WEBVTT 00:00:01.180 --> 00:00:04.320 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today we are unpacking 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.400 a story that is honestly equal parts sporting 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:12.679 history, theatrical drama, and absolutely tragedy. 00:00:12.859 --> 00:00:14.939 Yeah, it really is. We are looking at the life 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:18.170 of a man known to the world as... Gentlemen Chris 00:00:18.170 --> 00:00:20.769 Adams right and it is a name that might ring 00:00:20.769 --> 00:00:24.010 a bell if you were a wrestling fan in the 80s 00:00:24.010 --> 00:00:26.250 specifically in the scorching heat of the Texas 00:00:26.250 --> 00:00:29.649 territories But his influence is actually something 00:00:29.649 --> 00:00:31.769 you see on television every single week today 00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:33.869 Even if you don't realize it exactly and the 00:00:33.869 --> 00:00:35.250 thing that really grabbed me when we started 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:37.329 pulling these horses together is that nickname 00:00:37.329 --> 00:00:40.109 You know gentlemen Chris Adams. Yeah, you hear 00:00:40.109 --> 00:00:43.609 that and you picture this polite refined Englishmen 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:46.359 sipping tea, maybe opening doors for old ladies. 00:00:46.539 --> 00:00:48.719 And on camera, that was exactly the persona. 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:51.619 The tea drinker, the technical wizard, the Polish 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:53.520 athlete. He was the guy you'd want your daughter 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:55.619 to date. At least that's what the promoters wanted 00:00:55.619 --> 00:00:57.340 you to think. But the reality... Yeah, the reality 00:00:57.340 --> 00:00:59.240 is a whole different story. The reality we found 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:02.159 in the research is a stark and honestly almost 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:04.659 violent contrast. We're talking about a life 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:07.450 riddled with heavy drug addiction. Severe legal 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:11.090 issues, domestic violence, and ultimately a death 00:01:11.090 --> 00:01:13.349 that sounds like something out of a cheap noir 00:01:13.349 --> 00:01:15.790 crime novel. It's the ultimate irony. It really 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:18.569 is. The gentleman who died in a drunken brawl. 00:01:18.909 --> 00:01:22.620 It is a study in wasted potential. We often talk 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:25.359 about tragic figures in entertainment, but Adams 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:28.819 is a really unique case. Historian Dave Meltzer, 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:31.000 who is essentially the encyclopedia of wrestling 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.060 history, cited Adams as one of the 20 best performers 00:01:34.060 --> 00:01:36.159 in the United States at his peak. That's just 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.129 good. but elite. Exactly. Let's pause there. 00:01:39.209 --> 00:01:41.890 That's a massive claim. Top 20 in the U .S. during 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:44.530 the 80s. It's a crowded field. It is a massively 00:01:44.530 --> 00:01:47.450 crowded field. You've got Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, 00:01:47.650 --> 00:01:50.609 Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat. To be in that conversation 00:01:50.609 --> 00:01:53.790 is huge. Was he really that good or is that just 00:01:53.790 --> 00:01:55.930 history looking back with rose colored glasses? 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:57.930 Now the praise is legitimate, but it's for a 00:01:57.930 --> 00:02:00.230 very specific reason. He wasn't the biggest draw 00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:02.769 like Hogan. Right. But in terms of work rate. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:04.819 meaning the actual in -ring stuff. Right, the 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:07.239 ability to put on a believable, athletic, compelling 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:09.099 match. He was light years ahead of most guys. 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.539 He brought a realism that didn't exist in American 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:14.080 wrestling at the time. So here is our mission 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:17.099 for this Deep Dives. We are going to explore 00:02:17.099 --> 00:02:22.000 how a British Judo champion revolutionized American 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.780 wrestling moves, specifically the super kick, 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.599 which everyone uses now. Everyone. We are going 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:31.620 to unpack his legendary run in world -class championship 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:36.909 wrestling. The dynamic duo. The feuds. And we 00:02:36.909 --> 00:02:39.169 are going to look unflinchingly at that dark 00:02:39.169 --> 00:02:42.370 spiral that led to his shocking death. It's a 00:02:42.370 --> 00:02:44.530 heavy one, but it's an important piece of history 00:02:44.530 --> 00:02:46.770 to really understand how the business evolved. 00:02:46.909 --> 00:02:48.840 So let's start at the beginning. Before the lights 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.259 and the Texas crowds, Chris Adams was born in 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:54.879 1955 in Rugby Warwickshire, England. And right 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:56.580 off the bat, the sources highlight that this 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:58.219 wasn't a guy who grew up dreaming of being a 00:02:58.219 --> 00:02:59.979 show wrestler. Not at all. He's a legitimate 00:02:59.979 --> 00:03:02.419 athlete. A very high level athlete. He started 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:05.400 judo at age nine and trained exclusively in that 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.259 discipline for 14 years. This wasn't a hobby 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:11.099 where he went to the YMCA on Tuesdays. This was 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:14.020 his entire life. He and his brother Neil Adams 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:17.219 were national and international caliber. Now 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:19.719 Neil Adams went on to win a silver medal at the 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:23.080 1980 and 1984 Olympics. That's right. Neil is 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:25.560 actually one of the most decorated British judokas 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:27.659 in history. And Chris was right there with him 00:03:27.659 --> 00:03:30.860 in terms of skill level early on. Chris was actually 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:34.039 a member of the British judo team for the 1976 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:36.280 Summer Olympics. That's incredible. He didn't 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:38.599 end up competing in the games, but just making 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:40.699 the squad tells you everything you need to know 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:42.580 about his discipline and physical capability 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:44.819 at that age. He wasn't just a grappler, though. 