Adkisson was a high school basketball star and a football player at Lake Dallas High School. He won a scholarship to
North Texas State University to play basketball and football. David dropped out to pursue a wrestling career that he had started in June 1977, adopting the name
David Von Erich. He was considered a breakout star of his family, as his fiery temper produced memorable interviews. His first major match was on
August 15, 1977 when he wrestled
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race to a 30 minute draw. In late 1981, David left Texas and struck out on his own, heading to Florida and competing as a
heel until July 1982. During his stay in Florida, David met and became great frends with Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin, convincing Garvin to come to WCCW in Texas in early 1983 and they created an angle for a feud between them, which culminated with David winning the held-up WCCW Texas State Title at The Tarrant County Convention Center on
July 4 1983. As a result of David's victory, Garvin and Sunshine were forced to serve as David's
valets for one day, with the results of that day being broadcast on the WCCW weekly show. David won the Missouri State Heavyweight belt from Ric Flair on
September 16 1983, holding the championship until losing it to
Harley Race on
January 6 1984. Many within the industry believe that David's reign with the belt was his final step to winning the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as the NWA Championship Committee allegedly voted in
January 1984 for David to win it from
Ric Flair in March or April of that year.
David died during a tour with
All Japan Pro Wrestling on February 10, 1984, with many theories about what caused his death being proposed for many years after. The most popular theory suggests that David died of a drug overdose, as Ric Flair had mentioned this theory in his autobiography, claming that
Bruiser Brody (the Von Erich's long-time friend) removed the evidence. The Von Erichs however claimed that David's death was a
heart attack, caused by ruptured intestines resulting from acute
enteritis. In the documentary
Heroes of World Class: The Story of the Von Erichs and
The Rise and Fall of World Class Championship Wrestling,
Kevin Von Erich and former referee David Manning both attested to the
heart attack theory, as they claimed that the autopsy supported the myocardial infarction. Manning and Von Erich also claimed that David had been complaining about a pain in his stomach prior to his excursion to Japan. On
May 6 1984, David's brother Kerry defeated Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at
Texas Stadium. It was a tribute to David, but the NWA only allowed a brief title reign for Kerry, as he lost the title back to Flair 18 days later during an
All Japan Pro Wrestling show in
Yokohama, Japan.
