| Lance Von Erich | |
|---|---|
 Lance Von Erich, c. 1986 | |
| Birth name | William Kevin Vaughan |
| Born | April 24, 1960 Arlington, Texas, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
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| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Trained by |
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| Debut | 1984 |
| Retired | 1996 |
William Kevin Vaughan (born April 24, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Lance Von Erich. [1]
Vaughan was discovered by World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) based out of Dallas, Texas in the latter months of 1984. He trained there for a short period of time until Fritz Von Erich sent him to work with Don Owen in Portland, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Pacific Northwest territory. There, he wrestled under the name "Ricky Vaughan" and wrestled as a babyface, often teaming with Bobby Jaggers and Billy Jack Haynes. As Ricky Vaughn, he won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship with Billy Jack Haynes on May 11, 1985 when they defeated the team of Mega Maharishi and Kendo Nagasaki; the titles were later vacated when Haynes left the territory.
In October 1985, when Mike Von Erich was unable to wrestle due to toxic shock syndrome, Vaughan went to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) to take his place in the feud against the Fabulous Freebirds. [2] He adopted the name Lance Von Erich and was billed as the son of Fritz Von Erich's "brother" Waldo. [2] [3] In reality, neither Vaughan nor Waldo were related to the Adkisson family or each other.
Kevin Von Erich, as well as most of the family, was adamantly against bringing Vaughan in as another Von Erich, but Fritz was adamant, especially as Kevin and Kerry were wrestling two or three times a day in various places throughout the Texas territory. [4] The deception made the Von Erichs look like liars to their fans, who normally saw them as good guys who could do no wrong. [2] [4]
On October 28, 1985, Vaughan wrestled Ric Flair in Fort Worth, Texas, in the last NWA World title match in the World Class territory. [5] [ unreliable source? ] The match ended in a no contest when both men were counted out of the ring; World Class withdrew from the NWA in February 1986. On May 4, 1986 at The 3rd Annual Von Erich Parade of Champions he teamed with Kerry Von Erich and Steve Simpson to defeat The Fabulous Freebirds for the WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. On September 1, 1986, he entered in a tournament for the vacant WCWA World Tag Team Championship with Chris Adams. The team made it to the finals where they were defeated by Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer. Lance got his revenge on November 17, 1986, when he teamed with The Dingo Warrior to capture the titles back from Borne and Sawyer. In October 1986, he wrestled a tour for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, most notably his disqualification victory against Kengo Kimura on October 9.
When demands for more money in 1987 were not met by Fritz, Vaughan jumped to a rival territory, Wild West Wrestling. [2] In a rare breach of kayfabe, Vaughan's non-relationship to the family was exposed by Fritz on television in retaliation. Because the Von Erich surname was a registered trademark, Vaughan wrestled under the ring name "Fabulous Lance" after leaving World Class. [1] He subsequently wrestled in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council after Wild West Wrestling folded.
In May 1993, after a hiatus, Vaughan returned and was back wrestling as Lance Von Erich for promotions such as International Wrestling Federation in Florida and International World Class Championship Wrestling in New York. In December 1993, he wrestled a tour of India. In 1994, he wrestled a tour of South Africa for England's All-Star Wrestling. In 1996, he wrestled a tour of Malaysia for the National Wrestling Alliance, before retiring.
Prior to becoming a wrestler, Vaughan was a real estate agent and he competed in weightlifting and bodybuilding competitions. Vaughan set various State and national records in powerlifting and bodybuilding tournaments. [6] Vaughan was chosen to represent South Africa in The Mr Universe Competition. After wrestling, he owned health clubs in South Africa. [6] Vaughan sold his health clubs for an estimated five million in 1996. Vaughan's net worth at the time was estimated to be six million dollars.
In 2020, Vaughan released an autobiography of his time as a Von Erich and wrestling around the world titled "Lance By Chance". [14]
Lance was portrayed by Maxwell Jacob Friedman in the A24 movie The Iron Claw , in a very brief appearance, based on the life of Kevin and The Von Erich family (listed simply as "Lance" in the credits). [15] [16]
World Class Championship Wrestling(WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1966–1990) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich. Beginning as a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), it went independent in 1986 in a bid to become a major national promotion, but was unsuccessful in its attempts and eventually went out of business in 1990. Rights to the pre-1989 WCCW tape library belong to WWE (the post-1988 rights are owned by International World Class Championship Wrestling) and select episodes from 1982 to 1988 are available on the WWE Network.
David Alan Adkisson was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name David Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich Family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with World Class Championship Wrestling, the Dallas, Texas-based professional wrestling promotion owned by his father, Fritz Von Erich.
Christopher Adams, best known as "Gentleman" Chris Adams, was an English professional wrestler, promoter, coach, and judoka.
