Adonis was never someone that had a great build or anything, but he was most certainly slimmer in the 70s and early 80s. He formed a tag team in the AWA with Jesse "The Body" Ventura called the East-West Connection. They won the AWA World Tag Team Championship in the summer of 1980, in either June or July, and held them until June 1981. They dropped them to The High Flyers, Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell.
Both Adonis & Ventura left the AWA not long after that and headed to the WWF. Adonis was a regular challenger to Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales in singles competition, though he still did team with Jesse Ventura until he had to retire due to injuries. He formed a tag team with Dick Murdoch afterward called the North-South Connection in late '83. He & Murdock eventually beat Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson for the tag titles in April '84 before dropping them to The U.S. Express, Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, in January '85. It was during this time that Adonis really started to put on weight. He'd always been a pretty beefy guy, but he was in good condition.
It was in late 1985 I think when Adonis' character started to change. It didn't happen all at once, but rather it was a gradual change. He started out by basically carrying some sort of briefcase with the words "Relax with Trudi" on it. He also carried around some sort of cologne or perfume simply called "Fragrance". On an episode of Piper's Pit, Adonis gave Piper his leather jacket, the same jacket that Piper would wear for many years, and then just changed his character. He bleached his hair, started wearing pink trunks, he'd wear stuff like leg warmers and scarves. Sometimes, he'd come out in full blown dresses with over the top make up. Basically, the guy was the stereotypical crossdresser. Adonis drew crazy heat and laughed all the way to the bank. He was frequently a challenger for Hogan's title during these days.
They also gave him his own talk show segment, "The Flower Shop" and they used these segments mostly as sort of a backdrop for a slow heel turn for Paul Orndorff with Adonis constantly needling Orndorff about being stuck in Hogan's shadow. Piper would eventually come back to the WWF, after taking time off, and would star feuding with Adonis in late '86. It started out as sort of a "duel" I guess between Adonis & Piper as to which talk show segment was better. Don Muraco & Bob Orton would attack Piper from behind, with Adonis joining in. If I remember correctly, after they'd beaten Piper down, Adonis put make up and lipstick on Piper to add insult to injury. A week or two later, Piper would destroy the Flower Shop set with a baseball bat. Their next encounter came on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event in which Piper, after being "injured" beat Adonis with a crutch, resulting in a "separated shoulder" for Adonis. Eventually, the hair vs. hair match at WM III was made between the two. Adonis lost and left the WWE almost immediately afterward and went back to the AWA.
Back in the AWA, he kept up the gimmick more or less, though not nearly as over the top as it was in the WWF because Verne & Vince had two very different styles. Adonis was managed by Paul E. Dangerously, AKA Paul Heyman, and feuded with "Wildfire" Tommy Rich and Greg Gagne mostly.
Things really started going downhill for Adonis in late '87 as he was in financial trouble. He was scheduled to go on a tour with other AWA talent in Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling but was injured. I think it was a knee or ankle injury, I can't remember exactly. I think Adonis & Verne Gagne had something of a falling out and Adonis was unsuccessful in returning to the WWF. Adonis was killed in a car accident on July 4, 1988. He was riding in a minivan with other wrestlers, I think going to work a card somewhere in Canada. The driver of the van swerved to miss a moose that was standing in the middle of the road and accidentally drove into a nearby lake. The driver was the only one to survive the accident, though with severe leg injuries.
That's pretty much the story of Adonis' wrestling career. I thought the guy was entertaining as Adorable Adrian Adonis. It was a bold character during the 1980s and one that definitely stood out. Like a lot of wrestlers making tons of money during those days, I'd say that Adonis probably spent it faster than he was making it. Dave Meltzer absolutely despised it the character, awarding Adonis the "Most Embarrassing Wrestler" WON award in '86 and the "Worst Gimmick" WON award for '86 and '87. It was the type of character that you could never get away with in this day and age. Let's face it, the character got over in large part because of accepted prejudice of gays in society at that time. They never claimed Adonis' character was gay or anything, but the subtext was clear as day. Today, WWE would have every civil rights group shoved so far up its collective ass that you couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
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