.png) Adonis,c. 1983 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Keith Adonis Franke (1953-09-15)September 15, 1953[1] Buffalo, New York, U.S.[1] |
| Died | July 4, 1988(1988-07-04) (aged 34)[3] Lewisporte, Newfoundland, Canada[3] |
| Cause of death | Traffic collision |
Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Adrian Adonis[1] Keith Franks[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 298 lb (135 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | New York City |
| Trained by | Fred Atkins |
| Debut | 1974[1] |
Keith Adonis Franke (September 15, 1953 – July 4, 1988) was an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,"Adorable" Adrian Adonis. He was best known for his appearances with theAmerican Wrestling Association andWorld Wrestling Federation throughout the 1980s.
Adonis debuted in 1974 under his real name, until he adopted the Adrian Adonis name in the late 1970s. He later began working for theAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA), forming a tag team withJesse Ventura called the "East-West Connection", winning theAWA World Tag Team Championship. They debuted for the World Wrestling Federation in late 1981, but Ventura stopped wrestling regularly due to injuries. After this, Adonis began teaming withDick Murdoch as the "North-South Connection", winning theWWF Tag Team Championship.
In 1986, Adonis underwent agimmick change as an effeminate, flamboyant wrestler who wore pink clothing and garishmakeup, adopting the "Adorable" Adrian Adonis name. He would be involved in a feud withRoddy Piper, which culminated in ahair vs. hair match atWrestleMania III. After he was fired in mid-1987, he made a brief return to the AWA and would make appearances in small promotions until his death in a car accident in 1988. His career was a subject of a 2023 episode ofViceland's documentary series,Dark Side of the Ring.
Franke was born on September 15, 1953, in Buffalo, New York. He was the adopted son of Kenneth and Hortense Franke, and had two sisters, Karen and Susan. He went toKenmore East High School in the class of 1971. A gifted amateur wrestler, he won a section VI title in 1970. However, he dropped out as he grew bored with school. For a short time, Adonis played football in the Canadian Football League before focusing on a wrestling career.
Franke trained underFred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under the name Keith Franks. In the late 1970s, he adopted the ring name "Adrian Adonis" and the character of a brawling,leather jacket-cladbiker.[4] InPacific Northwest Wrestling, Adonis formed a tag team withRoddy Piper. He later split from Piper and became afan favorite, teaming withRon Starr to win theNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship from Piper andKiller Brooks before losing the title tothe Kiwi Sheepherders.[4]
In the late 1970s, Adonis joined theMinneapolis-basedAmerican Wrestling Association. In 1979, he formed atag team withJesse Ventura. The team was called the "East-West Connection" because Adonis was fromNew York (in theEastern United States), while Ventura was billed fromCalifornia (in theWestern United States). The East-West Connection was awarded theAWA World Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980, whenVerne Gagne (one half of the tag champions withMad Dog Vachon) was unable to defend it because he was vacationing in Europe. They held the belts until June 14, 1981, when they were defeated byGreg Gagne andJim Brunzell.
Adonis and Ventura debuted in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in October 1981, working both as a team and in singles matches.[5] Adonis was a frequent challenger ofWWF ChampionBob Backlund andWWF Intercontinental ChampionPedro Morales throughout the first half of 1982.[6]
When injuries caused Ventura to stop wrestling regularly,[2] Adonis formed a tag team with theTexanDick Murdoch, called "The North-South Connection". The team debuted in late 1983. Around this time, Adonis (who had previously been a muscular, stocky, and well-conditioned wrestler) gained a considerable amount of weight. On April 17, 1984, The North-South Connection defeatedTony Atlas andRocky Johnson to win theWWF World Tag Team Championship. They held the title until January 21, 1985, when they were defeated byBarry Windham andMike Rotunda. The team split shortly after the loss.[4][7][8]
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In late 1985, after being briefly managed byBobby "The Brain" Heenan and adopting theDDT as a finisher, Adonis'gimmick began to change. First,Jimmy Hart became his manager when Hart tradedKing Kong Bundy to Heenan in exchange for Adonis andThe Missing Link. With Hart in his corner, Adonis defeatedCorporal Kirchner to advance inThe Wrestling Classic pay-per-view tournament in November, then lost toDynamite Kid in the quarterfinals.[9] After taking Heenan as his manager in July 1985, Adonis started carrying a briefcase. Eventually, the briefcase had the phrase "Relax with Trudi" on it. In September 1985, Hart would become his manager and he would also eventually carry a spray called Fragrance. During an edition ofPiper's Pit which aired in January 1986, Adonis gave his signature leather jacket away to hostRoddy Piper (who wore it for years afterward).
