 Hernandez,c. 1984 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Eugene Wolfe Jr. (1957-08-08)August 8, 1957 Highland Park, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | February 2, 1986(1986-02-02) (aged 28)[2] Highland Park, Texas, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Cocaine intoxication (Allegedly) |
Spouses | |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Gino Hernandez |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 238 lb (108 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Highland Park, Texas[1] |
| Trained by | José Lothario |
| Debut | 1975 |
Charles Eugene Wolfe Jr. (August 8, 1957 – February 2, 1986) was an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,Gino Hernandez. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with theDallas, Texas-basedpromotionWorld Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) between 1976 until his death in 1986.[2] Hernandez's death was initially ruled amurder case, but police later concluded that he had died of a drug overdose. Despite this conclusion, those close to Hernandez and fans alike continue to speculate about the circumstances surrounding his death.
As a rookie,babyface wrestler inEd Farhat's Big Time Wrestling promotion in Detroit, "Gino Hernandez" was a very young, fresh-faced performer who gotover with female fans due to his long black hair, and good looks. He won Big Time's top title (its version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship) by defeating"Bulldog" Don Kent. During this time, Wolfe also wrestled at least one match for WWE forerunner theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Gino lost the (Detroit) U.S. Title to his real-life boss:The Sheik (Big Time Wrestling owner and booker Eddie Farhat's 'Psycho-Arab'heel persona).
Gino Hernandez —nicknamed "The Handsome Halfbreed"—started wrestling in 1975 in the San Antonio, Texas wrestling territory,Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW), after being trained byJose Lothario. He was initially in a tag-team with Lothario, then turned into a singles act via a "protege vs. mentor" storyline. The storyline feud with Lothario culminated in a "hair vs. hair match", which Hernandez lost—having his head shaved in the ring, as a result.
In the late-1970s and early-1980s, Gino worked for Dallas-based territory,World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) (called NWA Big Time Wrestling, at the time). The highlight was a storyline feud withDavid Von Erich over theNWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, which Gino won and lost back to David.[3] Gino returned to SCW, forming a hugely popular tag-team ("The Dynamic Duo") with the territory owner's son,Tully Blanchard. Hernandez and Blanchard's tag-team act became so successful that they were the top (based on box office drawing power) heels in the state of Texas—regardless of territory.
In 1982, Gino instigated a storyline feud withChavo Guerrero by hitting him over the head with a beer bottle, and later insulting theGuerrero family name. This short-lived feud played out across multiple Texas territories.
Gino returned to WCCW in 1984, at different times individually or collectively feuding withthe Von Erichs:Mike,Kevin andKerry Von Erich. That summer, Gino was paired withNickla Roberts, who was billedAndrea the Lady Giant (a'laAndre the Giant). The duo worked a series ofmixed tag team matches againstSunshine andMike Von Erich. Even Sunshine's aunt, Stella Mae French, was involved. Gino was put in a tag team with WCCW newcomerJake "The Snake" Roberts in August 1984. Gino also formed a tag-team withChris Adams; WCCW called them "The Dynamic Duo", as SCW had Gino and Tully. This WCCW version proved the more famous, as Adams and Hernandez drew high revenues and television ratings for World Class in their feud with the Von Erichs.[4] The duo invented the famedgold scissors gimmick: snipping hair from the heads of their incapacitated opponents right after defeating them (a humiliation tactic meant to increase fans' anger toward the heels, increasing the heels' TV/live show drawing power). This gimmick was later used in the WWF byBrutus Beefcake.
Adams and Hernandez lost a "hair" match to Kevin and Kerry Von Erich at a Cotton Bowl show on October 6, 1985. After the match, Hernandez attempted to escape, but was tackled byChris Von Erich, who was at ringside, and eventually had his hair shaved bald. His hair quickly grew back in two months, while Adams' hair took longer. With the Von Erichs storyline completed but the momentum from it still red-hot with fans, Gino was next booked to turn on Adams in December 1985. WCCW management intended this new feud to become its top storyline throughout 1986. On January 26, 1986, during a grudge match in Fort Worth, Hernandez threw "freebird hair cream" (a "hair-removal product" previously established in WCCW storyline continuity in 1983 by FreebirdBuddy Roberts) into Adams' face, rendering Adams blind (in reality, Adams was returning to his native England to spend time with his new wifeToni, and his family; however, WCCW told Adams he had to continue to "sell" the blindness whenever out in public). Hernandez was scheduled to perform on ahouse show the following Thursday, and on a non-televised show at Dallas'Sportatorium the following Friday. After Gino no-showed both events, WCCW management's phone calls to him went unanswered.