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:48.060 The sources mention he competed in football, 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.979 rugby, cricket, and amateur wrestling. And this 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:53.039 is the part that surprised me. He spent four 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:55.580 years studying architecture. Which really adds 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:58.020 a layer to the gentleman persona later on, don't 00:03:58.020 --> 00:03:59.939 you think? Absolutely. He wasn't just playing 00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:02.000 a character who was educated and refined. He 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.379 actually had that background. He had a life outside 00:04:05.379 --> 00:04:07.719 of athletics before he ever stepped into a ring. 00:04:08.060 --> 00:04:11.439 He could draw blueprints. He understood structure. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:14.479 So how does an architect and a judo black belt 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:17.180 end up in pro wrestling. It's a weird pivot. 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:21.319 In 1978 he enters the business, but the source 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:24.120 makes a specific point that he had absolutely 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:26.759 no official pro wrestling training. Which is 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:28.839 wild to think about. Usually you go to a camp, 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:31.600 you learn to bump. Bumping is the art of falling 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.819 right. Exactly, taking a fall without hurting 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:36.079 yourself. You learn the ropes, you learn the 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:39.850 psychology. Adams just walked in relying entirely 00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:43.649 on his judo skills. He debuted in June 1978. 00:04:43.949 --> 00:04:46.050 Okay, hold on. We need to pause on the judo background 00:04:46.050 --> 00:04:48.490 because I feel like judo champion is a throwaway 00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:51.009 line in a lot of wrestler bios, but the sources 00:04:51.009 --> 00:04:53.850 here are emphatic that Chris Adams wasn't a guy 00:04:53.850 --> 00:04:56.389 who took a few classes. Far from it. This is 00:04:56.389 --> 00:04:57.649 where we have to look at the difference between 00:04:57.649 --> 00:05:00.050 fighting and grappling. Judo is the art of using 00:05:00.050 --> 00:05:02.189 an opponent's momentum against them. It's about 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:04.990 balance leverage and the throw. When Adams walked 00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:07.569 into pro wrestling in 1978, he didn't know how 00:05:07.569 --> 00:05:10.189 to work a match. Meaning he didn't know the cooperative 00:05:10.189 --> 00:05:12.790 dance of it. Which sounds incredibly dangerous. 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:15.269 If I'm a wrestler and I'm trusting you with my 00:05:15.269 --> 00:05:17.490 body and your instinct is to legitimately slam 00:05:17.490 --> 00:05:20.449 me into the mat using torque, I can't control 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:23.269 it. That's a recipe for disaster. Usually yes, 00:05:23.529 --> 00:05:25.589 but here is the key insight from the research. 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:28.290 Judo also teaches you how to fall. They call 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:31.649 it ukemi. Ukemi? Yeah, brick falls. Adams knew 00:05:31.649 --> 00:05:33.930 how to hit the mat hard without killing himself. 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:36.230 So while he didn't know the showmanship yet, 00:05:36.550 --> 00:05:38.930 he was physically incapable of looking clumsy. 00:05:39.509 --> 00:05:43.129 He had what insiders call snugness. Snugness. 00:05:44.009 --> 00:05:46.089 That sounds cozy, but I assume in a wrestling 00:05:46.089 --> 00:05:48.449 ring it means something else. It means his holds 00:05:48.449 --> 00:05:51.790 felt tight. They looked real because biomechanically, 00:05:51.850 --> 00:05:54.310 he was applying real pressure, just stopping 00:05:54.310 --> 00:05:56.209 a millimeter before the bone broke. That must 00:05:56.209 --> 00:05:57.949 have terrified the veterans. Oh, it terrified 00:05:57.949 --> 00:06:00.649 the old school British wrestlers, like Big Daddy. 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:02.810 They looked at this kid and thought, is he going 00:06:02.810 --> 00:06:04.990 to shoot on me? Is he going to try to hurt me 00:06:04.990 --> 00:06:07.610 for real? And that tension, that whole, is this 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:10.810 real or is this fake vibe that became his entire 00:06:10.810 --> 00:06:13.879 career signature? Exactly. He was working for 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.920 joint promotions in the UK, appearing on ITV's 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:19.579 World of Sport. If you know British wrestling 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:21.699 from that era, it was very technical. Rounds 00:06:21.699 --> 00:06:24.579 based. Yes, rounds based serious stuff, almost 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:27.060 like boxing matches. But with grappling, he was 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:29.240 in there with absolute legends like the Dynamite 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:31.920 Kid and Davey Boy Smith. And he held his own. 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:34.339 He won the British Light Heavyweight Championship 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:37.220 and the British Commonwealth Tag Team Championship. