12:46.830 --> 00:12:49.230 the match, Beefcake, who was transitioning into 00:12:49.230 --> 00:12:52.190 a barber character, did the honors. He sheared 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:54.789 off Adonis' hair while he was unconscious. The 00:12:54.789 --> 00:12:57.750 adorable era ends with him bald, humiliated, 00:12:57.750 --> 00:13:00.669 and defeated in front of 93 ,000 people. It was 00:13:00.669 --> 00:13:03.009 the climax of the story. And professionally, 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:05.490 that was effectively the end of his WWF run. 00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:09.029 Shortly after WrestleMania III, around May 1987, 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.860 Adonis was fired. Why? He was a top draw. He 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:14.820 just main -evented WrestleMania. The official 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:17.580 reason given was dress code violations. That 00:13:17.580 --> 00:13:20.100 sounds vague. It's likely a catch -all for behavioral 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:22.240 issues. The source mentions he had been fired 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.080 and rehired briefly before this, but this time 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.200 the bridge was burned. So there are other things 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:30.080 going on. Rumors of erratic behavior, maybe taking 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:32.460 the gimmick too far, or just the lifestyle catching 00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:35.159 up with him. So here he is. He's 33 or 34 years 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:39.059 old. He's massive, over 350 pounds. He's bald. 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.700 He's unemployed. What does he do? He goes back 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:44.340 to his roots. He returns to the AWA in 1987. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.580 He keeps the adorable gimmick for a bit, managed 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:50.200 by a young Paul E. dangerously. Ooh, modern fans 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:53.039 knows Paul Heyman. A legendary manager even then. 00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:56.559 They feud with Tommy Rich. But you can see Adonis 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.940 is trying to reset. The source notes something 00:13:58.940 --> 00:14:02.340 incredibly impressive. During this time, he lost 00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:05.980 100 pounds. Wow. 100 pounds. That's not just 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:08.259 a diet. That's a complete lifestyle overhaul. 00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:11.279 It shows his dedication. He was getting ready 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.059 for a comeback. He wanted to return to the WWF. 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:17.419 By 1988, he's touring with New Japan Pro Wrestling. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.159 And in Japan, they treat wrestling very differently. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:22.740 It's a sport. It's presented as legitimate combat. 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.120 Exactly. And in Japan, he dropped the adorable 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.750 gimmick completely. No pink, no flowers. He just 00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:30.269 wrestled. He teamed with Owen Hart. He reunited 00:14:30.269 --> 00:14:32.789 with Dick Murdoch. Back to basics. They challenged 00:14:32.789 --> 00:14:36.009 for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. He was showing 00:14:36.009 --> 00:14:37.870 that underneath all the gimmicks, the shooter 00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:40.149 was still there. He was proving he could still 00:14:40.149 --> 00:14:43.350 go. He was rebuilding his credibility brick by 00:14:43.350 --> 00:14:46.750 brick. He was showing the world, I'm still Adrian 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:49.370 Adonis, the athlete. Which brings us to July 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:52.330 1988. And this is the part that is just hard 00:14:52.330 --> 00:14:55.309 to read. Yeah. He was working his way back up, 00:14:55.350 --> 00:14:57.669 taking bookings with smaller promoters to stay 00:14:57.669 --> 00:15:00.590 active. He was in Newfoundland, Canada. Way out 00:15:00.590 --> 00:15:03.289 on the eastern edge of North America. It's rugged 00:15:03.289 --> 00:15:06.730 terrain. Louis Bort, Newfoundland. July 4th, 00:15:06.730 --> 00:15:10.370 1988. Adonis Keith Franca was traveling in a 00:15:10.370 --> 00:15:13.669 minivan with Hello Wrestlers. Dave McKigney, 00:15:13.769 --> 00:15:16.850 who wrestled as the Canadian Wildman, and a set 00:15:16.850 --> 00:15:21.029 of twins, William and Victor Arco. Just... Four 00:15:21.029 --> 00:15:23.230 guys driving to the next town. That's the life 00:15:23.230 --> 00:15:25.629 of a wrestler. It was evening. The sun was setting. 