Chad’s Throwback Spotlight: Gentleman Chris Adams

Today, we are going to discuss yet another wrestler from the past that does not get the recognition he deserves. He was a top draw in the 1980’s, had legitimate fighting skills to back it all up, and gave wrestling one of its most well-known moves. Let’s talk today about “Gentleman” Chris Adams.

Adams grew up in England. He was, naturally, a gifted athlete and played a number of sports. He earned a blackbelt in judo and was a member of Great Britain’s 1980 Olympic team, although he did not compete. He soon turned to professional wrestling. Early on in his career in England, he crossed paths with a number of future stars in Fit Finlay, Dave Taylor, and both Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid.

As his star began to rise, he was given an opportunity to come to Los Angeles to wrestle for judo legend Gene LeBell. Now, Gene LeBell gained some acclaim in recent years due to Daniel Bryan. Bryan’s LeBell Lock finisher was named in honor of the former wrestler, promoter, judo coach, and Hollywood stunt coordinator. Adams proved to be a popular draw in the US, drawing interest for tours of Japan and Mexico, and from promoters up and down the west coast.

Adams, after a stint in the famous Portland territory, would make his most famous move, this time east to Texas. Adams was presented as a pen pal of Kevin Von Erich and slotted right along side the brothers in their legendary battles with the Fabulous Freebirds. He was good looking, popular, and wrestled an exciting style. He fit right into the World Class roster, and the crowds loved him.

As documented last week in my Throwback Slant, Adams famously turned on the Von Erichs and sided with Gino Hernandez in a brutal feud during 1985. Their battles ultimately cost Adams and Hernandez their hair, and later they split up with a dramatic blinding angle. Adams used the time off from the blinding angle to go home to England for a time. After Gino’s death, Adams was suddenly portrayed as a returning hero who had seen the error of his ways. Adams went on to win the WCWA title from Rick Rude, probably the top championship honor of his career.

As WCCW started to decline, Adams would bounce back and forth between World Class, Bill Watts’ Mid-South/UWF territory with moderate success. He would work for the USWA and GWF, both based in Dallas as well. He spent a couple years in the late 1990’s in WCW as enhancement talent, having a low-level feud with Glacier and wrestling Randy Savage on the first match of the debut episode of Thunder.

As his career started to wind down, Adams opened a wrestling school. Among his first pupils was one Steve Austin. Austin and Adams would end up working a program together for the USWA. Later on, Austin married a woman Adams had formerly been in a long-term relationship with, Jeanie Clarke. Legend has it, she was the one who gave Austin his “Stone Cold” moniker. So, that would mean Chris Adams was directly responsible for not only breaking in arguable the biggest star in the history of the business, but by introducing him to Clarke, he had an indirect hand in the gimmick tweak that propelled Austin to that superstardom. And while those two instances by themselves would probably guarantee his name would live on in some capacity, Adams’ most important legacy is something much different.

As a legit black belt, Adams incorporated much of his martial-arts training into his wrestling style. Now, martial-arts gimmicks had been around for decades, normally used by stereo-typical evil foreigners who did not speak any English. Adams was a novelty, a well-spoken Brit who looked nothing like those men. Included in that arsenal was a strong and sudden thrust kick, something that Adams later coined as the Superkick.

Now, he was not the first to use the move. We just said martial arts kicks had been a part of wrestling for decades. A fellow World Class competitor, The Great Kabuki, used a similar type of thrust kick during their WCCW tenure. But it was Adams extra side-step along with his quickness that gave his kick that something special that captured the audiences imagination.

Of course, Shawn Michaels took the move to new heights, using his Sweet Chin Music to win numerous WWF Championships. Originally just a move in his arsenal, Michaels was encouraged by Scott Hall to make the Superkick his finishing move. And it worked perfectly for him, just as it had for Chris Adams.

In the current era, it seems there are countless wrestlers who feature the Superkick as a regular part of their move set. Dolph Ziggler, The Young Bucks, The Usos, Seth Rollins, James Storm, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Kevin Owens, among others, all have adapted The Gentleman’s signature move into their arsenals. We take for granted that the Superkick has always been part of wrestling, like a headlock or a suplex, but in all honesty, its place as a regular move is a fairly recent one and can all be traced back to Chris Adams.

Sadly, Adams, like so many from his generation, had issues throughout his life and career with alcohol and drugs. He was arrested on a number of occasions, including manslaughter charges in 2000 stemming from an incident where he, his then-girlfriend, and another acquaintance overdosed on GHB and the acquaintance did not survive.  Adams and was shot and killed in 2001 during a drunken brawl with a friend at his home in Texas. He was 46 years old.

So, the next time you watch a Superkick Party on AEW, or see Dolph or Seth try and take someone’s head off in a WWE ring, stop for a moment and remember the man who brought that move to the forefront in the 80’s, and gave it its iconic name, Gentleman Chris Adams.

Until next time, watch some wrestling this week, stay safe, and never forget to #UseYourHead