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.819 So he clearly picked it up fast. He did. But 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:44.180 the UK scene was very specific. To really break 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:47.100 out to become a global star, he had to go to 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:49.920 America. And that transition happened in 1981. 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:52.620 He moved to Los Angeles. And this is where the 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:54.660 transformation really begins. He went to work 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:58.000 for the Labels. Mike and Jean Label. Now, Gene 00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:59.439 LaBelle is a name that comes up in everything 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.399 from Muhammad Ali stories to Bruce Lee stories. 00:07:02.620 --> 00:07:04.139 Right. And for those who don't know, the Labels 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:06.480 are royalty in the combat sports world. Gene 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:08.740 LaBelle was a judo champion himself, a stunt 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:11.660 man, a wrestler. He was known as Judo Gene LaBelle. 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:13.600 So it was the perfect landing spot for Adams. 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:15.699 It was because they understood his background. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.160 They spoke the same language of leverage and 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.459 joint locks. The source mentions an interesting 00:07:20.459 --> 00:07:23.139 detail about his gear here. When he first arrived 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:25.519 in L .A., he was wrestling barefoot. Traditional 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.120 Judo style. He was presenting himself as a martial 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:30.980 artist, first wrestler, second. But after that 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:33.199 first tour, he switched. He put on the boots, 00:07:33.500 --> 00:07:36.319 the knee pads, the arm pads. That was the moment 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:40.300 he physically transitioned from Judo guy to pro 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:43.360 wrestler who uses Judo. Right. And that leads 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.240 us to the innovation. We promised you we'd talk 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.920 about the moves. Chris Adams was doing things 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:50.959 in the early 80s that nobody else was doing. 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:53.120 He brought a fluidity to the ring that was ahead 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.759 of its time. The sources list a few specific 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:58.620 innovations. For one, somersaulting out of arm 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:00.879 bars. Which you see in almost every Cruiserweight 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:03.680 match today. Exactly. But in 1981, guys were 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.540 usually just powering out of holds or reaching 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:07.740 for the ropes. It was static. Just pulling their 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:09.980 arm away. Yeah, just pulling. Adams would use 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:12.800 his agility to flip out of it. He was doing back 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:14.819 flips, diving through the ropes to the outside. 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:18.040 He used the ends we give. which is a kick to 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.300 the back of the head. But the big one, the one 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:22.740 that changed the game, is the kick. The judo 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:24.660 kick. Later known to the world as the super kick. 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:27.959 Yes. Let's get into the legacy of this. If you 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.250 watch wrestling today... The Young Bucks, the 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:33.330 Uso Shawn Michaels. It is the most overused move 00:08:33.330 --> 00:08:35.629 in the business. It's everywhere. But you're 00:08:35.629 --> 00:08:37.629 telling me this starts with Adams. It starts 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:39.370 with Adams, but more importantly, it starts with 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:42.070 the mechanics Adams brought. Before Chris Adams, 00:08:42.429 --> 00:08:44.850 a kick in American wrestling was usually a punt 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:47.350 to the gut. It looked like a bar fight. It was 00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:50.500 messy. ugly brawling, just throwing a limb out 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:52.799 there. Right. Adams brought the martial arts 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:55.419 snap. He introduced the concept of the chambered 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:58.059 leg. You lift the knee first, you load the hip, 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.720 then you snap the foot out to the chin and retract 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.080 it instantly. Why does the retraction matter? 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:05.519 Why not just follow through like a soccer kick? 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:07.559 Because of the sound and the visual. It's the 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:09.500 whip effect. If you leave your leg out there, 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.340 it looks like a push. If you snap it back, it 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:14.460 looks like an impact. Adams also perfected the 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:18.429 thigh slap. Ah, yes, the thigh slapping his own 00:09:18.429 --> 00:09:21.429 leg at the exact moment of impact to create that 00:09:21.429 --> 00:09:23.850 gunshot sound. Which is a controversial thing 00:09:23.850 --> 00:09:26.389 today, right? Yeah. Fans complain about it being 00:09:26.389 --> 00:09:29.009 too obvious because everyone does it today. Yes, 00:09:29.110 --> 00:09:31.090 because everyone slaps their leg for everything. 