Kerry Von Erich

Kerry Adkisson was born on February 3, 1960, to Jack and Doris Adkisson. Jack was a wrestler, so most of Jack's children followed in his footsteps (one child, Jack Adkisson, Jr., tragically died in 1959 from electrocution). Kerry was a standout discus thrower at University of Houston, and actually held the SWC discus record; coincidentally, Kerry's father Jack was the previous record holder). Kerry began wrestling around 1980, and his biggest achievement was pinning Ric Flair for the NWA world heavyweight title on May 6, 1984, at Texas Stadium at the inaugural David Von Erich Memorial Parade Of Champions, a wrestling super-card in memory of Kerry's brother David who died in Japan during a wrestling tour in January of that year; Flair would regain the title 18 days later in Yokohama, Japan. Kerry was poised to be a superstar for years to come, but a serious motorcycle accident in 1986 would change his life forever. His injuries from the accident were so severe that a foot had to be amputated, and he wrestled with a prosthetic foot for the rest of his career. As a result of these injuries, he became addicted to painkillers, and in 1991 he was arrested for forging prescriptions; this resulted in him being fired from the WWF. He was given probation, but a little over a year later, he violated his probation by being caught in possession of unauthorized prescription drugs. Recently divorced and despondent over an impending prison sentence. Kerry Adkisson took his own life on February 18th, 1993, at the family ranch. He was preceded in death by his four brothers: Jack (1952-1959), David Von Erich (1958-1984), Mike Von Erich (1964-1987) and Chris Von Erich (1969-1991).