Illegal Foreign Object

“Gorgeous” Gino Hernandez was everything a wrestling promoter could want in a ‘bad guy’. At 28 years old, he’d already spent a dozen years in professional wrestling, working in several territories as both a babyface and a heel. With “movie star” looks and charisma, coupled with a larger-than-life personality and promos drenched in a brash cockiness, Gino had the look of the total package. What hid beneath the tanned exterior was a man careening down a mountain at a million per hour with no control of the wheel.

I grew up on World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the Dallas-based promotion that harbored the legendary Von Erich family. Born in 1977, I learned of professional wrestling during a boom period for WCCW. I sat on the floor, a foot from my television, for the prime years of several legendary figures in Texas wrestling, including Kerry and Kevin Von Erich, The Fabulous Freebirds, “Iceman” King Parsons, and Gino Hernandez.

I jumped feet-first into pro wrestling fandom when Gino returned to WCCW from the Joe Blanchard-led Southwest Champion Wrestling out of San Antonio. Hernandez was coming off main event runs in San Antonio and Houston, including winning the Southwest Champion Wrestling tag team titles five times between 1981 and 1983 with another dastardly heel: future Four Horseman member Tully Blanchard. As “The Dynamic Duo”, Gino and Tully had bloody feuds with Dick Slater, Wahoo McDaniel, Junkyard Dog, and Ken Lucas and were the biggest draws in San Antonio.

When Gino resurfaced in WCCW in 1984, he immediately made enemies of the crowd, resuming a feud with the Von Erichs that dated back to 1978 when he warred with David Von Erich over the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship. After David’s unfortunate death in Japan in February 1984, WCCW held a tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion. Hernandez’s victory over the “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair in the tournament finals was the fifth of his six reigns as Texas Heavyweight Champion. He carried the belt for 401 days.

During the last half of 1984, he paired with Nickla Roberts (who not only had a childhood crush on Hernandez but went on to even greater fame as Baby Doll, the valet for his old tag partner, Tully Blanchard). A heated feud with Mike Von Erich and Sunshine followed, which led to several mixed tag matches — including a brawl between Gino, Nickla, Mike, and Stella Mae French (with Sunshine in their corner) at WCCW’s first Wrestling Star Wars event at the Cotton Bowl on October 27th, 1984.

After dropping the heavyweight title to Brian Adias in September 1985, Gino concentrated on previously formed tag teams with Jake “The Snake” Roberts and “Gentleman” Chris Adams. The trio also worked together in 6-man tag matches versus the Von Erichs, but Hernandez and Adams (a longtime popular babyface Brit turned superkicking heel) truly captured the hate and vitriol of the Dallas crowds. As “The Dynamic Duo”, Gino fed off Adams and took cockiness to a new level. He and Adams redoubled their efforts against the brothers, feuding with the family for seven months.

The pair filmed interviews in custom suits, sitting in expensive sports cars and bragging about their extravagant lives. According to legendary manager “Playboy” Gary Hart, at least where Gino was concerned, it wasn’t an act: “Gino was the kind of guy that always drove the best cars, wore the best clothes, had the best watches, and went with the best women.”

The Dynamic Duo’s time together ended at the Cotton Bowl, where they lost a Hair Match against Kerry and Kevin Von Erich. I still remember belly-laughing at the sight of Hernandez being carried back into the ring to get his head shaved after trying to escape. Soon after, the Dynamic Duo split, Gino turned on Adams, then blinded him with “Freebird hair cream”, a hair removal product used by “Freebird” Buddy Roberts in 1983 during his feud with King Parsons.

With Chris Adams a top babyface once again (and Hernandez as hot as ever as a heel), the stage was set for them to have a much-needed big angle for WCCW. Business was down after David’s passing — the company needed a fresh, hot angle to goose the territory. Sadly, the feud never reached its apex.

WCCW officials feared the worst after Gino missed a couple of house shows. On February 5th, 1986, booker David Manning sent World Class official Rick Hazzard to the Gino’s apartment. When no one answered the door, Hazzard jumped a wall and looked into a window on the bedroom side of the apartment. He saw a set of feet on the floor, peeking out from just beyond the bed. When local law enforcement arrived, they, along with Hazzard and Gino’s manager, Walter Aymen, entered the Highland Park apartment. Their worst fears became a reality — Gino Hernandez was dead at 28 years old.

Initially, officials treated Hernandez’s death as a homicide case. They found a loaded gun near Gino but no drugs on site. Hazzard supposedly told Manning when he discovered Gino’s sugar bowl of cocaine, Manning flushed it before the police found it. Following the autopsy report, the coroner ruled the death an accidental cocaine overdose.

In pro wrestling, however, nothing is cut and dry. Though it is true Gino’s issues with cocaine ultimately cost him his life, many within the industry refused to believe that he’d overdosed. Kevin Von Erich said Hernandez believed someone was trying to kill him and purchased a gun for protection. David Manning backs up Kevin’s claims, saying Gino told him he needed a gun because people were following him.

“It wasn’t like it was a secret that Gino did drugs. From smoking dope to cocaine to uppers and downers; it was the ‘70s and ‘80s, and we all did it (but) I never saw Gino Hernandez out of control on drugs,” said Bruce Prichard, who spent years with Gino working for Paul Boesch in Houston.

Gossip flew around with reckless abandon. One rumor involved Gino owing money on a gambling debt. Another rumor — perhaps the most ridiculous, was that Chris Adams killed Hernandez for blinding him. The one rumor with meat on the bone, however, claimed Gino had gotten sideways with a Houston drug dealer. Gino’s mother, Patrice Aguirre, remembers when a man named John Royal came to her home and, in front of Gino’s sister said, “Gino owed me a lot of money, but don’t you worry about it — I’m gonna pay for his funeral.” Royal also gave a eulogy at Gino’s funeral. Bruce Prichard described it as “just weird.”

Adding to suspicion of foul play, Gino’s apartment had a deadbolt on the front door which, according to Manning, Gary Hart, and Aguirre, he always kept locked. Additionally, the coroner in charge of Gino’s autopsy reported the wrestler had five times the amount of cocaine in his system needed to kill him. The coroner’s report also stated Hernandez was Hispanic, morbidly obese, and uncircumcised. None of these things were true. Aguirre and Gino’s ex-wife, Janice Bancroft, wondered if it was even Gino’s body the coroner had reviewed but decided against making waves out of fear for their families. Regardless, Aguirre maintains Hernandez’s death was no accidental overdose: “As a mother, I have a lot of questions that no one has ever answered for me.”