00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:28.269 Victor Arco was driving. And the police report 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:30.429 states that the driver was allegedly blinded 00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:32.809 by the glare of the setting sun. And in Newfoundland, 00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:35.470 the roads aren't empty. No. A moose wandered 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:37.669 onto the road. A moose? It sounds like a cliche, 00:15:37.830 --> 00:15:39.950 but hitting a moose is like hitting a brick wall 00:15:39.950 --> 00:15:42.429 and stilts. It's devastating. They swerved to 00:15:42.429 --> 00:15:45.009 avoid it. The van went out of control. It crashed 00:15:45.009 --> 00:15:47.009 through a guardrail and fell from a bridge into 00:15:47.009 --> 00:15:49.769 a creek below. God. It was catastrophic. Dave 00:15:49.769 --> 00:15:51.669 McKinney and the driver, Victor Arco, were killed 00:15:51.669 --> 00:15:54.740 instantly. Keith Frank Adrian Adonis survived 00:15:54.740 --> 00:15:57.220 the initial crash. He was alive. He was pulled 00:15:57.220 --> 00:15:59.360 from the wreckage alive, but suffered severe 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.980 head injuries. He died hours later in the hospital. 00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:04.480 On Independence Day. Leaving behind a wife and 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:07.480 two daughters. William Arco was the sole survivor, 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.580 though he had severe leg injuries that ended 00:16:09.580 --> 00:16:12.659 his career. It's just... The timing. He was 34. 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:14.879 He dropped the weight. He was tearing it up. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.419 It feels like we were robbed of a second act. 00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:19.700 We absolutely were. You look at the landscape 00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:23.399 of wrestling in 1989 or 1990, imagine a fit, 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.679 motivated Adrian Adonis coming back. He could 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.059 have feuded with the Ultimate Warrior or Mr. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:30.620 Perfect. He could have been a main event player 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:33.100 for another decade. When you look back at his 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:35.299 legacy now, especially with shows like Dark Side 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:37.440 of the Ring covering his career, what stands 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.679 out? Because for a long time, he was kind of 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:41.519 a punchline because of the dress. I think the 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.779 appreciation for him has changed. You have to 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:46.980 look at the accolades. AWA World Tag Team Champion. 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:50.440 WWF World Tag Team Champion. Pro Wrestling Illustrated 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:53.320 ranked him and Murdoch as the number 35 best 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.639 tag team of the PWI years. That's significant. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.779 But even the negative awards tell a story. The 00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:02.000 Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which is the Bible 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:05.480 for smart fans, voted him Most Embarrassing Wrestler. 00:17:05.789 --> 00:17:10.869 in 1986 and gave him worse gimmicks in 86 and 00:17:10.869 --> 00:17:13.329 87. But we have to challenge that, don't we? 00:17:13.390 --> 00:17:15.630 I mean, if the goal of a wrestling villain is 00:17:15.630 --> 00:17:18.569 to be embarrassing and hated, didn't he win? 00:17:18.809 --> 00:17:22.369 That's the paradox. He drew money. He main evented 00:17:22.369 --> 00:17:24.269 the biggest show in history up to that point. 00:17:24.369 --> 00:17:26.730 If everyone hates you and they pay to see you 00:17:26.730 --> 00:17:29.410 lose, you're doing your job. He was willing to 00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:31.819 debase himself to make the hero look good. That's 00:17:31.819 --> 00:17:34.019 an unselfish performer. He took the worst gimmick 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:35.460 and made it the most memorable thing on the show. 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.559 He was the ultimate utility player. He could 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.460 be the cool biker, the technical grappler, or 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:45.140 the grotesque villain. He committed 100 % to 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:47.220 whatever the role demanded. He didn't have an 00:17:47.220 --> 00:17:49.539 ego about looking cool. He had an ego about being 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:51.640 effective. That's it, exactly. It's a tragic 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:53.779 story, but also a testament to the art of the 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:56.710 performance. Adrian Adonis is a reminder that 00:17:56.710 --> 00:17:59.029 in wrestling, what you see is rarely the whole 00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:01.349 truth. The man in the dress was one of the toughest 00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:04.490 men in the locker room. The duality of man displayed 00:18:04.490 --> 00:18:06.710 in the squared circle. That's a wrap on this 00:18:06.710 --> 00:18:09.890 deep dive into the life of Adrian Adonis. From 00:18:09.890 --> 00:18:12.710 the letter jacket to the flower shop and the 00:18:12.710 --> 00:18:15.650 tragic end in Newfoundland. A complex legacy 00:18:15.650 --> 00:18:18.529 for a complex man. Thanks for listening. We hope 00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:20.289 this gave you a new perspective on a legend. 00:18:20.589 --> 00:18:22.230 We'll catch you on the next dupe dive.