1st time I saw Gino in Dallas was in 1984. He was American and Texas champion and he actually pinned Ric Flair in a tournament for the Texas championship. This dude was on fire and the Von Erich’s wanted his belts to get back at Ric Flair... fun times!
I grew up in the DFW metroplex (Dallas-Ft Worth) and from late 1982 through 1989 was an AWESOME time, and place to be a Wrestling fan! It was mid to late 1984 when Gino left Houston, and Paul Boesch and went back to work for Fritz Von Erich (WCCW) full time! I can't tell you how many times I saw Gino in person, wrestle many a nights in what the announcer Bill Mercer would always call it "At the World Famous Sportatorium in Beautiful Downtown Dallas" on Friday nights, and usually on Christmas nights at Reunion Arena in Dallas! I also saw him many a nights over in Ft. Worth at Will Rodgers Coliseum Will Rogers Auditorium, and sometimes at the Tarrant County Convention Center" I got to see the whole Von Erich and "Freebirds" feud start, and then, for pretty much all of 1985, it was Kerry, and Kevin Von Erich vs the "Dynamic Duo" of Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams!! We also had Bruiser Brody, Jimmy Garvin, One Man gang, "Iceman" King Parson, Kamala, and MANY MORE that came to WCCW!! Ric Flair who was NWA Champ for most of the 80's world come into Dallas like twice a year and put him with 1 of the 3 Von Erich Brothers Kerry, Kevin and David, and after David died Mike Von Erich took David's spot! Brody was the same as Ric Flair, in the sense that he would only come through Dallas 3-4 times a year! Andre the Giant would do the same thing Flair and Brody did, until he went on to work for Vince full time!! I'd say that 99% of the guys who made a big name for themselves and could draw BIG money, and put asses in the seats, I can guarantee you they came through Dallas first!! I saw it firsthand! Before he went to work for Vince and became "Ultimate Warrior" he was working for Fritz Von Erich in Dallas as "Dingo Warrior" There were lots more besides him who came into the Dallas office and made a name for themselves, and then went onto Greener pastures to work for Vince, to make that BIG MONEY!!💸💸 As a fan, I was so lucky to be a Wrestling fan that lived in Dallas Tx, and was either at the event in person, on Friday nights, and if I missed out on going to a show, I ALWAYS watched it on Saturday night's on KTVT channel 11 @ 10:30p till 12:00a and Sunday mornings on channel 39 from 11:00a till 12:00p "World Class Championship Wrestling" (WCCW) was SO AWESOME back in those days!! Its VERY WEIRD when you think about the fact that, almost all the guys that helped make WCCW what it was, are all dead now, and almost every single one of them died young!!!💯🤯 I'll tell you something else........Had Gino not died, Gino would have been a Superstar with Vince McMahon in the WWF or with the Crockett family in the NWA!! I have watched several different shoot interviews, and when Gino's name would come up, they all pretty much said the same thing about Gino, which was....... Had he not died, he was about to jump to either Vince, or the Crockett family! I also heard that if he went to work for the Crockett family, they wanted to put him with Flair, and make him a member of the "Four Horsemen" I also heard on a live Q&A with Vince McMahon on AOL way back in the early 2000's, I heard Vince McMahon myself say that, had Gino lived, he wanted Gino to be the guy for the "Million Dollar Man" character, and even went above that when he said that Gino was the only one who he had in mind to be the "Million Dollar Man" and when Gino died, Ted DiBiase was his second choice!! NWA or WWF, Gino would've been PERFECT for either one of those two company's!!💯💯 RIP GINO!
Unfortunately I didn't know of Gino untill many years after his death but watching his matches there is no doubt the man was a star Rip Handsome Half Breed
He was not an original but he was good . Thankfully he got rid of the bleached mullet and cheap pink robe or it would be that much more easy to see how much he patterned himself on Ric Flair .
His coke habit kept him out of the picture . Gino was making low 6 figures working Houston and other Texas territories and partied excessively on those wages ...Could you imagine how much more out of control he would have been on 3x the money and travelling the world too ? The promoters could .
I liked it Gino when briefly worked in Atlanta in 1982. He was so good with Roddy Piper on mic. He sent an interview to Atlanta stating that he would no longer be coming to Atlanta because he made more money in Houston lol!
He did . Atlanta paid their top guy well but Gino was not a top guy in Atlanta . He was in Houston though . Had Gino been willing to take the loss so that he could become a top guy in other promotions then maybe he would have lived longer . His cocaine habit was easily fed in Houston . Between being friends with big dealers and having a lor of disposable cash he was a walking deadman .
