Adams' friends, family remember pro wrestler

Date: October 12, 2001

To his fans he was "Gentleman" Chris Adams, the fierce wrestler who crushed challengers with his signature superkick.

At his funeral Thursday, Adams was described as a father, husband, son, brother and friend.
"I'll always remember my brother for his dreams, his ambitions and his will to win ... and his unbelievable love for his family," Neil Adams said. "He was the best brother anybody could have."

But in recent months, the 46-year-old Adams had wrestled with mounting legal and financial woes. His life ended early Sunday in Waxahachie when Adams was fatally shot by a friend, Brent Parnell, who said he fired in self-defense.

"Nobody is sorrier than I am," Parnell said in an interview Tuesday, hours after his release from the Ellis County Jail.

Parnell, 49, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder. He is free on $25,000 bail.

At the time of his death, Adams was facing manslaughter charges in the April 2000 drug overdose of his girlfriend.

During the service, Adams' eldest daughter, Jade, said her father "was and still is eternally youthful." "He felt life so intensely," she said.

A note from his 7-year-old daughter, Julia, was read. "I love you, Dad," she wrote. "I'll miss you. Bye-bye, Daddy."

At the funeral were several famed names from the golden World Class Championship Wrestling era, including the lone surviving Von Erich brother, Kevin Adkisson; former Von Erich bodyguard Bill Colville; "bad guy" manager Gary Hart; and Jim Wehba, who was known as "Skandor Akbar."

Adams, a native of England, rose to fame in 1983 when he joined the WCCW. He later operated a wrestling school and worked with Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling.

"I always considered him one of the best ringmen in the business," Wehba said in an interview before Adams' death. "What he lacked in size, he made up in fire and intestinal fortitude."

At the height of his career, Adams made thousands of dollars a week and owned land, houses and fast cars. But he found fame fickle.

"You don't realize that it means nothing," Adams said in an August interview. "It can disappear as fast as it comes."

Friends say a darker side could emerge when Adams drank.

"When there was no alcohol involved, he was the most pleasant, charming person in the world," said Hart, his former manager. "At some point in drinking, the darkness in him, the pain and the hurt that he had, it came out."

According to Parnell, Adams had come to visit Saturday and spend the night, because Adams' wife, Karen, had gone to a friend's birthday party. They had watched a Frank and Jesse James movie and ate homemade stew. Later that night, they were listening to music, drinking bourbon and talking about a planned wrestling exhibition when, Parnell said, Adams suddenly attacked. The two struggled before landing on Parnell's bed. Parnell said Adams was choking him. "I couldn't breathe," Parnell said. "He had this wild look in his eyes, and I was scared." Parnell said he grabbed his .38-caliber pistol from the nightstand to shoot Adams in the shoulder, but instead the bullet struck Adams in the chest.
Parnell called 911, but Adams died at the scene.

Waxahachie police Sgt. Todd Woodruff said the evidence corroborates Parnell's account.
"There were documented injuries on Parnell to include at least one bite mark on his face," Woodruff said. "We feel like Parnell has been very forthcoming about the events that led up to the shooting." Woodruff said the case will be presented to an Ellis County grand jury for review.

Despite Adams' troubles, he still was trying to get his life together, friends say. On Aug. 25, he married Karen in a poolside ceremony, said Parnell, who was the best man. He also was planning to join a new Florida-based federation with such wrestling greats as Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper.

"My father was a great man," his son, Chris, said during the funeral. "... I've never known someone who loved his family so much."