Adrian Adonis

[The Brain]

I don’t have a lot of knowledge about Adrian Adonis but he’s someone I’d like to know a little more about. Most of us probably remember him as Adorable Adrian Adonis, an over the top cross dressing feminine character. Due to the timing of it, that gimmick is what defines his career. I’m curious to hear if anyone has any thoughts on Adonis before he became the Adorable one.

From what I’ve heard Adonis was actually kind of a bad ass. He was a tough fighter from New York City and a talented arrogant heel. I’ve heard guys like Jesse Ventura and Roddy Piper speak highly of him. I figure you had to be pretty tough to be partners with Ventura and Dick Murdoch. Other than McMahon looking for an over the top gimmick during his mid 80s expansion I don’t know why a tough guy like Adonis would be transformed into the Adorable one. Couldn’t that gimmick have gone to someone else? I have heard that the gimmick was a punishment because Adonis allowed himself to become horribly out of shape. I don’t know if it was punishment but I suppose Vince figured his arrogant tough guy days were over considering his physical appearance. This makes me wonder how Adonis let himself get so out of shape in the first place. Had Adonis not let his physical appearance go could he have had more success in the WWF under his original gimmick?

I’m assuming 99% of the people here are too young to remember Adonis. I only remember Adorable Adrian Adonis and I barely remember that. Adonis died in 1988 (shockingly he was only 33) so most of us probably don’t have many memories of him from when he was alive. I’d love to hear some opinions from those that actually remember a pre adorable Adrian Adonis. Anyone else please feel free to chime in with any thoughts on him at all.

 

[paledarkhorse]

I remember adorable Adrian Adonis well from my childhood and him feuding with I think it was Roddy Piper or maybe Junkyard dog. Also my brother told me back then that Adrian was a real badass. Sadly he died in a car wreck with a couple other wrestlers though i dont remember any of them being that big of stars like adrian was. I always laughed at the leg warmers and the pink tights. Brings back good childhood memories

 

[closet_fan]

Adonis was never really a "fit" guy in the first place. If you look at these photos from his early years, you can see he gave Dusty Rhodes a run for his money in the "rotund" department.

Taken from Wikipedia:

When injuries caused Ventura to stop wrestling regularly, Adonis formed a tag team with the Texan Dick Murdoch, called the North-South Connection. The team debuted in late 1983. Around this time, Adonis (who had previously been a beefy but generally conditioned man) gained a large amount of fat. On April 17, 1984, The North-South Connection defeated Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship. They held the title until January 21, 1985, when they were defeated by Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo. The team split shortly after the loss.

Not that Wikipedia is ever right. But judging by the fact that he was pushed down after gaining so much weight, you could be right about the punishment thing. I only remember him from his "Adorable" days as well. He was still a pretty good wrestler and agile for someone so big ala Bam Bam Bigelow. Although the Wrestling Observer voted him Most Embarrassing Wrestler in 1986 and Worst Gimmick in 1986 and 1987. I doubt he cared that much about it because he took the character with him back to the AWA.

 

[triplehbk23]

Adonis was a great actor. Back in the day when he was with ventura they were both billed as a bad ass tag team...The East West connection. When he later moved on to Adorable Adrian Adonis, they used him to get over Roddy Piper as a face as well as the role Adonis had played in the face turn of Brutus the barber beefcake when Adonis screwed up in a 6 man tag with Beefcake and Valentine against Lanny Poffo and I believe the Killer Bees and by mistake cut beefcakes hair instead of Poffos, creating Beefcakes Barber gimmick. Adonis would move on to Wmania 3 against Piper in what was billed as Pipers last match and after Piper won it was Brutus that would end up cutting all the hair off of Adorable Adrian. sadly in 1988 I believe it was, Adonis would die tragically in a car wreck. He was a big guy and probably the 1st 300 pounder I ever saw do a moonsault. He was one of a kind. Hope this helps.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't have much to offer. Just remember his WWF run and always wishing he would stop acting that way. It didn't make sense to me. I didn't know if he was supposed to be gay or if he was just trying to make fun of gay people. I didn't know or understand much about sexuality at the time but I knew wrestling wasn't real and whatever Adonis was doing was insulting and not very entertaining.

I think he had a large canister of perfume that he would spray in his opponent's eyes, wore a muumuu, wore a heavy amount of blue eyeshadow occassionally, hosted a talk show called The Flowershop, and would throw flowers to aggitate the audience. As much as it seemed like Vince may have been punishing him for his appearance the guy got a ton of camera time and a gimmick that seemed way different from anything in the Hogan Era. It was a little like Javier Bardem's bad guy in the latest Bond movie.

