Insane Insights From Dark Side of the Ring - Adrian Adonis
In many cases, in the professional wrestling business, there are many what-ifs in professional wrestling. One of the many names that gets brought up is Adrian Adonis. Adonis was planning a comeback in professional wrestling in the late 80s, but tragedy struck when Adrian lost his life due to a car accident. Adrian Adonis was covered on an episode of Dark Side of the Ring and there was a lot of new information learned from this.
10. Adrian Adonis Was Connected To Gang Members In Buffalo
Adrian Adonis grew up in Buffalo, NY, and had a reputation as a legit tough guy. His childhood friend Anthony Gugino proved it by telling stories about him fighting as a kid and never seeing him lose a fight.
With his reputation, Adonis had a lot of close connections with gangsters in Buffalo. A lot of them were people that he met in high school when he joined a fraternity. The group he was hanging with mostly went to jail, but not Adrian. He didn't want to spend his light as a gangster, so he pursued a career in pro wrestling.
9. Bret Hart Cocaine Story
In the 80s a ton of professional wrestling we're doing a ton of drugs including cocaine. Bret Hart talks about entering the business and wanting to connect with others. Adrian Adonis was one name and Adonis was hesitant to let him in as he was the "promoter's kid". Well, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart vouched for him to join them. Bret Hart was let in and every pro wrestler was there having a party. Adonis is chopping the cocaine and Bret is surrounded by The Iron Sheik, Roddy Piper, Mr Fuji, etc. They all did drugs until 4 AM and Bret learned about the psychology of the business. The funniest part is that Bret Hart turned a cocaine part into a learning experience and claimed it wasn't a time wasted for him.
8. How Hooked Adonis Was to Drugs
Adonis was a party animal at that time and he was hooked on cocaine. Bret Hart even told the story of how guys would shake the hands of wrestlers and give them an 8-ball starter kit for cocaine. Adonis drug usage was so bad that Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart stopped partying with him.
Jim Brunzell tells the story of how Adonis was coked up one night. Adrian was knocking on his door and was terrified of doing too much cocaine. Adonis handed Jim a tremendous bag of cocaine to ensure he didn't take too much. The next day Adrian knocks on his door trying to relocate that bag of drugs and Brunzell just hands it back to him. That should have been the wake-up call for Adonis.
7. Adonis Was A Different Person When Home
Adonis may have been a party animal on the road, but at home, he was the opposite. He was an absolute gentleman to his wife and kids. It was sort of like a real-life version of Jekyll and Hyde.
The documentary actually got to interview Adonis's wife, which is a big get as she doesn't do too many interviews. She would tell stories about how a kind man he was and would constantly make breakfast in bed for her. Even when on the road Adonis would always call in to check on her multiple times a day.
Another story came from his daughter Gens and Angela. Apparently, Adonis was a big Three Stooges fan and would always have it on his TV. No matter what anyone says he was a great family man when he was home.
6. Adrian Adonis Legit Fight with Dan Spivey
Adonis had talent but there were not a lot of people who were a fan of his drug usage. One of those wrestlers was a young Dan Spivey. Spivey and Adonis were not on the best terms when Adrian legit kept hurting Spivey in multiple matches.
Not one night later in 1986, Spivey and Adonis had a match together and it didn't go to plan. Spivey lost it with Adonis legit hurting him and he decides to put a sleeper hold on Adonis and not let go. The ref was panicking, yelling "what are you doing, that's not the finish!!". Spivey responds by saying "I just changed the finish he's not going over tonight".
Spivey won the match, and backstage was just a mess. When Adrian gets back to confront Spivey he goes after him. Spivey then landed a nasty uppercut that was so hard that Adonis's cheekbone went through the skin. Adrian went to the hospital and was out of action for weeks. Spivey claims he got fired a month later, but that's not true because he worked 2 years more with WWF in the aftermath of the incident.
5. Adonis Never Recovered From the Spivey Incident
In the aftermath of this incident, everyone agrees that Adonis never recovered from it. Adrian lost to fear and intimidation in the locker room which kept fueling his drug habit. Now Adonis put on more weight as well which started to affect his matches. In 1987 Adonis parted ways with WWF due to his problems as a result.
4. Adonis Was Planning a Comeback
During the final few months of his life, it looked like Adonis was getting his life together. He dropped 100 pounds, kicked his drug addiction, and even got to reconcile with Dan Spivey. Both were working in Japan and ran into each other. They both had a beer and hashed things out, which is awesome to hear.
Bret Hart went out to dinner with Adrian and his family one night and it was clear he was making a comeback. Adonis was in his mid-30s at the time and could still go in the ring. Unfortunately, that never happened as he would get into the car accident that killed him.
3. The Story of Dave McKingney "The Bear Man"
The documentary talks about who was involved in the crash and one name that stood out is Dave McKingney aka The Bear Man. The Bear Man was a pro wrestler and owner of a promotion in the New Foundland region. The Bear Man in his gimmick had bears and owned/trained one called Terrible Ted.
A fascinating fact not mentioned in the documentary was Terrible Ted had an interaction with Bret Hart. Bret admitted that one time Ted licked ice cream from Bret Hart's foot while Ted was staying underneath his father's back porch steps.
The documentary tells a story about one of the bears escaping the cage. The Bear Man's girlfriend was taking a shower and when the bear escaped it attacked and killed her. That's just a terrible way for someone to die.
2. The Accident Happened Because of a Bear Cub, Not a Deer
The documentary then talks about the car accident. In the car were 4 people, Mike Kelly, Pat Kelly, Dave McKingney, and Adrian Adonis. Mike Kelly was the only survivor of the crash and he discussed what happened. It was often reported that they were trying to avoid hitting a moose, but he revealed that it was a bear cub that they trying to not hit. Unfortunately, the car did crash and Mike woke up in the stream. When he discussed seeing the wreck and his brother dead, it was heartbreaking. But it gets worse...
1. People Were Robbing Adrian Instead of Helping Him
The most disgraceful part of the crash was when some road guys discovered it and did nothing to help. Instead, they jumped in the water and pickpocketed everyone involved with their money and valuables. Including Adrian who at that point was still alive moaning for help and had a bone sticking out of his arm.
This wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but one of his daughters revealed another disturbing detail about the robbers. These robbers went back to Adrian's hotel and took his valuables and money from there too. These road guys are sadistic people who should be ashamed of themselves.
My Thoughts On the Documentary
This was a tough but well-made piece on Adrian Adonis. In my opinion, Adonis is one of the greatest what-ifs in professional wrestling. He was a really good worker and rewatching his old matches he was very talented. However, his drug addiction and weight problems really affected his career. Just when he was about to make his comeback, Adonis passed away tragically.
The Bear Man stuff was interesting as well and looking up more about the guy, he could easily get an episode himself. More facts about the crash were revealed including the pieces of work who robbed them instead of helping them.
Adonis's Family was great and it's the first time I can remember them speaking about Adrian Adonis publicly in this matter. To me, the MVP of the documentary is Bret Hart. With all of the stories he told about Adrian and his own drug usage, it was a great insight. However, I disagree that Hart vs Adonis would have headlined a WrestleMania because there were rumors that Adonis was going to be signed by Jim Crockett at the time of his death.
Adrian Adonis deserved the chance to show how he changed his ways and it's just unfair that he never got the chance to showcase it. Rest In Peace, Adrian Adonis.
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