00:09:31.129 --> 00:09:35.279 But in 1983. It was magic. The audience in the 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:37.519 sportatorium heard a crack that sounded like 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:40.200 a baseball bat hitting a melon. Wow. They didn't 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:42.039 know it was a thigh slap. They thought Adams 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:44.700 just took a man's head off. So he brought realism 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:47.759 through illusion. He brought danger. In a world 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:51.159 of body slams and bear hugs, a sudden kick to 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:54.299 the chin that could knock you out cold. It changed 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:56.600 the pacing of matches. It meant the match could 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.009 end at any second out of nowhere. That is the 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:01.309 DNA of modern wrestling and it belongs to Chris 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:04.429 Adams. So he's in LA, he's inventing moves, he's 00:10:04.429 --> 00:10:07.409 winning the NWA America's title, but the real 00:10:07.409 --> 00:10:09.429 explosion of his career happens when he gets 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:12.730 a call from Texas. Fritz Von Erich, 1983. This 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:15.809 is the golden era, world class championship wrestling, 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:19.370 WCCW. And we need to set the scene here. So he 00:10:19.370 --> 00:10:21.350 lives the technical rounds based wrestling of 00:10:21.350 --> 00:10:24.769 the UK and lands in Texas and not just any Texas. 00:10:24.909 --> 00:10:26.870 We are talking about the Dallas Sportatorium. 00:10:26.870 --> 00:10:28.889 The sport. If you've never looked up footage 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:30.950 of this building, you really need to. It was 00:10:30.950 --> 00:10:34.049 essentially a tin barn. No air conditioning. 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:36.769 Oh, man. In the Texas, summer temperatures inside 00:10:36.769 --> 00:10:40.909 would hit 110, 115 degrees. It smelled like stale 00:10:40.909 --> 00:10:43.549 beer, cigarette smoke and sweat. And yet every 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:46.100 Friday night. It was the hottest ticket in the 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:48.639 state. It was absolute hysteria. And I don't 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:51.340 use that word lightly. The Von Erich brothers, 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:54.159 Kevin, Kerry, David, they weren't just wrestlers 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:56.000 to these people. They were local gods. They were 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.179 like the Kennedys of Texas. They were good Christian 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:01.860 boys fighting the forces of evil. So enter Chris 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:05.019 Adams. He's British. He's refined. He's sipping 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:07.960 tea. In any other territory, that guy is a villain 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.879 immediately. He's a snob. Why did Dallas embrace 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.580 him? That's the genius of Fritz Von Erich's booking. 00:11:13.820 --> 00:11:15.659 They didn't present him as a snob. They presented 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:18.240 him as a gentleman. There's a difference. A huge 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.279 difference. He opened doors. He was polite. And 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:23.480 most importantly, the source material mentions 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:26.440 this crucial detail. The Von Erichs vouched for 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:29.259 him. The pen pal angle. Right. They told the 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:31.559 fans, this is our friend from across the pond. 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:34.059 In the psychology of wrestling, that is a rub. 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:36.659 By standing next to Kevin Von Erich and shaking 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:40.000 his hand, Adams absorbed all that love by osmosis. 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.279 He became the honorary Von Eric. Yes. And the 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:45.500 fans just ate it up. He wasn't just some foreign 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:48.379 guy. He was family. He was teaming with Carrie 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:51.580 and Kevin against the fabulous Freebirds. He 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:54.659 won his first 11 matches straight. Incredible 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:56.779 run. He won the American Heavyweight Championship 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.299 on Thanksgiving at the reunion arena. He was 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:01.539 at the top of the card. But you know, in wrestling, 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.409 you can't stay friends forever. Peace is boring 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:08.190 conflict pays the bills. It always does. And 00:12:08.190 --> 00:12:10.330 this brings us to one of the most famous turns 00:12:10.330 --> 00:12:13.529 in wrestling history, the chair shot. This is 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:17.429 1984. Adams hires Gary Hart as his manager. Now, 00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:20.429 Gary Hart was a legendary villain manager. Just 00:12:20.429 --> 00:12:22.149 standing next to him made you look suspicious. 00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:24.730 The story was that Adams was going to fire Hart 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:26.970 to get back in the Von Erics good graces. They 00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:30.049 had a match. Kevin pinned Adams. And everyone 00:12:30.049 --> 00:12:31.730 thought, OK, Adams will shake his hand, fire 00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:33.669 the bad manager, and we're good. But that's not 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:35.649 what happened. No, it wasn't. Adams snapped. 00:12:36.090 --> 00:12:38.669 He grabbed a wooden chair and slammed it over 00:12:38.669 --> 00:12:40.970 Kevin von Erich's head. And we have to get into 00:12:40.970 --> 00:12:43.269 the details of this chair shot because it's gruesome. 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:46.809 The source says Adams claimed the chair accidentally 00:12:46.809 --> 00:12:49.690 split. OK, so usually in wrestling, you use a 00:12:49.690 --> 00:12:54.169 metal chair. and you hit the back or use a specific 00:12:54.169 --> 00:12:57.549 technique to minimize impact. Or if you use wood, 00:12:57.669 --> 00:13:00.129 it's usually gimmicked. Shave down so it breaks. 