His mother was Patrice Aguirre and his father was Charles Eugene Wolfe Sr., with the latter's identity being unknown to the point that wrestling fans speculated that Wolfe's father was actuallyHouston Wrestling promoterPaul Boesch, due to how close they were. Wolfe adopted the Gino Hernandez name after his stepfather, Luis Hernandez, who trained with him when Gino was a child.[5]
Wolfe was married twice, both times to Janice Marie Bancroft.[6] They were first married on April 10, 1976 inHarris County, Texas, before divorcing soon after on January 27, 1977. During their first marriage, they had a daughter, Lisa Marie, named after Lisa Marie Presley. A second daughter followed, Tasha. The pair remarried on April 12, 1978 before divorcing again on July 19, 1979.
On February 4, 1986, concerned with Wolfe's well-being, two WCCW officials (David Manning and Rick Hazzard) and several local police officers broke into his Highland Park, Texascondo, discovering Wolfe's decomposing corpse. He had been dead for approximately three to four days. Initially, Wolfe's death was ruled a homicide case; but following autopsy reports, his death was ruled the result of acocaineoverdose (Allegedly).[4]
Wolfe's drug abuse (e.g., alcohol and cocaine, among others) was no secret to many World Class mainstays, including onscreen manager/one-time bookerGary Hart, who claimed to have repeatedly encouraged Wolfe to "get clean".[7] The syndicated World Class TV episode scheduled to air the weekend of February 15, 1986 originally included a Gino Hernandez match taped on January 24 at theDallas Sportatorium. This match never aired; instead, show announcerBill Mercer gave an on-camera announcement of Gino's death, and a different match aired in its place.[8] Both Mercer andMarc Lowrance treated Hernandez's death as well as Chris Adams' blinding angle as equally significant during a time when World Class was about to go forward with their feud beginning at Texas Stadium. Adams returned the following May, and won the World Class Heavyweight Championship two months later. The funeral service and its expenses were handled by a reputed local drug dealer/trafficker called John Royal, with whom Hernandez had become friends. Family members were uncomfortable with Royal and his associates overseeing the funeral proceedings; many had never heard of or met them prior to Wolfe's death.[9]
Although police dropped the homicide investigation into Hernandez's death, some still believe he was murdered in a drug-related incident.[9][10][11] According to David Manning, Hernandez had five times the amount of cocaine in his system that would have resulted in a fatality, and he and Kevin Von Erich stated that Hernandez also had cocaine in his stomach.[12] Manning also suspected foul play due to the fact that Hernandez'sdead bolt on his door was not locked, as he made it a habit in the past to lock the dead bolt at all times.[12] In the weeks before his death, Hernandez had expressed to Manning and others the belief that his life was under threat.[9]
Former rivalMichael Hayes said in a 2016 interview: "I have a real,real hard time believing that Gino Hernandez OD'd... he was most definitely hanging with the wrong crowd, and either ran his mouth too much, or knew too much, or all of the above."[13] Asked about Hernandez's death,Jake Roberts said: "Gino was attached to some heavy people... he was running in some pretty big circles, man, that maybe he didn't belong [in]."[14] Hernandez's mother Patrice Aguirre and ex-wife Janice Marie Bancroft expressed the belief that he was probably murdered; Aguirre reported that criminal Jon Royal had told her of debts owed to him by Hernandez. She later received a recorded message from a gangland source who was close to Hernandez, claiming that her son was not murdered.[9]
Both Aguirre and Bancroft have explored the possibility that Hernandezfaked his death, given that he had once talked about doing so, and because the autopsy report was replete with errors about his ethnicity and physicality. The family never saw his body, which was concealed by Hernandez's manager Walter Ayman due to its decomposed state, and honored in a closed-casket service.[9] WrestlerBrutus Beefcake has rejected the murder theory, saying that Hernandez "had a serious drug problem" and was an "intense, crazy partier".[15]Jeanie Clarke spoke about Hernandez's mental state in the weeks leading up to his death in her autobiography, describing an incident where he virtually held her hostage (including brandishing a gun) as he fell into a deeply paranoid episode following a night partying and binging on cocaine. Hernandez was embarrassed and apologetic afterwards, and Clarke expressed concern for the intensity of his drug use.[16] A documentary onViceland TV, part of theDark Side of the Ring series, called "The Mysterious Death of Gorgeous Gino", aired on May 8, 2019.
Some people said he might have been murdered.
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,Internet Wrestling Database