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Gino Hernandez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Wolfe  |
|
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Gino Hernandez |
| Billed height | 6'2" |
| Billed weight | 220 lbs. |
| Born | August 14, 1957 Highland Park, Texas, United States |
| Trained by | Jose Lothario |
| Debut | 1975 |
Charles Wolfe (August 14, 1957 - February 4, 1986) was a professional wrestler better known by his ring name Gino Hernandez. His in-ring nickname was "The Handsome Half-Breed" (a reference to his Italian/Mexican-American ring name)
"The Handsome Halfbreed" started wrestling in 1975 in Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) after being trained by Jose Lothario. He formed a team with Lothario and eventually turned on him, starting a feud that saw Hernandez lose his hair to Lothario as the result of a hair vs. hair match.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gino went to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) where he feuded with David Von Erich over the Texas Heavyweight Title which he won and lost to Von Erich[1].
He returned to SCW and formed a tag team called "The Dynamic Duo" with Tully Blanchard that was quite successful.
He returned to WCCW in 1984 and feuded with the Von Erichs, David, Kevin and Kerry Von Erich. He also formed a team with Chris Adams, also called the "Dynamic Duo". That version proved to be the most famous, as Adams and Hernandez drew in high revenues and television ratings for World Class in their feud with the Von Erichs[2].
He soon turned on Adams in December 1985 (two months after losing their hair at the Cotton Bowl) and started a feud, which was to have been the top storyline of 1986 for World Class. On January 27, 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 Freebird Buddy Roberts) into the face of Adams, who was to sell his blinding injury so he could spend time in England with his new wife Toni and his family. Hernandez was scheduled to compete on a house show the following Thursday and a non-televised wrestling card at the Sportatorium in Dallas the following Friday. Gino did not show for either of those matches, and phone calls made to him were never returned.
On February 4, concerned with Hernandez's well-being, two World Class officials, David Manning and Rick Hazzard, and several local law enforcement officers broke into his Highland Park apartment and found Hernandez dead (he had been dead for approximately three days). Initially Hernandez's death was ruled a homicide case, but following autopsy reports, his death was ruled as a result of an overdose of cocaine[2], however, many (even today) still believe Gino was murdered in a drug related incident[3].
The Scotland Yard in fact contacted and questioned Adams, who had returned to England three days before hearing the news of Gino's death. Adams, who was never considered a suspect, was never charged in the case, as the FBI and Scotland Yard later ruled him out as a potential suspect.
The syndicated World Class broadcast (scheduled for a February 15 airing) was scheduled to have aired a match involving Gino Hernandez, originally taped on January 24 at the Sportatorium. That match never aired; instead, announcer Bill Mercer made the announcement of Gino's death, and a different match would air instead.
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- SWCW Southwest Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Tully Blanchard
- SWCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Tully Blanchard
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- NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (1 time) - with Chris Adams and Jake Roberts
- WCCW American Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- WCCW American Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with El Gran Markus (2), Gary Young and Chris Adams (2)
- WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
- WCCW Texas Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
- WCCW Texas Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Jimmy Snuka, Pak Song and Bruiser Brody
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- PWI ranked him # 162 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- PWI also ranked him # 65 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Chris Adams as the Dynamic Duo.
- ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ a b Kristian Pope & Ray Whebbe (2nd Edition 2003). The Encyclopedia of Professional Wrestling: 100 Years of History, Headlines & Hitmakers. Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0873496254.
- ^ Tully Blanchard. Shoot with Tully Blanchard [DVD]. USA: RF Video.