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:03.970 Right. This was a real solid wooden chair. A 00:13:03.970 --> 00:13:06.509 literal piece of furniture. Exactly. He hit him 00:13:06.509 --> 00:13:09.669 so hard or the angle was just wrong that it split 00:13:09.669 --> 00:13:12.129 and it caused a genuine concussion and opened 00:13:12.129 --> 00:13:15.049 Kevin up. There was blood everywhere. And in 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:17.370 wrestling, there is a concept called a receipt. 00:13:17.610 --> 00:13:20.210 If you hurt me legitimately, I'm gonna hurt you 00:13:20.210 --> 00:13:22.870 back later to make us even. And Kevin got his 00:13:22.870 --> 00:13:25.350 receipt. A month later, at Reunion Arena, they 00:13:25.350 --> 00:13:27.889 did the spot again. Kevin hit Adams with the 00:13:27.889 --> 00:13:29.950 chair. This time, the chair shattered again, 00:13:30.009 --> 00:13:32.629 and a piece of wood actually got stuck in Adams' 00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:34.850 nose. Right near his eye. Right near his eye. 00:13:35.049 --> 00:13:37.929 Ouch. That's not working. That's assault at that 00:13:37.929 --> 00:13:41.110 point. It was visceral. It was violent. And it 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:43.850 cemented the turn. The fans went from loving 00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:47.470 this polite Englishman to chanting Benedict Adams. 00:13:47.690 --> 00:13:49.870 Benedict Adams, that's great. They held up posters 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.649 calling him a traitor. Psychologically, it was 00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:55.789 a master class. He broke the heart of every fan 00:13:55.789 --> 00:13:58.149 who wanted him to be the fourth von Erich brother. 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:00.970 This launched the next phase of his career. He 00:14:00.970 --> 00:14:03.070 wasn't the lonely traitor for long. He found 00:14:03.070 --> 00:14:07.269 a partner. Gino Hernandez. The dynamic duo. Or 00:14:07.269 --> 00:14:09.049 as they were sometimes called, the handsome half 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:12.399 -breeds. referencing Adams' British and Gino's 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:14.779 Hispanic heritage. They were the cool villains. 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:17.820 Contrast Gino for me if Adams is the refined 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:20.679 technical judo guy who is Gino Hernandez. Gino 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:22.840 was a handsome one. He was flashy, arrogant, 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:25.700 dripping with jewelry. He was a party boy. If 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:28.039 Adams was the architect, Gino was the rock star. 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:30.529 Together, they had this chemistry that was just 00:14:30.529 --> 00:14:33.049 electric. They represented everything the working 00:14:33.049 --> 00:14:36.509 class Texas crowd hated, arrogance, wealth, and 00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:38.250 foreign backgrounds. They really leaned into 00:14:38.250 --> 00:14:39.669 the arrogance. They had this gimmick where they 00:14:39.669 --> 00:14:41.889 would cut their opponent's hair. Long before 00:14:41.889 --> 00:14:43.909 Brutus Beefcake made it his whole thing in the 00:14:43.909 --> 00:14:46.649 WWF, Adams and Hernandez were doing it in Texas. 00:14:46.870 --> 00:14:49.389 It's the ultimate disrespect. I beat you, and 00:14:49.389 --> 00:14:51.269 now I'm going to humiliate you by taking your 00:14:51.269 --> 00:14:55.519 masculinity. Exactly. In Texas. Cutting a man's 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.559 hair against his will. That's fighting words. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:01.679 This led to a massive showdown. October, 1985. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:05.500 The Cotton Bowl. Hair versus hair match against 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:07.559 Kevin and Cary von Erich. The stakes couldn't 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.379 be higher. And the result was iconic. Adams and 00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:12.940 Hernandez lost. They were shaved bald in the 00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:15.480 middle of the stadium in front of tens of thousands 00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:17.419 of people. I've seen pictures of this. They had 00:15:17.419 --> 00:15:19.679 to wrestle in masks for a while afterwards while 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:21.820 their hair grew back. Which is such a great wrestling 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.019 detail. It keeps the Shane alive for months. 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:26.720 Every time they came out in those masks, the 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.860 crowd remembered, ah, yes, you got saved. But 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:31.960 as with all bad guy teams, the ego eventually 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:35.179 gets in the way. Christmas 1985, the breakup. 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:37.440 It was a classic setup. They were wrestling the 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:40.259 Cosmic Cowboys, who were just the Von Erics in 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:42.179 masks, which everyone knew, but pretended not 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:45.700 to. Right. Gina Hernandez claims he has a knee 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:48.960 injury. He refuses to tag in. He leaves Adams 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.480 in there to get destroyed. Adams takes a beating, 00:15:51.779 --> 00:15:53.799 finally tosses Kevin over the rope to end the 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:57.039 match, and then, snap! He slaps Hernandez. He 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.259 walks out. And just like that, the crowd is ready 00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:01.919 to cheer him again. He turned face. This set 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.000 up the feud between the two former partners. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.100 And this leads to the blinding incident, January 00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:10.100 1986. The stipulation was that the loser would 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:12.679 have Freebird hair cream rubbed into their scalp, 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:15.460 a callback to the hair gimmick. But during the 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:17.980 match, Hernandez grabs the cream, which the source 00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:20.559 notes was actually a dark liquid substance. And 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.720 he throws it right into Adam's eyes. This was 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.659 a huge angle. It wasn't just my eyes sting. They 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:27.860 sold it as Adam's being permanently blinded. 