I am shocked to learn he was only 33 when he died. He looked about 50 when he had his Adorable run.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The punishment stuff might have had some traction, but you have to remember as well another Adrian had been doing a similar gimmick for years. Adrian Street was world famous as a gender bender heel, but was aging by the time the mid 80's rolled around, I believe he is near 73 now so would have been late 40's and a little too old for the WWE at the time. There is a great documentary out there called "The Life And Times Of Adrian Street", but I have no doubt that he was the reason for the gimmick Adonis ended up with...

Vince wanted a gimmick like Street's but in a younger guy and Adonis, not only had the same first name but had that "shock value" when compared to his previous gimmick. It would have been jarring for fans to see a once bad-ass biker type wearing dresses and make-up and would have generated instant heat. The punishment side of things may have been that Adonis hated the idea but was told he was doing it or was gone. You could imagine "yuk yuk" Vince also hoping to steal a little of Street's thunder as most fans wouldn't know the difference... "They'll just hear Adrian and think it's the same guy...save me a lot of dough..."

As for Adonis himself, he was a very talented guy but was never really above mid card - the "Adorable" persona got him one run to the upper mid against Piper but once it became clear he wasn't going to Goldust heights is when he left I think. Could they have done more? Probably but not then... it's one of those gimmicks that was a little too ahead of it's time and not quite the right person as Dustin proved only 8 years later.

 

[thebarber]

I remember Adonis when he was WWE Tag Team Champions with Dick Murdoch, Windham and Rotundo winning their first WWE Tag Title is one of the first memories of have of pro wrestling(I was 8 at the time). From all of my recollections of pro wrestling, the theme that Adonis was punished by Vince for letting his physique go and his extra cirricular activites letting him down, indeed Vince punished him by loading him with the flamboyant gimmick. From what I remember in Pipers book, he stated Adonis embraced the role, to stick it to Vince, so to speak and got very well over, his selling in matches to JYD and Tito Santana was second to none, borderline to going over the top. Speakibng of Adonis and his supposed hard man reputation, I have read many accounts of a backstage shoot between himself and Danny Spivey in which Adonis didnt like the way Spivey was performing in their match and Adonis, being the heel, was calling the match to his benefit and not the script. Backstage Adonis shot in Spivey, who in turn landed numerous punches and kicks to Adonis' head, rendering him unconcious and bleeding heavily. It has been said it was Hulk Hogan who broke this fight up, and he garnered alot of heat for doing so, as the unwritten rule back then was to let guys go until one or the other had enough on their own say so. Really, Adonis best days were pre WWF/E, his reputation both professionally and legitimately were destroyed in his WWE run, in my opinion.

 

[EastCoastFan]

Before he came "Adorable", Adrian Adonis had runs in other territories, most notably in the AWA when he and Jesse Ventura won the tag team titles. When Vince McMahon raided the AWA for talent to help grow the WWF into a national company, he was one of the guys taken, along with Hulk Hogan, Bobby Heenan and Ventura. In the WWF, he teamed with Jesse some, then teamed with Dick Murdoch to win the WWF tag team titles. Afterwards, Murdoch left and Adonis went back to working singles.

I've heard the story that the "Adorable Adrian" gimmick was a punishment exercise for being overweight. Knowing Vince McMahon's love of bodybuilder-like physiques, I can believe it. Years later, the Big Show and Mark Henry were told to lose weight. When they failed, Show got sent down to OVW and Mark Henry began an on-screen romance with Mae Young.

Back to Adrian: he left the WWF not long after WrestleMania 3. He made one TV appearance post-WM (showing off his shaved head he got that night) and then went back to the AWA for a while. Oddly enough, he was still doing the "Adorable Adrian" gimmick then.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I don’t have a lot of knowledge about Adrian Adonis but he’s someone I’d like to know a little more about. Most of us probably remember him as Adorable Adrian Adonis, an over the top cross dressing feminine character. Due to the timing of it, that gimmick is what defines his career. I’m curious to hear if anyone has any thoughts on Adonis before he became the Adorable one.

From what I’ve heard Adonis was actually kind of a bad ass. He was a tough fighter from New York City and a talented arrogant heel. I’ve heard guys like Jesse Ventura and Roddy Piper speak highly of him. I figure you had to be pretty tough to be partners with Ventura and Dick Murdoch. Other than McMahon looking for an over the top gimmick during his mid 80s expansion I don’t know why a tough guy like Adonis would be transformed into the Adorable one. Couldn’t that gimmick have gone to someone else? I have heard that the gimmick was a punishment because Adonis allowed himself to become horribly out of shape. I don’t know if it was punishment but I suppose Vince figured his arrogant tough guy days were over considering his physical appearance. This makes me wonder how Adonis let himself get so out of shape in the first place. Had Adonis not let his physical appearance go could he have had more success in the WWF under his original gimmick?