Adonis then adopted the gimmick of the effeminate "Adorable" Adrian Adonis,bleaching his hairblonde and wearing pink ring attire, as well as scarves,leg warmers, dresses, hats, and clownish amounts ofeye shadow androuge.[10] At this time, his weight further ballooned, peaking at over 350 lb (160 kg; 25 st).[11] He also ceased his prior weightlifting regimen, stopped tanning, and removed all of his body hair. The result made him appear pale, soft, rotund and flabby, despite the fact that he retained considerable athleticism and agility in the ring. He defeatedUncle Elmer in quick fashion atWrestleMania 2[12] and feuded extensively with theJunkyard Dog andGeorge "The Animal" Steele, while also unsuccessfully challengingHulk Hogan for theWWF Championship on multiple occasions.[4]
In May 1986, during Piper's five-month hiatus from the WWF, Adonis (with Hart) debuted his own talk segment,The Flower Shop.[13] These segments were the primary backdrop forPaul Orndorff's slow-buildingheelturn against his friend Hulk Hogan, with Adonis relentlessly needling Orndorff about living in Hogan's shadow. In August, shortly before Piper's return, Adonis obtained the services of Piper's bodyguard,"Cowboy" Bob Orton, who took to wearing a pink cowboy hat. A feud with Piper heated up when Adonis, Orton, andDon Muraco attacked him during a "duel" between the two talk segments, injuring his leg, covering him in lipstick and damaging thePit set. A week later, Piper destroyed the set ofThe Flower Shop with a baseball bat. It was never rebuilt. On the October 4Saturday Night's Main Event VII, Piper struck Adonis with a crutch, resulting in a two-month absence from TV with an alleged separated shoulder. In reality, Adonis was fired but quickly rehired when Piper's house show matches vs. Don Muraco and Bob Orton Jr. didn't draw.[14] After Adonis returned in November to attack Piper on thePit, the two agreed to ahair vs. hair match atWrestleMania III. Piper won the bout with help fromBrutus Beefcake,[15] who cut off the majority of Adonis' hair afterward.[4] Adonis then began a feud with Beefcake but was fired in May 1987 for what the WWF claimed were "dress code violations".[16]
Franke (now with a shaved head) left the WWF shortly after WrestleMania III and returned to the AWA, where he was managed byPaul E. Dangerously during 1987. He maintained his "Adorable" Adrian Adonis gimmick, feuded withTommy Rich and lost the final match of theAWA International Television Championship tournament to Greg Gagne in December 1987. While there, he lost one hundred pounds and hoped to return to WWF.
With his ankle fully recovered, Franke wrestled a tour for New Japan throughout May and June 1988. During that tour, he would not use his North American "Adorable" gimmick and teamed up withOwen Hart andD.J. Peterson. On June 23, he and Murdoch unsuccessfully challengedRiki Choshu andMasa Saito for theIWGP Tag Team Championship. On June 26, teaming up with Murdoch againstKengo Kimura andYoshiaki Fujiwara, which ended in a draw.
With hopes of rejoining WWF and having lost weight, he worked forDave McKigney in Newfoundland and wrestled against Hartford Love. On July 4, 1988, inLewisporte, Newfoundland, Franke was in aminivan with fellow wrestlers, and twins William "Mike Kelly" Arko, Victor "Pat Kelly" Arko, andDave McKigney. Franke, McKigney, and Victor Arko were killed when Victor Arko, allegedly blinded by the setting sun, swerved to avoid hitting amoose causing the van to fall from a bridge into a creek below. Franke suffered severe head injuries and died a few hours later. William Arko was the sole survivor and sustained severe leg injuries.[17][18][19]
He was survived by his wife and two daughters.[20] He is buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park inBakersfield, California.
The year before was not as lucky for three men. Mike Kelly was driving Adrian Adonis, Dave "The Wildman" McKigney, and his twin brother Pat Kelly in Lewisporte, Newfoundland, when Kelly lost control of the van while trying to avoid a moose. The van went off a bridge into a creek. Mike Kelly was the lone survivor.
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