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:29.840 It was the way to write him off television. We 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.480 call this kayfabe. The reality within the show. 00:16:32.779 --> 00:16:35.159 In reality, Adams wanted to go visit family in 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:38.019 England, tour Japan, maybe go to Israel. So they 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:40.759 did the blinding angle to explain why he disappeared. 00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:43.879 He was recovering. But the feud never got a proper 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:48.440 finish. No. And this is the first really dark 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.679 turn in the story. In February 1986, while this 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.500 feud was hot, Gino Hernandez was found dead. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.179 A drug overdose believed to be cocaine. Right. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.379 So the feud ended abruptly. Adams came back, 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.679 but his greatest rival, his greatest partner 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.339 was gone. And you have to wonder what that did 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:07.779 to him psychologically. And around this time, 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.259 1986, the darkness starts to creep into Adams' 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:12.700 own life, too. We start seeing the legal issues 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:15.099 pile up. And there's one story in the source 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:17.319 that is just, it's hard to believe it actually 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:21.180 happened, the Mile High incident. June 30, 1986, 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:23.819 Adams is flying back from a wrestling event in 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:25.819 Puerto Rico. He's on a commercial flight. He 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:28.880 is intoxicated. And apparently he gets belligerent 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.140 when they stop serving liquor. An FAA inspector 00:17:31.140 --> 00:17:33.940 is on board and stops the sales. Adams doesn't 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:35.480 take it well. Doesn't take it well is putting 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:37.700 him mildly. The source says he grabbed the pilot, 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.859 John Bentley, by the collar. And head -butted 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:42.519 him three times. He head -butted the pilot of 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.640 the plane and punched a flight attendant. It 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:47.859 took fellow wrestler Kevin Von Erick and others 00:17:47.859 --> 00:17:50.279 to physically restrain him. Imagine being on 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:52.779 that flight. You look up and the pilot is getting 00:17:52.779 --> 00:17:55.359 head -butted by a pro wrestler. It sounds like 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.380 a movie scene, but this is a federal crime. The 00:17:57.380 --> 00:17:59.539 consequences were real this time. He was sentenced 00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:03.279 to 90 days in jail and fined $500. A slap on 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.799 the wrist by today's standards, maybe? It was 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:08.059 a sign that the alcohol use was becoming a violent 00:18:08.059 --> 00:18:10.259 problem. He wasn't just a party guy like Gino. 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:13.940 He was becoming dangerous. And sadly, that violence 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:16.480 didn't stay on airplanes or in the ring. We have 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:19.380 to talk about the domestic violence. We do. This 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:21.869 is the ugly side of the gentleman persona. In 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:24.890 February 1988, Adams was arrested in Lufkin, 00:18:24.890 --> 00:18:27.450 Texas. His wife at the time, Tony Adams, was 00:18:27.450 --> 00:18:30.269 found severely beaten. The source says he allegedly 00:18:30.269 --> 00:18:32.890 did this in a drunken rage. He was sentenced 00:18:32.890 --> 00:18:35.869 to a year's probation, but it established a pattern. 00:18:36.170 --> 00:18:39.690 The drinking, the rage, the violence. Later in 00:18:39.690 --> 00:18:43.109 1991, he had multiple DUI arrests. The spiral 00:18:43.109 --> 00:18:45.549 was accelerating. And it's hard to reconcile, 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:48.180 right? The man who opens doors... The man with 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:50.240 the architecture degree becoming this monster 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.920 when the bottle is open. It is difficult to reconcile 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.400 the technical wizard in the ring with this chaotic 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:57.819 figure outside of it. But in the midst of this 00:18:57.819 --> 00:19:00.420 personal chaos, he starts a new chapter in his 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:05.599 career. The teacher. Late 1988, he opens a wrestling 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:08.920 school at the Dallas Sportatorium. And this is 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.500 where his legacy gets a massive boost because 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:13.920 one of his students ends up becoming the biggest 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.259 star in the history of the industry. Steve Williams. 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:19.329 who we all know as Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin 00:19:19.329 --> 00:19:22.430 joined the school in 1989. And he was a quick 00:19:22.430 --> 00:19:24.730 study. He went from student to having his debut 00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:27.910 match in just five months. So Adams trained Stone 00:19:27.910 --> 00:19:30.029 Cold. That should be a point of pride, right? 