I’m assuming 99% of the people here are too young to remember Adonis. I only remember Adorable Adrian Adonis and I barely remember that. Adonis died in 1988 (shockingly he was only 33) so most of us probably don’t have many memories of him from when he was alive. I’d love to hear some opinions from those that actually remember a pre adorable Adrian Adonis. Anyone else please feel free to chime in with any thoughts on him at all.

Adrian Adonis was a legit bad ass. My earliest recollection of Adonis was his Adorable Adrian gimmick, but in doing brief research, he wrestled in Texas extensively under Joe Blanchard's Southwest Championship Wrestling. Joe is the father of Tully Blanchard, who carried the promotion and helped break in stars like Shawn Michaels and even Steve Austin had some of his first matches in the promotion.


Here he was pre-Adorable. He was a tough heel from New York City who didn't take crap from anyone. He also wrestled Bob Orton Jr. and many other stars in SCW. He has some solid matches, but the thing about Adonis was that even if he was a good hand in the ring, the tough guy gimmicks were burning out during the Rock 'n Wrestling era, so he had to don makeup, and become Adorable. All it did was get him booked on the biggest Wrestlemania in history to that point.

But you should know the background, The Brain. You managed him.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

I remember Adrian for many of his memorable matches and carrying Jesse Ventura who even admitted he (Jesse) wasn't a technical wrestling guy. I've seen him in the AWA and the WWE and have to say, he was a technically sound wrestler with a bad attitude. He was one of those few guys that could make a poor wrestler look great which is why he was so respected by his alumni.

I remember seeing him live against Bob Backlund for the WWF title. You could say what you want against Backlund but he was a sound wrestler. Adrian kept toe to toe, move for move with him and it was an excellent show. He was one of those "you love to hate this guy" wrestlers.

Sadly, he will be remembered as the out of shape, joke of a gimmick that he became instead of the talent he was. RIP Adrian!!

 

[SinCityBlitz]

My first recollection Adrian was teaming with Murdoch. When he first started out he was legit tough guy but as time went on gained a lot of weight. it's a shame that he was lost in the car accident. I liked Adonis. He was a character at the end but I will always remember him with Murdoch.

33 is just wayyy too young to die.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Here are some facts that haven't been brought up yet:

1) He teamed with Dick Murdoch and Jesse Ventura

2) He was given the Adorable gimmick, by Vince, as punishment for becoming overweight

3) He had a tough guy gimmick before his flamboyant gimmick.

I hope these new facts help. I'm surprised other people hadn't brought them up over and over previously...

 

[Trace123321]

I remember Adrian for many of his memorable matches and carrying Jesse Ventura who even admitted he (Jesse) wasn't a technical wrestling guy. I've seen him in the AWA and the WWE and have to say, he was a technically sound wrestler with a bad attitude. He was one of those few guys that could make a poor wrestler look great which is why he was so respected by his alumni.

I remember seeing him live against Bob Backlund for the WWF title. You could say what you want against Backlund but he was a sound wrestler. Adrian kept toe to toe, move for move with him and it was an excellent show. He was one of those "you love to hate this guy" wrestlers.

Sadly, he will be remembered as the out of shape, joke of a gimmick that he became instead of the talent he was. RIP Adrian!!

I remember one match at MSG where he fought Bob Backlund. The match was a classic, as it had two technical wrestlers, albeit one who was also a brawler as well, go at it. At one point point in the match, Bob Backlund got opened up. I am not sure if it was a blade job or if he was legitimately busted open, but blood was pouring out of Backlund's head. Both men keep fighting until the ringside doctor called an end to the match. This was back in the day when WWF events at MSG were under the supervision of the NYS Athletic Commission.

Again, I am not sure if it was legit, or a work, but Adrian Adonis' toughness and performance in this match has stuck with me for over 30 years.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

I actually remember those days well, when Adonis was teaming with Dick Murdoch. I think these guys were the last of a dying breed in the wake of Hulkamania. They were legitimately tough, and a pretty solid heel tag team. Other than their brash and unapologetic personalities, they didn't have much else going for them. A new generation of tag teams were on their way in - The Hart Foundation, The Bull Dogs, U.S. Express, Can Am Connection....to name a few. They were faster, more jacked, and more charismatic. I remember being shocked when Adonis reemerged months later in his new gimmick. I had never seen anything like it up until then, and quite frankly, hadn't seen anything like it until Goldust came along years later. As outrageous as he was, and so out of shape, he still had an edge to him as a legitimate tough guy.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Adonis started out in 1974 or 1975 and was mostly just a journeyman wrestler without any sort of character. He adopted the character of a tough biker in the late 70s and named the character Adrian Adonis. Allegedly, he thought it was a fun little angle having a tough guy with a very feminine name. For instance, one of Johnny Cash's biggest hits was the novelty song "A Boy Named Sue" about a tough loner searching the world for the purpose of killing his father for naming him Sue. Hell, John Wayne's real name was Marion, something a lot of people didn't know for many years. Adonis figured it would help draw heat and he was right.

