Fritz Von Erich

**Jack Barton Adkisson** (August 16, 1929 - September 10, 1997) was a professional wrestler under the name **Fritz Von Erich**, better known today as a wrestling promoter and the patriarch of the tragically famous Von Erich wrestling family.

## Professional wrestling career

Jack attended Southern Methodist University where he threw discus and played football. He played one season of pro football for the Dallas Texans and then tried the Canadian Football League. While in Edmonton, he met Stu Hart and Hart decided to train and book him in his Klondike Wrestling promotion. By the end of the 1950s, "Fritz" would be a top drawing heel throughout the country due to his large size, ability and interview ability. However, in 1959 his oldest son Jack Jr.died in an electrocution accident and he stopped traveling to the east coast allowing former partner Waldo Von Erich to use the name in WWWF. He had five other sons who eventually wrestled as "Von Erichs," Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike and Chris.

His major circuit was Sam Muchnick's NWA stronghold at Saint Louis, Missouri. He was even considered a top contender to be voted NWA World Heavyweight Champion but current champion Lou Thesz was very vocal in his dislike of " gimmick" wrestlers and the board of directors did not want the champion to have an obviously fake stage name. Jack offered to wrestle under his real name when he was up again for a possible title reign in the 1970s but again, the board of directors voted it down. In 1975, Adkisson became president of the NWA eventhough he continued to wrestle in his own promotion, which other members of the board of directors found as a conflict of interest. His time as president was seen as the time when the World Heavyweight Championship was devalued and unity within the NWA was damaged.

Adkisson was a large star in Japan as well and was a major part of rebuilding Japanese wrestling after the stabbing death of Rikidozan. He became a star due to his feud with Antonio Inoki and his "Iron Claw" hold, which became one of the most popular wrestling moves in Japan.

In 1982, he held his first retirement match against King Kong Bundy in the newly renamed World Class Championship Wrestling promotion out of Dallas. The promotion was known for its high production values, use of entrance music and the use of syndication. The promotion was one of the most successful territories with major draws like his sons, the Fabulous Freebirds, Christopher Adams, Gino Hernandez and Rick Rude. By the end of the eighties, the promotion's talent pool was thin and it was eventually merged with Jerry Jarrett's Memphis promotion.

## Death

Adkisson died of brain and lung cancer on September 10, 1997 at the age of 68.

Within a 10-year span, four of the remaining five Adkisson sons died premature deaths. David died in 1984 under circumstances that are still debated today. Officially, his cause of death was listed as acute gastroenteritis, but many believe that he actually died of a drug overdose. (Ric Flair implies this in his book "To Be The Man", stating that Bruiser Brody destroyed evidence to this effect.) Mike died of a self-inflicted drug overdose in 1987. Chris committed suicide in 1991; Kerry, the most successful in the ring, also committed suicide in 1993 after well-documented substance abuse problems. Kevin is the only survivor of the Adkisson sons.