00:19:30.309 --> 00:19:32.890 I built the guy who saved the WWF. You would 00:19:32.890 --> 00:19:35.170 think. But looking at the sources, the relationship 00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:37.869 was complicated. Austin didn't exactly sing his 00:19:37.869 --> 00:19:40.809 praises later on. No. Austin later described 00:19:40.809 --> 00:19:43.829 Adams as a con man deluxe and a pile of crap. 00:19:44.069 --> 00:19:46.759 Wow. Tell us how you really feel, Steve. Why 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.220 the hostility? Austin alleged that Adams was 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:51.299 known for taking students' money and ill -preparing 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:53.319 them, basically taking the cash and doing the 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:55.359 bare minimum, stiffing them. But even Austin 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:57.480 admits that he learned the snug style from Adams. 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:00.640 So even if Adams was a bad businessman or a scammer, 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:03.500 the technique transferred. Austin stomps his 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:05.460 punches. They all have that Chris Adams snap. 00:20:05.660 --> 00:20:08.460 Exactly. They did feud in the USWA, the United 00:20:08.460 --> 00:20:11.160 States Wrestling Association, teacher versus 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:13.400 student. Eventually, the students surpassed the 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:17.289 master. Austin went on to WCW and then WWF becoming 00:20:17.289 --> 00:20:20.990 a pop culture icon. And Adams stayed behind. 00:20:21.190 --> 00:20:23.789 Let's talk about that decline. The 90s were not 00:20:23.789 --> 00:20:25.930 kind to Chris Adams. No, they weren't. He became 00:20:25.930 --> 00:20:28.170 a journeyman. Explain that term for people who 00:20:28.170 --> 00:20:30.049 don't follow the business. A journeyman is someone 00:20:30.049 --> 00:20:32.839 who has the skills, but no home. They bounce 00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:35.420 from promotion to promotion, suitcase and hand 00:20:35.420 --> 00:20:38.259 paycheck to paycheck. He was in the USWA, the 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:41.059 Global Wrestling Federation, the NWA. He was 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:43.039 working everywhere but never quite getting back 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:46.299 to that WCCW peak. He was chasing the dragon 00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:48.759 of his glory days. There are some bizarre stories 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:51.349 from this period. The source mentions a feud 00:20:51.349 --> 00:20:54.890 with a guy named Rod Price in 1993. This is gruesome. 00:20:55.109 --> 00:20:57.710 Adams ripped a hair weave off Rod Price's head 00:20:57.710 --> 00:21:00.210 and it wasn't a work or maybe it was too much 00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:02.950 of a work. It caused Price to need over 200 stitches. 00:21:03.609 --> 00:21:06.990 200 stitches from ripping off a hair weave. How 00:21:06.990 --> 00:21:09.450 is that even physically possible? It sounds like 00:21:09.450 --> 00:21:12.069 a brutal messy situation where the line between 00:21:12.069 --> 00:21:15.150 fake fighting and real assault completely blurred. 00:21:15.450 --> 00:21:17.529 And then you have strange promotional efforts, 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:20.470 like Adams promoting a tour of Nigeria in 1993. 00:21:20.829 --> 00:21:23.210 Co -sponsored by Pepsi. Allegedly. Just shows 00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:25.269 how he was scrambling, trying to find the next 00:21:25.269 --> 00:21:27.390 big thing, trying to keep the money coming in. 00:21:27.750 --> 00:21:29.990 He was hustling. He finally gets a shot at the 00:21:29.990 --> 00:21:33.569 big time again in 1997, World Championship Wrestling, 00:21:34.170 --> 00:21:37.190 WCW. This was during the Monday Night Wars. WCW 00:21:37.190 --> 00:21:39.730 was huge, owned by Ted Turner. He was brought 00:21:39.730 --> 00:21:42.450 in, and on paper it made sense. They had a stable 00:21:42.450 --> 00:21:44.809 called the Blue Bloods, aristocratic British 00:21:44.809 --> 00:21:47.509 snobs, Lord Stephen Regal, who we know as William 00:21:47.509 --> 00:21:50.369 Regal, and squire David Taylor. Adams was supposed 00:21:50.369 --> 00:21:53.009 to join them. It seems like a perfect fit. The 00:21:53.009 --> 00:21:54.809 original gentleman joining the new nobility. 00:21:55.109 --> 00:21:58.089 It was, but legitimate personal issues got in 00:21:58.089 --> 00:22:00.470 the way. The source says the run was short -lived. 00:22:00.829 --> 00:22:03.230 He didn't fit into the group socially or reliability 00:22:03.230 --> 00:22:06.190 -wise. He ended up feuding with Glacier. Glacier. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.160 the Mortal Kombat character. I remember the blue 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:11.880 lights and the snow. It was a battle of the super 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:15.099 kicks. But Adams was firmly a mid -carder. He 00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:17.099 was there to make other people look good. There 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:19.220 was one moment, a match against Randy Savage 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:22.420 on the first episode of WCW Thunder in 1998. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:25.420 The Macho Man. One of the biggest stars ever. 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:27.859 Adams actually pinned him. He got the three count. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.690 Yeah, there's always a but. J .J. Dillon, the 00:22:30.690 --> 00:22:33.309 authority figure, reversed the decision. He claims 00:22:33.309 --> 00:22:36.029 Savage won by disqualification because Lex Luger 00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:39.089 interfered. So Adams had the visual victory over 00:22:39.089 --> 00:22:41.490 a legend, but it was snatched away. That feels 00:22:41.490 --> 00:22:43.910 like a metaphor for his whole career in the 90s. 00:22:44.190 --> 00:22:46.630 Almost there, but not quite. He was released 00:22:46.630 --> 00:22:50.529 in late 1999. The source says he was unsatisfied 00:22:50.529 --> 00:22:52.890 with being a jobber, someone who loses to make 00:22:52.890 --> 00:22:55.210 others look good. And that brings us to the final 00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:58.119 tragic chapter. The new millennium starts and 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:00.619 Adam's life completely unravels. April 2000. 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:03.119 This is the beginning of the end. Adams and his 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:05.559 girlfriend, Lyndika Fanks, were found unconscious 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:07.619 in a friend's apartment. It was an overdose? 