Adonis was never someone that had a great build or anything, but he was most certainly slimmer in the 70s and early 80s. He formed a tag team in the AWA with Jesse "The Body" Ventura called the East-West Connection. They won the AWA World Tag Team Championship in the summer of 1980, in either June or July, and held them until June 1981. They dropped them to The High Flyers, Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell.

Both Adonis & Ventura left the AWA not long after that and headed to the WWF. Adonis was a regular challenger to Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales in singles competition, though he still did team with Jesse Ventura until he had to retire due to injuries. He formed a tag team with Dick Murdoch afterward called the North-South Connection in late '83. He & Murdock eventually beat Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson for the tag titles in April '84 before dropping them to The U.S. Express, Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, in January '85. It was during this time that Adonis really started to put on weight. He'd always been a pretty beefy guy, but he was in good condition.

It was in late 1985 I think when Adonis' character started to change. It didn't happen all at once, but rather it was a gradual change. He started out by basically carrying some sort of briefcase with the words "Relax with Trudi" on it. He also carried around some sort of cologne or perfume simply called "Fragrance". On an episode of Piper's Pit, Adonis gave Piper his leather jacket, the same jacket that Piper would wear for many years, and then just changed his character. He bleached his hair, started wearing pink trunks, he'd wear stuff like leg warmers and scarves. Sometimes, he'd come out in full blown dresses with over the top make up. Basically, the guy was the stereotypical crossdresser. Adonis drew crazy heat and laughed all the way to the bank. He was frequently a challenger for Hogan's title during these days.

They also gave him his own talk show segment, "The Flower Shop" and they used these segments mostly as sort of a backdrop for a slow heel turn for Paul Orndorff with Adonis constantly needling Orndorff about being stuck in Hogan's shadow. Piper would eventually come back to the WWF, after taking time off, and would star feuding with Adonis in late '86. It started out as sort of a "duel" I guess between Adonis & Piper as to which talk show segment was better. Don Muraco & Bob Orton would attack Piper from behind, with Adonis joining in. If I remember correctly, after they'd beaten Piper down, Adonis put make up and lipstick on Piper to add insult to injury. A week or two later, Piper would destroy the Flower Shop set with a baseball bat. Their next encounter came on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event in which Piper, after being "injured" beat Adonis with a crutch, resulting in a "separated shoulder" for Adonis. Eventually, the hair vs. hair match at WM III was made between the two. Adonis lost and left the WWE almost immediately afterward and went back to the AWA.

Back in the AWA, he kept up the gimmick more or less, though not nearly as over the top as it was in the WWF because Verne & Vince had two very different styles. Adonis was managed by Paul E. Dangerously, AKA Paul Heyman, and feuded with "Wildfire" Tommy Rich and Greg Gagne mostly.

Things really started going downhill for Adonis in late '87 as he was in financial trouble. He was scheduled to go on a tour with other AWA talent in Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling but was injured. I think it was a knee or ankle injury, I can't remember exactly. I think Adonis & Verne Gagne had something of a falling out and Adonis was unsuccessful in returning to the WWF. Adonis was killed in a car accident on July 4, 1988. He was riding in a minivan with other wrestlers, I think going to work a card somewhere in Canada. The driver of the van swerved to miss a moose that was standing in the middle of the road and accidentally drove into a nearby lake. The driver was the only one to survive the accident, though with severe leg injuries.

That's pretty much the story of Adonis' wrestling career. I thought the guy was entertaining as Adorable Adrian Adonis. It was a bold character during the 1980s and one that definitely stood out. Like a lot of wrestlers making tons of money during those days, I'd say that Adonis probably spent it faster than he was making it. Dave Meltzer absolutely despised it the character, awarding Adonis the "Most Embarrassing Wrestler" WON award in '86 and the "Worst Gimmick" WON award for '86 and '87. It was the type of character that you could never get away with in this day and age. Let's face it, the character got over in large part because of accepted prejudice of gays in society at that time. They never claimed Adonis' character was gay or anything, but the subtext was clear as day. Today, WWE would have every civil rights group shoved so far up its collective ass that you couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

 

[HBsam31]

I have seen Adrian Adonis in some compilation discs in a tag team with DIck Murdoch, and he seemed like one of those legit tought guys. I think it was in the AWA. Jesse Ventura always seemed to speak highly of him. After that all I had ever really seen from him was his adorable persona. I learned a lot more about him from this thread, and it has pushed me to check out some more of his stuff on youtube. I remeber his and Piper's match at I believe Mania 3. Great thread as these types of threads always motivate me to learn more about stars that I had never known much about before.