Lance Von Erich

Lance Von Erich
Birth name William Kevin Vaughan
Born (1960-04-24) April 24, 1960
Residence Arlington, Texas
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Ricky Vaughan
Lance Von Erich
The Fabulous Lance
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight 265 lb (120 kg; 18.9 st)
Trained by Dennis Sheldon M.D.
Debut 1984
Retired 1996

William Kevin Vaughan (born April 24, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Lance Von Erich.[1]

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Vaughan started wrestling in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Pacific Northwest territory as Ricky Vaughan in 1984. He feuded with Bobby Jaggers.

World Class Championship Wrestling

In October 1985, when Mike Von Erich was unable to wrestle due to toxic shock syndrome, Vaughan went to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) to take his place in the feud against the Fabulous Freebirds.[2] He adopted the name Lance Von Erich and was billed as the son of Fritz Von Erich's "brother" Waldo.[2][3] In reality, neither Vaughan nor Waldo were related to the Adkisson family.

Kevin Von Erich, as well as most of the family, was adamantly against bringing Vaughan in as another Von Erich, but Fritz was adamant, especially as Kevin and Kerry were wrestling two or three times a day in various places throughout the Texas territory.[4] The deception made the von Erichs look like liars to their fans, who normally saw them as good guys who could do no wrong.[2][4]

On October 28, 1985, Vaughan wrestled Ric Flair in Fort Worth, Texas, in the last NWA World title match in the World Class territory.[5] The match ended in a no contest; World Class withdrew from the NWA in February 1986. In October 1986, he wrestled a tour for New Japan Pro Wrestling, most notably his disqualification victory against Kengo Kimura on October 9.

Vaughan quit teaming with the von Erichs by late 1986 and took on Dingo Warrior as his partner; the pair briefly held the WCCW tag team championship. When demands for more money in 1987 were not met by Fritz, Vaughan jumped to a rival territory, Wild West Wrestling.[2] In a rare breach of kayfabe, Vaughan's non-relationship to the family was exposed by Fritz on television in retaliation.

Final years

Because the Von Erich surname was a registered trademark, Vaughan wrestled under the ring name Fabulous Lance after leaving World Class.[1] He subsequently wrestled in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council after Wild West Wrestling folded.

In May 1993, after a hiatus, Vaughan returned and was back wrestling as Lance Von Erich for promotions such as International Wrestling Federation in Florida and International World Class Championship Wrestling in New York. In December 1993, he wrestled a tour of India. In 1994, he wrestled a tour of South Africa for England's All-Star Wrestling. In 1996, he wrestled a tour of Malaysia for the National Wrestling Alliance, before retiring.

Championships and accomplishments

  • PWI ranked him #311 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991[6]
  • PWI ranked him #317 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Reynolds, R. D.; Braxton, Blade (2007). The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists!. ECW Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-1-55022-762-8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hollandsworth, Skip. "The Fall of the House of Von Erich". D Magazine. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  3. ↑ Oliver, Greg (January 2, 2009). "Waldo von Erich Q&A: Part 1". SLAM Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Triumphs and Tragedies of World Class Championship Wrestling (documentary). WarnerBrothers. March 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Ric Flair's last NWA world title match in WCCW - Pro Wrestling - Sports And Wrestling - WowBB Forums". mywowbb.com. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "PWI 500 1991". The Turnbuckle Post. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  7. ↑ "PWI 500 of the PWI Years". Willy Wrestlefest. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
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