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:11.920 GHB and alcohol? GHB is a serious depressant. 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:14.819 Combining it with alcohol is lethal. It shuts 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:17.500 down the respiratory system. Adams recovered. 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:20.619 Lyndika Fanks did not. She died 10 hours later 00:23:20.619 --> 00:23:22.990 at the hospital. And suddenly Adams isn't just 00:23:22.990 --> 00:23:25.670 a wrestler with a drug problem. He's facing a 00:23:25.670 --> 00:23:28.349 manslaughter charge. He was indicted in June 00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:32.390 2001. He was out on bond awaiting trial. He was 00:23:32.390 --> 00:23:34.829 living in Rowlett, Texas with his new wife, Karen. 00:23:35.430 --> 00:23:37.569 But the shadow of that death was hanging over 00:23:37.569 --> 00:23:40.750 him. He was looking at actual prison time. And 00:23:40.750 --> 00:23:44.869 then comes October 7th, 2001, the final night. 00:23:45.309 --> 00:23:47.609 Adams was in Waxahachie, Texas. He was at the 00:23:47.609 --> 00:23:50.299 home of a friend, Brent Boray Parnell. What happened 00:23:50.299 --> 00:23:51.779 that night? According to the reports they were 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:53.779 drinking, they started roughhousing, wrestling 00:23:53.779 --> 00:23:56.259 around. But as we know with Adams, when alcohol 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:58.680 is involved, roughhousing often turns into violence. 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.299 It escalated. It became a brawl. Parnell claimed 00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:03.259 self -defense. He said he feared for his life. 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:06.460 He retrieved a .38 caliber handgun from a nightstand. 00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:08.960 And he shot him. One shot to the chest. Chris 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:11.339 Adams died at the age of 46. Parnell was acquitted 00:24:11.339 --> 00:24:14.559 of all charges, right? He was. The jury accepted 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:17.309 the self -defense claim. which tells you that 00:24:17.309 --> 00:24:19.710 the jury believed Adams, an unarmed man, was 00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:21.769 a legitimate threat to his life in that moment. 00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:24.549 That speaks volumes about the reputation Adams 00:24:24.549 --> 00:24:28.450 had developed. It is such a grim ending, 46 years 00:24:28.450 --> 00:24:31.410 old, a career that started with Olympic aspirations 00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:34.549 and ended in a fatal drunken fight in a friend's 00:24:34.549 --> 00:24:37.450 house. It's devastating. So let's try to synthesize 00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:40.490 this legacy. When we look back at Gentleman Chris 00:24:40.490 --> 00:24:44.170 Adams, what are we actually looking at? It's 00:24:44.170 --> 00:24:46.670 complex on one hand you have the stats 26 titles 00:24:46.670 --> 00:24:49.349 the man who trained Steve Austin the man who 00:24:49.349 --> 00:24:52.609 popularized the super kick Which is a foundational 00:24:52.609 --> 00:24:55.029 move of modern wrestling if you watch wrestling 00:24:55.029 --> 00:24:57.779 today you see Chris Adams' influence in every 00:24:57.779 --> 00:24:59.680 single match. Every time someone does a backflip 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:02.000 out of a hole that's Adams. Every superkick is 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.940 Adams. Absolutely. But then you have the Meltzer 00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:06.500 quote, one of the 20 best performers ruined by 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:09.099 addiction. You have the documentaries, The Gentleman's 00:25:09.099 --> 00:25:10.819 Choice, and the Dark Side of the Ring episode. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:13.240 They paint a picture of a man who could never 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:15.740 outrun his demons. It brings up that uncomfortable 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:17.740 question about the line between the performance 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:21.119 and the reality. We cheer for the violence in 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:23.160 the ring. We cheer for the chair shots, like 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:25.519 the one he gave Kevin Von Erick. But when that 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:28.079 violence bleeds into real life, headbutting a 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:31.839 pilot, beating a spouse, a fatal brawl, it stops 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:34.480 being entertainment. That's the crux of it. The 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:38.579 gentleman was a mask, a very good one. But underneath, 00:25:38.740 --> 00:25:41.700 there was a chaos that he couldn't control. And 00:25:41.700 --> 00:25:44.599 sadly, that chaos is what defined his final years. 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:47.299 It is a story that leaves you wondering, what 00:25:47.299 --> 00:25:50.390 if? What if he had stayed clean? What if he had 00:25:50.390 --> 00:25:53.190 stayed with Yvonne Eriks? But we can only look 00:25:53.190 --> 00:25:55.329 at the history we have. And the history tells 00:25:55.329 --> 00:25:57.769 us he was a brilliant innovator who lost his 00:25:57.769 --> 00:25:59.849 way. We want to leave you with a thought today. 00:26:00.430 --> 00:26:01.910 Next time you are watching wrestling and you 00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:03.730 see someone tune up the band and deliver a super 00:26:03.730 --> 00:26:05.950 kick to the chin, whether it's the Usos, the 00:26:05.950 --> 00:26:08.990 Young Bucks, or whoever's on top, take a second 00:26:08.990 --> 00:26:11.720 to remember where it came from. Remember the 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:14.119 judo champion from Warwickshire who brought that 00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:17.000 snap to the business. And remember the cost that 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:19.579 came with the life he lived. History is rarely 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:23.420 simple and heroes are rarely perfect. Chris Adams 00:26:23.420 --> 00:26:26.000 was neither simple nor perfect, but he was definitely 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.319 unforgettable. That's it for this deep dive. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.299 Thanks for listening. We'll catch you on the 00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:31.700 next one. Stay curious.