Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Most fans are already well versed on the many tragedies of the Von Erich family throughout the years. The combination of their rock star lifestyles and the insane amount of pressure to live up to the Von Erich name certainly caught up to them. Whether it was drugs, alcohol or the desire to make their father Fritz proud…each of the Von Erich tragedies have there own story. The one brother who isn’t nearly discussed enough is the youngest of the clan. Chris Adkisson aka Chris Von Erich’s demise is one of the saddest of all.
He was born Christopher Barton Adkisson on September 30, 1969, the youngest son of Fritz and Doris Adkisson. Growing up, Chris had suffered from severe asthma and the medication to combat that, caused him to have brittle bones. He was the “runt of the Von Erich litter” so to speak, only growing to 5 feet 5 inches and weighing approximately 175 to 180 pounds. Despite the shortcomings he had physically, Chris was perhaps the most passionate about the sport of professional wrestling having grown up around the business at the time his older brothers were superstars.
As a youth, Chris would beg his father to do things involved in wrestling. His father had him work behind the scenes working in production and doing odd jobs to keep busy. Chris was also involved in some small angles involving the family’s arch rivals the Freebirds and Gino Hernandez, but rarely got physical. Chris idolized his older brother Kerry and wanted to be just like him in every aspect. Chris would dress and act like his older brother. Kerry once said of Chris…”He was my biggest cheerleader” whenever Kerry wrestled. Chris signed up to become an amateur wrestler beginning at the age of six years old. He wrestled all throughout his school years. Fritz would brag to everyone how Chris was “the best amateur wrestler of all his boys” having lost only one match his entire amateur career.
When his brother Mike committed suicide in 1987, Chris went into a very deep depression. He started using drugs to cope with his sadness. It fueled him to get into the ring and continue the Von Erich legacy. At 18 years old, Chris left high school and wanted to be trained to become a pro wrestler. Fritz agreed to train him and with the assistance of his brothers Kevin and Kerry…Chris learned the ropes of becoming a pro wrestler. He added some bulk, topping at 200 pounds. At the time, Jerry Jarrett had become business partners with the Von Erichs. When he discovered that Chris was training to become a pro wrestler, Jarrett refused to book him on any shows. He felt that Chris was way too small and had too many health issues to succeed. When the Jarrett/Von Erich partnership began to deteriorate, Chris was given an opportunity to wrestle and made his pro debut in 1990. Fritz had the ring announcer bill him as 5 ft 7 in instead of his actual 5 ft 5in stature to add some length to his very small frame.
Chris was thrust into a feud with Matt Borne and his manager Percy Pringle after Borne turned on the Von Erich brothers. Chris wrestled Percy in singles matches and teamed with both Kevin and ’Gentleman’ Chris Adams. The youngest Von Erich had to deal with the frustrations of not only being the youngest of the Von Erich family to wrestle, but also being the smallest. While his older brothers were being mobbed by a plethora of beautiful women and treated like rock stars…Chris was experiencing something different. In an interview in 1990, Chris talked about that by saying…”Everybody was running around saying “Poor little Chris Von Erich.” Little Chris. People around here have always treated me like I’m 10 years old or something. Hey, I’m a man. I’m 20 years old now, and I figured it was time to stand up for myself.“
Chris was dealt a huge setback in his young career in 1991, when he suffered an arm injury. That followed with a severe asthma attack that hospitalized him. The combination of both caused Chris to lose his muscle mass that he worked so hard to obtain and he was basically at square one again. His frustrations grew and with that, turned to drugs like cocaine. In a completely depressed state, Chris walked out of the family home and sat alone on a hill. His brother Kevin saw him sitting outside by himself at night and decided to go out and talk to him. Chris revealed his frustrations with his stalled out wrestling career and all confided in Kevin that he was suicidal. Kevin talked to his little brother and made him promise to not do anything stupid. Chris agreed and promised to not kill himself.
Later on that very evening at around 9 pm, a single gun shot was heard. Kevin and his mother Doris ran out to the barn where they discovered Chris on the ground with a single gun shot wound to his head and a 9mm pistol by his side. He was rushed to a local hospital and at 10pm was pronounced dead. After which, both Kevin and father Fritz held a news conference to announce Chris’ death. Fritz cited that Chris battled depression due to the fact that he would never make it in professional wrestling. A suicide note was later discovered and in it…Chris pleaded for whomever found the note…not to blame the family for his death.
A toxicology report revealed that there was both cocaine and valium in Chris’s system. Chris Von Erich was just 21 years old at the time of his death. He was only eighteen days shy of his 22nd birthday. Chris Von Erich never had the career of his other brothers and probably will not be so easily remembered. By the time Chris committed suicide, many fans were already hardened by all the other tragedies that befell the family. Regardless, Chris Von Erich had heart, passion and a love for professional wrestling and his family and should always be remembered.