Kerry Gene Adkisson, better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with his father's promotion World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he spent eleven years of his career, and his time in World Wrestling Federation (WWF), under the ring name the Texas Tornado. Adkisson held forty championships in various promotions during his career. Among other accolades, he was a one-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him an overall five-time world champion and one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion.
Michael Seitz is an American retired professional wrestler and former musician. Seitz is best known for leading The Fabulous Freebirds under the ring name Michael "P.S." Hayes and for his role as an announcer under the name "Handsome" Dok Hendrix in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He is currently employed with WWE as Vice President, Creative Writing & Booking and is also a senior producer.
Kevin Ross Adkisson is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kevin Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich family, Von Erich is best known for his appearances with his father's World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. He is a one-time world champion, having held the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Michael Brett Adkisson was an American professional wrestler under the ring name Mike Von Erich. His four brothers, David, Kerry, Kevin and Chris, also wrestled. He was the son of longtime Texas wrestler and wrestling promoter Fritz Von Erich and a member of the Von Erich family.
Jack Barton Adkisson Sr., better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champion and a record 20-time NWA United States Champion. He was also the owner of the World Class Championship Wrestling territory.
Alberto "Al" Madril is an American retired professional wrestler.
Dale Hey was a Canadian-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Buddy Roberts. Primarily a tag team wrestler, Roberts is known for his appearances as one of The Hollywood Blonds in the 1970s and as one of The Fabulous Freebirds in the 1980s. He was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016 as part of The Fabulous Freebirds.
Brian Gower is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Brian Adias. He is best known for his appearances with World Class Championship Wrestling.
The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in June 1966 by WCWA's predecessor NWA Big Time Wrestling (BTW), billed as the local version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship before being renamed the NWA American Heavyweight Championship in May 1968. In 1982, Big Time Wrestling rebranded themselves as "World Class Championship Wrestling" (WCCW) and the championship was renamed the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship. In 1986 WCCW withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance, creating the World Class Wrestling Association, replacing the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship with the WCWA Heavyweight Championship, replacing the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship as the top title recognized by the promotion. In 1989, the WCWA championship was unified with the AWA World Heavyweight Championship to become the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship as WCWA merged with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) to become the United States Wrestling Association. In 1990 WCWA split from the USWA, but the promotion folded without determining a WCWA World Heavyweight Champion. As it is a professional wrestling championship, the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was not won by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match.
The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally introduced as the NWA United States Tag Team Championship in 1967, when the promotion was known as NWA Big Time Wrestling. It was later renamed the NWA American Tag Team Championship in 1969. In 1982 Big Time Wrestling, changed their name to World Class Championship Wrestling and the title became the WCCW American Tag Team Championship. In 1986 WCCW became World Class Wrestling Association and the championship was rebranded as the WCWA World Tag Team Championship. In 1989 the title was won by Cactus Jack and Scott Braddock, where it was transformed into the USWA World Tag Team Championship. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match. The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship served as the secondary tag team championship in the promotion from 1950 to 1989.
The WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) from 1982 until 1988. The company was known as World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1982 as they introduced the WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, on occasion billed as the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship . As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match.
King Bailey Parsons Jr. is a former professional wrestler better known by his ring name Iceman King Parsons.
The WCCW Parade of Champions was a series of professional wrestling supercards promoted by Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling first in 1961, in 1972 and then annually from 1984 through 1988. Von Erich used the "Parade of Champions" name in 1984 as a way to honor his recently deceased son, David and the subsequent Parade of Champions were all "Von Erich Memorial" Parades of Champions. At the inaugural Von Erich Memorial event, in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a pro wrestling event in the United States up to that point, Kerry Von Erich defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, only to lose it back to Flair 18 days later in Yokohama, Japan. Over the next few years, Von Erich altered the names as tragedy repeatedly struck his family. The Parade of Champions was the most recognized event that World Class Championship Wrestling, later known as World Class Wrestling Association, promoted. There was a Parade of Champions super card held by Southern Sports in 1961 and another held by Big Time Wrestling in 1972. All Parade of Champions supercards were held at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. A wrestling organization out of Texas called NWA Southwest ran an event in late August, 2010, called Parade of Champions, which it claimed was the "Longest Running Wrestling Event In Texas History Dating Back To 1972," but there was no actual connection between the WCCW show event other than the name.
Stephan Simpson is a South African former professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Steve Simpson.
The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member who has been in the wrestling business has used the ring name "Von Erich," after the family patriarch, Fritz Von Erich. Jack took on the name as part of his wrestling gimmick as he originally portrayed a Nazi heel, hence his use of a German name.
The WCCW Cotton Bowl Extravaganza was an annual professional wrestling supercard promoted by Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling / World Class Wrestling Association. It was held in October every year from 1984 through 1988. All Cotton Bowl Extravaganza events were held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas
Shaun Simpson is a retired professional wrestler from South Africa.
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