I Always was, and always will be a BIG time Gino fan! I Seen him MANY times Wrestle @ The "Sam Houston Coliseum" in Houston, and @ the "Sportatorium" up in Dallas many times, not counting all the times I saw him wrestle @ "Will Rogers Coliseum" and "Tarrant County Convention Center" over in Ft Worth!! I always liked the "Heels" over "Babyfaces" and I think Gino was one of the best "Heels" in the business! Just about everybody I've heard that knew Gino, said that, the Gino you saw on TV, was the same Gino you saw outside the ring! That's why he was such an awesome heel, because he was basically just being himself, and just doing what came natural!! In my opinion....He was one of the best talkers in the business! The guy had SERIOUS skills on the mic! He could cut a promo on a mother fucker better than anybody, and when he was done, his mic skills were so awesome, hardly anyone could follow it!! His was so good on the mic, that his promos alone could put asses in the seats! I know when he was working in Dallas, he would piss the fans off so much by running down the Von Erichs, that by the time he was done talking about it, they were ready to go shell out their money, and buy a ticket real quick!! They wanted to go see Gino get his ass handed to him by the Von Erichs!! The guy definitely knew how to work, and piss off a crowd better than anyone else could!! It's such a shame about Gino! The guy had it all......Looks, Women, money, fame, a great career that was about to take off and make him much more money, and fame then he already had!! The guy had the world by the balls!!! Little did he know, but his life was about to get so much better than it already was!!! And to think, he was only 28yrs old!! SUCH A WASTE!!💯 I've Been watching a lot of Gino's early and later matches for the last couple days! Really do miss that guy! Watching all these videos of Gino, Chris, Brody, Freebirds, and some of the other guys that worked WCCW, it really takes me back to some really awesome times and memories!! I'm glad I was there, and got to see WCCW take off the way it did!!! God bless Gino, and all of those guys that are no longer with us!!! 👼👼 🙏🙏 Btw....... Besides all the talk about Gino, and for those of you that know who I'm talkin about, check out the dude sitting next to Mr Boesch @ ringside, you can see a VERY YOUNG, and a lot slimmer Bruce Pritchard!! No disrespect to Bruce, because I love the dude, but he does look a lil "Nerdy" in this!😂
He cut a promo on me and my friends at the Lubbock airport when I was 15. We were big marks for the heels and it frustrated him when we kept agreeing with him and didn't get mad when he cussed us out. Chris Adams laughed his ass off.
texjlh That sounds awesome. Im just picturing Gorgeous Gino just greeting people at the airport by telling them to fuck off and that he’s their champion.
First saw Gino in ‘80 or ‘81 on Southwest Championship Wrestling . He was tag team partners with Tully Blanchard. They were heels but they were my favorites and I cheered for them every week. RIP Gino
Gino Hernandez was probably the most universally hated heel in wrestling. In fact, when I watched his matches in World Class he was the only heel that got the most intense boos out of all the heels there. The Freebirds got booed, but they got cheered but the beer drinking hellrazers who hated the Von Erichs. Rick Rude got booed but he was cheered by the ladies. However, the best example was when he and Chris Adams teamed. Gino would get booed like crazy, but Chris would get a lot of cheers.
Everyone always thought that Gino Hernandez was a chickenshit heel. That was not the case here. he’s proven he’s a tough guy when cornered. he gave Harley a hell of a run here. RIP GH
Yes he is responsible for turning Junkyard Dog babyface. I remember it like yesterday. Gino had bleached hair at the time and was JYD's tag team partner. It was around Christmas time in 1979. I remember that because that was the year I got my first BMX bike, a white Mongoose with blue trim and mags. Gino and Ernie Ladd jumped JYD, then Gino lost a loser leaves town match to JYD, shortly after that The Freebirds blinded him when JYD took Dibiase's place with Col Buck Robley in a tag team match. The Freebirds had taken out Dibiase a couple weeks before, iirc. Nothing today comes close to that stuff. I miss going to Wrestling in New Orleans every Monday night.
I believe there is a mixup with the date. Race and Hernandez wrestled in Dallas on Sept 28th to a Double DQ, this match must be the one from Houston on Dec 12th 1980. This footage can also be found with the Dec 12th date.
Wow, the NWA champ winning by DQ. Not usually how it worked in the territory days. The heel world champ was supposed to make the local white bread baby face hero look strong. The usual method was to lose by DQ in a cowardly fashion, giving the hero a win, while keeping the title. It was rare for the champ to work against a heel opponent, maybe this has to do with the rumor of who Gino's real father is? I do think Gino had the "it" factor that would have made him a good Ric Flair style of heel champion. Too bad hid demons won out.
Gino's real name was Charles Wolfe, and he was from Spring Branch, a suburb west of Houston. He is buried in Memorial Oaks cemetery, where my grand parents and an uncle are buried!
In the first fall, Gino, who looked like a 13, 14yr old kid here in a pair of tighty whities, kicked daddy's red briefs wearing ass!..... WHO'S man of the house NOW dad!...
maxearlsexed. I've seen that happen many times to Race; flair; brisco and even regional champions. Brody did it to Harley more than once. It's just a part of wrestling!
